Wedding Budget Breakdown: What Are All The Things?

The time has come to talk about dollars. Money. Budgets. Weddings in Charlotte cost an average of $30,000. If you move a little further north to Cornelius that average goes up to closer to $40,000. But what if that’s not your budget? Or, even if it is, how do you spread that out to cover all of the expenses associated with a wedding? How do you decide what’s most important? How do you even keep track of all the things?

I remember when we were planning my own wedding having one particularly overwhelming phone call with my mom. She asked me a million questions, but the one that stood out to me (and I still remember it to this day) was, “What color napkins should I buy for the reception?” Y’all. I did not have an answer to this question. Partially because we were serving BBQ at our reception, so what color the napkins started out was of minimal importance to me; they would NOT be that color for long, and partially because it had not even occurred to me that I needed to think about that!

Today I want to help you out by breaking down all the many things you need to think through in creating your wedding budget: what are the must-do’s, the can-do’s, and the do-people-really-do-thats, and everything in between. Read to the end where I include a link to download a wedding budget spreadsheet to help you outline your own personal wedding budget. We’ll go on in future weeks to break it down further to how much each of these can/should take up of your budget and ways you can decrease spending in each area. Please remember that I am NOT going to tell you how to spend your money; there are probably thousands of amazing, talented wedding vendors of all varieties in the greater Charlotte area, and every couple is different with different priorities. AND THAT’S COMPLETELY OK! I’m not going to tell you that one is more important than another because your wedding is exactly that: yours! It should be a reflection of you and your fiance not some wedding photographer/blogger. The things that are most important to you are where you’re naturally going to place your budgetary priority, and that’s awesome and exactly as it should be. 

Now that we’ve established that, let’s start by just naming all the things running through your brain and popping up on Google searches and Facebook ads. Sometimes just listing something allows me to breathe a little sigh of relief; even if the list is entirely overwhelming at least it’s all written down!

1. Food:
   1. food for the getting ready rooms/people doing last minute decorations
   2. food for your on-site day-of vendors (coordinators, photographers, videographers, etc)
   3. cocktail hour (if you’re doing one)
   4. snacks for guests while you finish up bridal party and family portraits
   5. food for the reception
   6. who’s catering or will family friends do this for you?
   7. Who is creating/designing/baking/delivering/setting up your cake?
   8. Are you doing any other desserts besides/instead of cake? S’mores, cookies, cupcakes, donuts, pies, etc?
   9. Do you need to provide your own cake cutter/server?
   10. Do you want to do plated dinners, light/heavy hors d’oeuvres, or buffet style?
   11. Will you have a set menu, or will your guests need to choose their meal on their RSVP cards?
   12. What food allergies/preferences do you need to take into consideration (gluten, dairy, vegetarian/vegan, etc.)?
   13. Do you want real china or something simpler?
   14. Do you want real silverware or disposable?
   15. Napkins: linen? disposable? 
2. Photography/Videography:
   1. Does your photographer also do video?
   2. Do you want a second photographer or is one enough?
   3. How many hours of coverage do you want?
   4. Do you want engagement portraits?
   5. Bridal portraits?
   6. Do you want a photo booth?
   7. Do you need any coverage outside of the wedding day such as at a bridal shower or the rehearsal? 
3. Venue:
   1. Inside or outside (If outside, do you have a rain backup?)?
   2. Urban or country?
   3. Rustic? Elegant? Opulent?
   4. Do they have getting ready space?
   5. Do you want your ceremony and reception to be at the same venue?
   6. Will you need/want a tent, arbor, flower arch, or other structure?
   7. Does the venue include tables/chairs/linens in their packages or do you need to acquire them separately?
   8. What about a sound system?
   9. Are you planning to have dancing at the reception?
   10. Lodging
       1. Do you need to book rooms for any out of town family or bridal party members?
       2. Are you and your groom leaving for your honeymoon right away or will you stay an extra night nearby?
   11. What is the alcohol policy?
       1. Is there a bar already there? Or do you need to hire someone separately?
       2. Do any wedding packages include alcohol?
       3. Do you want an open bar? A designated number of drink vouchers per of-age guest? Cash bar? No bar?
       4. Do you need to buy beverages for a toast? 
4. Flowers:
   1. What type of flowers do you want for the bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, and decoration?
   2. Are those flowers accessible/affordable around your wedding date?
   3. Will a florist take care of all your floral needs? Or do you have a friend or family member who will do it for you?
   4. Do you need to order flowers or will you personally buy them wholesale or even pick them yourself?
   5.  Do you want real flowers or artificial flowers? 
5. Dresses/Suits:
   1. Will you need alterations on your dress?
   2. Are you wearing a veil? A tiara? Flowers in your hair?
   3. Will you need a hair/makeup artist?
   4. Are you buying new jewelry? Borrowing jewelry? Making your own? Wearing a family heirloom?
   5. Are you buying your bridesmaids’ dresses, or will they buy/rent their own?
   6. Are the groomsmen buying suits/tuxes or renting? Are you covering that cost or are they?
   7. What about mother of the bride and mother of the groom dresses?
   8. 
6.  Decor:
   1. Are you hiring an event planner? Or do you have friends/family who excell at this?
   2. What will you DIY (if anything)?
   3. Are you doing assigned seating and individual place settings at each spot? Just at the high table? Not at all?
   4. Candles: are you allowed to have them? Do you need to buy them yourself?
7. Favors:
   1. What do you need to buy for your favors?
   2. Are you making/buying them yourself? 
8. Exit:
   1. Bubbles? Sparklers? Glow sticks? Birdseed? Rice? Balloons? Butterflies? Something else entirely? 
9. Music:
   1. Will you have live music? A DJ? A playlist?
   2. Who will provide ceremony music? Friends? A recording? A string quartet 
10. Gifts:
    1. Do you need to buy gifts for bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girls, ring bearers, parents, planners, coordinators, officiants, or anyone else who helped you with your day? 

Whew! So many little things to make up one big, beautiful day! I’m sure there are things on this list that made you say “NO WAY!” And, of course, a wedding is a reflection of the people who are marrying, so there could certainly be things that you want at your wedding that didn’t make my list, but hopefully it also reminds you of something you hadn’t thought of or eases your mind by just seeing it all in writing. 🙂 And let me know in the comments if I left something out! There are millions of ways to make your wedding unique!

And, download your free budget planning tool here!