Wedding budgets

The way to look at your wed­ding bud­get is with as much pos­i­tiv­ity as you can. See it as the umbrella that brings every aspect of your wed­ding plan­ning together.

After you’ve done with the ini­tial excite­ment of get­ting engaged, you should sit down together with your fiancé to con­sider what you can afford to spend on your wed­ding, and what your pri­or­i­ties are.

The aver­age UK wed­ding budget

Many brides and grooms find it use­ful to start with the aver­age UK wed­ding bud­get, and adapt that to their own situation.

If your dream wed­ding venue is your num­ber one pri­or­ity then you may need to spend less on your wed­ding dress or honeymoon.

If your par­ents are offer­ing to pay for a par­tic­u­lar part of your wed­ding (invi­ta­tions and sta­tionery, or the cater­ing are pop­u­lar choices) then work to a fixed amount for these when you know how much they can contribute.

Man­ag­ing money for your wedding

Any wed­ding is a big pur­chase, when you add it all together. Even if you’re work­ing to a bud­get of £2,000 you’ll need to stay on top of your wed­ding bud­get and plan pur­chases care­fully. Some skill in man­ag­ing money for your wed­ding is essential.

Sav­ing up for your wed­ding day

Sav­ing up before­hand takes a lot of the pres­sure off your wed­ding day. Read our tips on ways to save up for your wed­ding, includ­ing how many sand­wiches it takes to pay for a wed­ding dress.

Who pays for the wedding?

Most often these days, par­ents will con­tribute towards a part of the cost of a wed­ding, but the largest con­tri­bu­tion will come from you and your fiancé. For tips on how to com­pro­mise and decide what your par­ents could pay for if they’d like to con­tribute, read more about who pays for the wed­ding.

All about wed­ding insurance

You do need insur­ance. It costs very lit­tle, but the poten­tial ben­e­fit is huge. Wed­dings can and do get post­poned through ill­ness, fam­ily bereave­ment and other sit­u­a­tions out of our con­trol. Hav­ing wed­ding insur­ance will ease the finan­cial bur­den in the worst case sce­nario. It’s also handy if the best man rips his trousers…

Cheap wed­ding ideas

You can have a fab­u­lous wed­ding on a bud­get, espe­cially if you’re crafty and your friends are will­ing to pitch in and help out. Read our page about where to spend and where to save. What are the essen­tials you have to have, and what can you skip for a cheap wed­ding?

Expert wed­ding bud­get advice

Whether you’re just get­ting started with wed­ding plan­ning or strug­gling with your wed­ding bud­get, this arti­cle from one of my favourite wed­ding experts should help you. Bernadette Chap­man from wed­ding plan­ners Dream Occa­sions shares her best tips for keep­ing your wed­ding bud­get real­is­tic. She also has some great tips for cut­ting your wed­ding bud­get, get­ting friends and fam­ily involved and still hav­ing a gor­geous wed­ding on a bud­get.