In Part 1 of this series we got the “Big Picture” view of a typical wedding budget and the breakdown of that budget into the usual categories of spending. If you didn’t catch that post please do so now:
Then in Part 2 we realized that two categories of spending, the reception and the wedding attire, account for almost half of the wedding budget. We went over how to save on both of those categories in great detail.
Now we concentrate on the other 65% of the budget which is spread across “little” things that just add up so quickly.
The ceremony, decorations and rental items we bundled into the reception venue package deal and the transportation need was completely eliminated by having the ceremony at the reception site.
On a typical $35,000 wedding budget, that means you’ve saved 8%, or $2,800 in addition to the $3,500 save on the reception in part 2.
Just to assure you, we are not double counting the savings. In Part 2, the 10% savings on the reception we counted all the other factors not including these four categories listed here. For example, scheduling your wedding off season, on a non-Saturday, trimming the guest list and booking a package deal etc.
Typical Budget Categories You Should Eliminate
But wait. There’s more cutting. In addition to the budget problems some good venue planning can solve, you can (and should) eliminate these too:
Expense % of Total Budget New % of Budget
Stationary
Parties
Gifts
Total
4%
4%
3%
11%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Stationary
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Parties
Don’t have them.
Gifts
Don’t need them.
If you need more convincing, we just ask you this: How many wedding favors did you keep? And how many more showers do you really want to go to?
Total Small Item Savings: 19% of Your Budget
If you follow the rules in this section, you can trim 8% of the budget and eliminate another 11% for a total fo 19% savings. On the average $35,000 budget we just saved another $6,650.
Wedding Savings Summary
Here is how we have transformed the “typical” wedding budget in just 3 short steps:
Expense % of Total Budget New % of Budget
Reception
Wedding Attire
Photographer
Flowers
Music
Videographer
Ceremony
Stationary
Parties
Miscellaneous
Gifts
Decorations
Rental Items
Bakery
Transportation
Total
35%
10%
9%
6%
5%
5%
5%
4%
4%
4%
3%
3%
2%
2%
2%
100%
25%
2%
9%
6%
5%
5%
3%
–
–
4%
–
1%
1%
2%
–
63%
Total Wedding Savings: 37% of Original Budget
In conclusion, we have cut the typical $35,000 budget to just $22,050 while still throwing a grand bash!
Have we earned your interest? Well it only gets better because we can actually help you execute this budget with our Free Complete Wedding Planner strategy and tools!
Please continue on to the next post: Step 4: Finalize your budget (in detail)
