Wedding budget: how to build one and keep it under control

The guest count decides everything else

Before you compare a single quote, decide how many people you are inviting. Food, drinks, the venue, tables, tableware and part of the decoration are either priced per person or grow with the number of people, so every extra guest adds cost in several categories at once.

That is why trimming the guest list is the fastest way to bring the total down. Twenty people fewer usually saves noticeably more than negotiating the price of flowers or a photographer.

Build the list in three passes: people the wedding would not make sense without, people you want to invite if the venue and budget allow, and people you are inviting out of obligation. The third pass is the one that gets cut first when the numbers do not work.

Split the budget into categories before amounts

Categories are more useful than one large number because they show where the money actually goes. For most weddings the list looks like this:

• Venue and catering, including food and drinks
• Photographer and videographer
• Music, a band or a DJ
• Dress, suit, hair and make-up
• Decoration and flowers
• Invitations and anything printed for the day
• Transport and accommodation for guests travelling in
• Rings
• Paperwork, the ceremony and its fees

Venue and catering take the largest share

At almost every wedding the venue and catering are the biggest line, often around half of the total. Photography and music usually come next. Treat these proportions as a starting point for a first estimate only, and replace them with real numbers as soon as you have actual quotes.

When you request a venue quote, ask what the per-person price includes. Drinks, cake, corkage, tableware hire and staff overtime are often billed separately and can quietly lift a figure you thought was final.

Keep a reserve you do not touch

Plan a reserve of roughly ten percent of the total and track it as its own line. It covers what appears at the last minute: extra guests, extending the venue booking, transport you did not anticipate, repairing or replacing something on the day itself.

A reserve only works if you do not spend it in advance. The moment you count it inside another category, it stops being a reserve.

Track planned and paid separately

The most common budgeting mistake is tracking a single number. The planned amount and the amount actually paid are two different pieces of information, and the gap between them tells you how much money you realistically still have.

Budget tracking in xtwo works exactly that way. For each item you enter the planned amount and the amount paid so far, along with a category, a currency and a note. The sum of those differences shows at any moment how far above or below plan you are. Budget tracking is free for every event.

Deposits are a special case. Most suppliers ask for a deposit at booking and the balance close to the date. If you only record the deposit you have paid, the budget looks far healthier than it is, so always keep the planned amount at the full agreed price.