What percentage of your wedding budget goes to what?

Question

% to spend on dress

% to spend on food

% to spend on location

% to spend on cake..........etc.

I am thinking 10,000 budget.

Answer 1

I believe theknot.com has a budget estimator online... this includes percentages for "typical" weddings.

I think it's something like:

50-60% for the reception (venue, food, alcohol, music, misc.)

10% for the dress (incl. flowers and other jewelry)

5% for guys' outfit

5-10% for transportation

10% for ceremony venue (incl. flowers)

10% for rings and gifts.

10% for photographer.

But find out what you want to splurge on and what you don't care about.  My fiancee originally budgeted $750 for her dress.  She was shocked when she found the perfect dress at David's for $300, including all major alterations.  She budgeted $750 for flowers, and found great guys who were going to do it all for less than half that.  Because of that, we could splurge on some other things (like better apps at the reception).  Don't forget the "hidden" expenses like POSTAGE (for save the dates, invites, return cards, and thank yous!) TAXES (on food and alcohol... they're crazy)... transportation (the bane of our wedding day...)

Check out the knot... it will give you an idea.

Answer 2

I actually prefer the budgeting tool at Brides.com to the one at The Knot. Brides.com lets YOU set the priority on your budget. They do suggest percentages, but you can override them. Not so on The Knot (although their guest list manager is GREAT!)

I'm aiming for the same budget as you.

Answer 3

I would not go by percentages to determine what your budget is.  You know you have $10,000 to start with.  Now look around at costs.  Get an idea of what you want vs. the cost.  Then work the numbers.  Get a list of what needs to be done (I forgot about the photographer, for instance).  This is how budgets are done.

In general, I would expect at least half your budget to go to your reception, but that isn't always true.  My sister's budget put about 40% of it at the wedding due to the cost of the location, and only about 30% at the reception (restaurant, cake thrown in for free).

Answer 4

Gosh, hun, it's so different for everyone. What you have to do is figure out your priorities. For example, which of those things on your list is most important to you?

For us, our reception (all-inclusive at a hotel) and the photography ate the most of our budget. But we sacrificed having a live band and a videographer to pay for them.

In general, expect to spend the most on food, and depending on if you want to get married at an actual venue (i.e. not a park or someone's backyard), expect to pay a lot for that as well (room rental fees, set-up fees, etc.).

For your dress, you can get good deals online or in stores if you're willing to go to sample sales, or shop for white dresses in the non-bridal sections.

We're expecting our cake to cost about $200 for 50 people (even though we have 60 guests, we're also serving cheesecakes).

Answer 5

I didn't go on percentages.  I knew my budget.  Then I wrote down things I wanted and needed for my wedding...

Dress and accessories

Food

Location

Cake

Photographer

Music

Decorations

Flowers

and so on.

Then I went and got estimates and prices for each item on my list.  It tried to get 3 prices for each thing.  Then I went back through and seen how these would fit in my budget and what things I would have to eliminate or change to make it work.  I also knew in the back of my mind about what my maximum would be for things such as my dress.  I knew I could spend $5,000 on my dress so I only looked at dresses in my price range.  I would tell the person at the dress shop my price range when I went to try on dresses.  They are very helpful when it comes to finding you a dress you like and can afford.

Also I didn't agree to anything until I had the price for all of the items on my list.  I didn't book the first location, buy the first dress, go with the first florist, etc.  I know girls that have done that because they thought well that is pretty cheep and then they couldn't afford things at the end that they really wanted because they were to their budget already buying things that were not as important or that they could have gotten a lower price on.

This worked for me.

Answer 6

I had about a $10,000 when I started.  I spent the following:

About 5% on the dress

About 60% on ceremony/reception location, food and bar

About 3% on cake

About 7% on florist

About 10% on photographer

About 4% on DJ

About 3% on groom's attire

About 1% on favors

And about another 25% on incidentals like bridal jewelry, transportation, reception accessories (placecards, etc.), rings, attendant gifts, etc.

So we are about $2000 over budget currently.  But we are pretty much done.  I hope.

Answer 7

It depends on the couple. The bulk of our budge is going towards food/drink. It also depends on how many guests you are having...

We are paying about $120 per person food/drink...my dress and shoes, etc will probably be only like $1500, once alterations are done.

www.costofwedding.com

Answer 8

I've heard that your wedding dress (and accessories, hair, etc) should be no more than 10% of your overall budget.  I don't know the percentage of other things, but if you check out  Real Simple Weddings magazine I know there is a break-down of % in that magazine.

Answer 9

Don't forget the photographer...plan about $2,000-3,000 minimum for that.