Balancing the Budget
I am in the process of helping my sister-in-law plan her wedding, and like with most event planning, we are trying to stick to our budget without skimping on the most important aspects of the day. As many of you know, have recently discovered, or are soon to find out, it’s really difficult to plan when you don’t know how much of your budget should be allocated to certain items, what is the max you can spend on an item and still keep your budget in tact, and what you can leave out altogether. Believe me, we need all the help we can get.
Though there are some helpful pointers out there–Brides.com even has a budget advisor to help you stay on track– what I’ve found to be most useful is a simple word document my partner sent to me. This document is the same budget offered by about.com and gives a monetary and percentage breakdown of your total budget. This is particularly helpful when meeting with vendors who may try to tack on a bunch of extras you may not have even thought about, let alone factored into your budget. While the document doesn’t give an itemized breakdown for the entire budget like the budget advisor at Brides.com, the overall amount given in the section breakdown gives you your max allotment while allowing you the freedom to customize the section expenditure based on your particular preferences. Plus, you will be able to tweak the document according to your own needs (i.e. either adding/removing sections or including an actual cost slot to compare what you paid with your budget projection. Not bad for those of you who like a little independence in your planning.
Since I find it such a helpful tool, I’m betting some of you will too. So, if you’d like a copy of this word document for your own planning purposes, just contact us at info@showersblog.com and request a copy of the Sample Wedding Budget. Plus, if you’ve found some helpful tools or tips of your own, feel free to share.
Some other helpful budget spreadsheets: Real Simple Budget, Your Wedding Company, and of course The Knot
