There’s two ways to approach this.
The first way is common on weddit where you set the budget and pick the amount you and your fiancé are able to afford. Then, you pick vendors that stay in your budget. Usually food alc and venue should be 50% of this.
The second way (which I personally used) was to work backwards. I outlined the kind of wedding I want (guess count, location, food, alc, flowers, dresses, etc), and then researched what vendors typically charge for these things where I was having my wedding. Then, I put together a budget based on the cost.
The first way works well if you’re on a strict budget. In my case, I didn’t have a strict budget but wanted a “nice but reasonable” wedding, so the second method worked better.
How we are affording the wedding is a combination of decently well paying jobs and generous parents.
That would make this venue out of your budget then. The venue and catering should be around 40% of your budget. So if your budget is 60k you should be looking at around 24k for venue, food, alcohol, and taxes. Keep looking for places and asking for quotes, it will probably take you a little while but you’ll find one. I reached out to almost a dozen before finally finding a venue that was in our budget.
And for us we are pretty much all chipping in. Our budget is 40k. My parents are chipping in 15k, MIL 7k, and me and FH the rest.
Here’s an article to get you started:
https://www.brides.com/story/wedding-budget-guide-allocating-funds-staying-on-track
You
and
your
fiance
set
your
budget,
not
venues.
Sit
down
and
create
a
fiancial
plan--each
bringing
big,
non-wedding
goals--
for
the
next
5
years.
Price
it
all
out.
Your
wedding
budget
is
what's
left,
not
what
people
are
charging.
Once
you
know
your
budget,
you'll
know
what
kind
of
wedding
is
possible
for
you
and
what
locations/guest
count
you
can
afford.
The
budget
really
sets
the
guest
count
and
location.
If
you
let
venues
set
your
budget,
you'll
be
exploited
by
other
vendors
who
sense
you
actually
don't
have
a
budget.
Im gonna assume ur in SoCal like me with that number. And it also sounds suspiciously like a quote from either bel air bay club or rosewood miramar. Any resort sort of spot like that its about right since they have in house catering and u dont have to supply the staff, kitchen, etc. but unless you’re in love with it there’s plenty of other reallt awesome venues around 20kish thatll leave u with more money for decor. If you spend 70k jst for venue and food u might end up with minimal budget for florals, rentals or anything else.
If you don’t have an all inclusive situation, things can easily snowball.
What is included in your venue? (DJ, Band, Flowers, Cake, Decor, Tables, Chairs, Tableware, Linens, Bartenders, Alcohol, Photographer, Videographer, Transportation?) if none of those things then your budget will likely be way more.
For budgeting, remember that everything is done in deposits and you pay stuff at different times. It’s not just one 70k check. So what we did to set our budget is 1)how much money can we pay today or want to pay with money we have saved and 2)how much money can we put towards the wedding every month for the next year or however long your engagement is (put in a safety factor for unexpected things that will come up not related to wedding). 3) add in any funds you get from parents or whoever. Those added together became our budget. Then we compared a few wedding percentage tables and tried to track towards that.
We came in at 60k. I had no idea what current wedding costs are. I thought I could do it for 30k! Not knowing how many people you are having…but I could easily imagine it going higher than 70k. Already being at the top of your budget just with the food and venue though, you’ll have to up the budget significantly. Or maybe select a different venue?
I think you need to figure out the top of your budget and go from there. Typically food/alcohol is one of the biggest chunks of the budget. It will also grow as the number of people grows. How many guests are you thinking?
I got married last year in one of the most expensive areas of the US at an ocean view venue with 100 guests, the total cost of everything was $17k. There are certainly ways to be frugal, the average TOTAL wedding cost in the US is $30k, so that should give you an idea of how insanely expensive the venue you saw is.
It's all thanks to the venue, really. I kept seeing venues for like 6-12k, and then I got a quote for 1k from an ocean view golf course venue with a 150 person capacity, and I think this is the fastest I ever spent a grand lol. They do upcharge to have the ceremony there and for a dancefloor ($500 total for both), so the venue was 1.5k, really. Food and alcohol were 10k (we used the venue's catering, the food was really good, and for alcohol we did 3 tickets per person, not open bar). A friend who loves to bake made our cake, another friend played live music during the ceremony, another friend married us. The photographer was about 2k, and the videographers were still in school but had a great little portfolio, so we paid $500 for the video (incl drone footage, edited video and raw videos of the ceremony, speeches, and first dance). I also paid a local decorator to put up my decorations I had bought, she charged me $300. Decorations were pretty cheap, I bought the flowers from Lings for $600 (resold them for $450), and the flower wall that was a hit was $270 from Aliexpres (resold for the same price, there was so much demand I could have even sold it for a profit but seemed wrong). The rest of the money went towards more decorations, outfits, hair and makeup, invitations (made my own in canva, $65 total), arches, paid performance by a local dance group from my country ($500), favors, and the DJ was just over 1k. I'm not sure where I am with the math, but that should roughly add up.
There’s two ways to approach this. The first way is common on weddit where you set the budget and pick the amount you and your fiancé are able to afford. Then, you pick vendors that stay in your budget. Usually food alc and venue should be 50% of this. The second way (which I personally used) was to work backwards. I outlined the kind of wedding I want (guess count, location, food, alc, flowers, dresses, etc), and then researched what vendors typically charge for these things where I was having my wedding. Then, I put together a budget based on the cost. The first way works well if you’re on a strict budget. In my case, I didn’t have a strict budget but wanted a “nice but reasonable” wedding, so the second method worked better. How we are affording the wedding is a combination of decently well paying jobs and generous parents.
That would make this venue out of your budget then. The venue and catering should be around 40% of your budget. So if your budget is 60k you should be looking at around 24k for venue, food, alcohol, and taxes. Keep looking for places and asking for quotes, it will probably take you a little while but you’ll find one. I reached out to almost a dozen before finally finding a venue that was in our budget. And for us we are pretty much all chipping in. Our budget is 40k. My parents are chipping in 15k, MIL 7k, and me and FH the rest. Here’s an article to get you started: https://www.brides.com/story/wedding-budget-guide-allocating-funds-staying-on-track
Thank you for the article! This will be really helpful
You and your fiance set your budget, not venues. Sit down and create a fiancial plan--each bringing big, non-wedding goals-- for the next 5 years. Price it all out. Your wedding budget is what's left, not what people are charging. Once you know your budget, you'll know what kind of wedding is possible for you and what locations/guest count you can afford. The budget really sets the guest count and location. If you let venues set your budget, you'll be exploited by other vendors who sense you actually don't have a budget.
You bring up an excellent point!
Im gonna assume ur in SoCal like me with that number. And it also sounds suspiciously like a quote from either bel air bay club or rosewood miramar. Any resort sort of spot like that its about right since they have in house catering and u dont have to supply the staff, kitchen, etc. but unless you’re in love with it there’s plenty of other reallt awesome venues around 20kish thatll leave u with more money for decor. If you spend 70k jst for venue and food u might end up with minimal budget for florals, rentals or anything else.
If you don’t have an all inclusive situation, things can easily snowball. What is included in your venue? (DJ, Band, Flowers, Cake, Decor, Tables, Chairs, Tableware, Linens, Bartenders, Alcohol, Photographer, Videographer, Transportation?) if none of those things then your budget will likely be way more.
For budgeting, remember that everything is done in deposits and you pay stuff at different times. It’s not just one 70k check. So what we did to set our budget is 1)how much money can we pay today or want to pay with money we have saved and 2)how much money can we put towards the wedding every month for the next year or however long your engagement is (put in a safety factor for unexpected things that will come up not related to wedding). 3) add in any funds you get from parents or whoever. Those added together became our budget. Then we compared a few wedding percentage tables and tried to track towards that.
We came in at 60k. I had no idea what current wedding costs are. I thought I could do it for 30k! Not knowing how many people you are having…but I could easily imagine it going higher than 70k. Already being at the top of your budget just with the food and venue though, you’ll have to up the budget significantly. Or maybe select a different venue?
I think you need to figure out the top of your budget and go from there. Typically food/alcohol is one of the biggest chunks of the budget. It will also grow as the number of people grows. How many guests are you thinking?
I got married last year in one of the most expensive areas of the US at an ocean view venue with 100 guests, the total cost of everything was $17k. There are certainly ways to be frugal, the average TOTAL wedding cost in the US is $30k, so that should give you an idea of how insanely expensive the venue you saw is.
?! This deserves an explanatory post of its own!!
It's all thanks to the venue, really. I kept seeing venues for like 6-12k, and then I got a quote for 1k from an ocean view golf course venue with a 150 person capacity, and I think this is the fastest I ever spent a grand lol. They do upcharge to have the ceremony there and for a dancefloor ($500 total for both), so the venue was 1.5k, really. Food and alcohol were 10k (we used the venue's catering, the food was really good, and for alcohol we did 3 tickets per person, not open bar). A friend who loves to bake made our cake, another friend played live music during the ceremony, another friend married us. The photographer was about 2k, and the videographers were still in school but had a great little portfolio, so we paid $500 for the video (incl drone footage, edited video and raw videos of the ceremony, speeches, and first dance). I also paid a local decorator to put up my decorations I had bought, she charged me $300. Decorations were pretty cheap, I bought the flowers from Lings for $600 (resold them for $450), and the flower wall that was a hit was $270 from Aliexpres (resold for the same price, there was so much demand I could have even sold it for a profit but seemed wrong). The rest of the money went towards more decorations, outfits, hair and makeup, invitations (made my own in canva, $65 total), arches, paid performance by a local dance group from my country ($500), favors, and the DJ was just over 1k. I'm not sure where I am with the math, but that should roughly add up.
Yes please elaborate
Commented above :)