5 Budget Tips to Keep Your Wedding Simply Fabulous!
Written by Bryon Hicks-Lee,

The majority of brides regret some of the choices they made concerning their wedding. Proper budgeting could have prevented some of these problems.  Bryon Hicks-Lee, a consultant with Duette Wedding and Event Planners offers brides five simple budgeting tips to ensure that their weddings go as smoothly as possible without breaking the bank in the process.

Dividing your budget.  Whether you are paying for the wedding yourselves, or your families are helping; setting a realistic budget is essential.  Here is the simple way: 

50% for reception location, rentals, food and beverages 
10% for flowers and dιcor 
10% for photography and Videography 
10% for the bride’s and groom’s attire 
10% for fees, invitations, transportation, etc. 
10% for honeymoon   

2. Keep yourself from overspending.  It is not impossible.  Consider serving wine or beer instead of a full bar and save the champagne for the toasts.   Instead of a grandiose meal during the reception, consider having a breakfast or afternoon tea.  Not only will you save on food, but also scant amounts of alcohol will make a surprising difference.  

3.   Keeping things straight.  To stay on budget, keep track of quotes, deposits and balances due.  Consider using wedding planning software available on the market to not only keep track of your spending, but it could also help with invitations and guest lists.  Also get everything quoted to you in writing.     

4. Consider the Honeymoon.  Although the honeymoon is not included in the actual budget, it is best to consider it when planning your wedding because you will need to budget money for the trip.   

5.   Who is responsible for what?  Times have changed and no longer is the bride’s family responsible for assuming the entire cost of a wedding.  In response to that problem wedding consultants decided (many years ago) to make changes to help even things out. 

Each family would assume responsibility for one-third of the costs- bride’s family, groom’s family and the bride and groom.  This relieved some of the pressure on the bride’s family and also made the process of planning the wedding a more enjoyable experience.