How to Create Your Wedding Budget

You probably understand that planning your own stylish wedding can be quite overwhelming, especially in terms of planning your wedding budget. Your guest list and budget creation determine your venue choices. Well, I’m here to help!

Here are some guidelines to help you have a quick overview of how to allocate your budget:

Wedding Reception (45 Percent)

Your wedding is perhaps one of the biggest dinners you’ll ever host. Therefore, half of your wedding budget will go to food, drinks, and other items related to the reception.

For the food, some of the items may include rehearsal dinner, canapes, the main feast, food stations, service staff, catering rentals, vendor meals, gratuity, and set up or clean up fees.

Drinks may include cocktail hour drinks, reception drinks, champagne toast, open bar, bartender service, mixers, non-alcoholic beverages, corkage fees, or wines served during the meal.

You may need to ask your preferred wedding planner in Ireland about specific inclusions in your packages when you have booked your stylish wedding venue.

Flowers (10 Percent)

To elevate your theme, you need to incorporate flowers into the decor, which will take about 10% of your wedding budget. Flower arrangements could include bouquets, corsages, flowers for the flower girl and ring bearer, ceremony arch, ceremony arrangements, centerpieces, and breathtaking floral installations.

Wedding Attire and Beauty (10 Percent)

Your wedding celebration is one of your best days in life and there is a huge excitement to put on the perfect dress for the day. What you’re wearing matters, and how you look on your big day is critical. In the end, you want to look and feel your best.

Ireland has amazing bridal boutiques to help you find the perfect dress for you.

This part of your budget will include party outfits, bridal shower outfits, bridal party outfits, and of course, your wedding dress and suit/tux.

I have included hair and make-up for the day in this figure.

Entertainment/Music (10 Percent)

To keep your guests engaged, you should consider hiring a DJ, an entertainer, or a musician. The right music creates the vibe for your celebration and the party later on.

Wedding Photography/Videography (15 Percent)

Photography and videography are so essential to your event because they will remind you of how you felt during your special day. Packages may include an engagement photoshoot, wedding day coverage, same-day edit, raw footage, highlight reel, and a feature film.

Wedding Stationery (5 Percent)

Your wedding invitations are the very first impressions your guests will have about our big day. So, it’s important to invest in intentionally created stationery, which could include save the dates, invitations, envelopes, RVSP, details card, and signage. Don’t forget to add postage to your budget.

Wedding Cake ( 3 Percent )

You couldn’t imagine a wedding without a sweet masterpiece. Talented cake designer charging around 2% from your total wedding budget for your cake.

Wedding Favours / Gifts (2 Percent)

You may want to give your guests something to take home as a memory of your wedding. So, spend about 2% of your budget on wedding favours, party gifts, spouse and parents gifts, and thank-you gifts for excellent vendors.

Contingency Budget (10 Percent)

To avoid unnecessary stress, allocate about 10% of your budget for vendor tips, sales tax, service charges, insurance, overtime fees, liquor licence, additional rentals, and clean-up costs. Everything which is unexpected and could turn up as an extra cost during your wedding planning.

Also, depending on the service you require, your wedding planner may charge 10-15%.

An average wedding in Ireland costs about €30.000. This is based on an average of 100 guests.

These tips should give you an idea of how to allocate your budget. Decide first on your priorities and then choose your dream wedding suppliers. The figures are not set in stone and every supplier has their individual pricing.

To help you better understand budgeting for your event, download my wedding budget sample sheet here.