During wedding planning, you will interview a slew of wedding professionals that are eager to work with you and make your wildest wedding wishes come true. At some point during your vendor interview (usually inserted after you have vividly described your grand entrance to a ceremony illuminated with a thousand candles), they will ask, “What’s your budget?” And it as if there has been a shift in the universe…the energy of the conversation immediately drains. Why? Money is always a touchy subject, especially when it comes to your wedding. But why should it be? Unfortunately nothing surrounding your wedding, except for love, will come utterly and willingly free! Vendors are not asking this question to be “in your business” or disqualify you as a client. It is a realistic question that needs to be asked and answered truthfully. Reason being…they cannot offer you a service that you have no idea of how you are going to pay for it. It doesn’t matter how large or small your budget is, if you have not given serious thought and consideration to a dollar amount that you are willing to spend for this particular service its hard for that vendor to be realistic with you about how much it is going to cost you. It wastes both time and energy.
For example, I put a lot of thought into my proposals and it is hard to give you a realistic vision of what services I can provide for your wedding if I don’t know what your budget is. If I present a proposal full of carnations and you’re a peony type of bride, will you consider me a viable option as a wedding florist? Probably not, because I did not offer you the look you were going for. However, if I in turn ladle a proposal with peonies from floor to ceiling and you know there is no way on earth you can afford that, I’m still not giving you what you need. This is utterly impossible without knowing how much you are willing to spend.
Even if you don’t know the going rate for a particular service, you should have an overall budget, right? Right! Have an idea of your guest count, right? Right! These two elements are oh. so. key, since your reception will utilize majority of this budget. There are a slew of websites that have tools that can help you “guess-timate” how much you can spend in each category. However, none of these tools are dead on. Depending on the type of wedding you wish to have some budgeted areas will be increased, while others may be decreased. This is probably the best place to start if you have no clue! Still clueless? Enlist the help of a human wedding calculator, also known as a wedding planner, to offer expert advice in this area.
Online Wedding Budget Tools
The Knot
The Perfect Wedding Guide
Brides.com
Martha Stewart Weddings
So the next time a vendor asks you “What’s your budget”. You can say it with confidence and then in turn ask them “ What services can you provide within my budget?
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