Wedding expenses. How to properly distribute your wedding budget: expert advice Spending on a wedding

After the cherished proposal of marriage and a positive response to it is heard, the most difficult stage in the life of lovers begins - preparation for the wedding. Such a significant celebration requires certain expenses, and, judging by the prices in 2017, quite large ones. To ensure that the financial side of the issue does not become a stumbling block, Svadbaholik.ru advises making a list of the main expenses for the wedding. At the same time, try to listen to each other’s opinions and find a compromise.

What affects wedding expenses?

The structure of the wedding budget - the main expenses for a classic celebration

When you decide on the amount you are willing to spend on the wedding, it makes sense to distribute it among expense items. If you spend too much on one stage of your wedding planning, you may not have enough money for another. The initial allocation of the budget will help you navigate your expenses and decide where it is better to save and where you can overpay.

Many wedding experts advise to distribute wedding costs as follows:

• 50% to the venue. This should include not only a banquet, but also venue rental, decor, music, etc.
• 10-15% - image of the bride and groom.
• 5-10% - wedding procession.
• 10% - photo and video shooting.
• 10% - other wedding expenses (invitations, pillows for rings, rose petals, attributes for redemption).
• 10% - unforeseen expenses (additional guests, damage to property and other force majeure circumstances).

Advice: if during the preparation process you still have extra funds, do not rush to spend them. It is better to save for unexpected expenses or a honeymoon.

Estimate for a wedding - average prices for 2017

The table contains a list of the main wedding expenses. This will help you calculate the cost of your wedding.

Banquet

1. Wedding menu- 1.5-5 thousand rubles. per person. ($25-85). It is cheaper to choose a restaurant that allows you to bring your own alcohol.
2. Toastmaster or presenter- 15-80 thousand rubles. ($250-1500).
3. Musical accompaniment- 10-60 thousand rubles. ($170-1000). Many presenters can also act as a DJ for an additional fee.
4. Hall decoration- 15-70 thousand rubles. ($250-1200).
5. Cake- 1-4 thousand rubles. per kg ($17-70). The price depends on the complexity of the design and filling. It is recommended to count 150-250 g of cake per person.
6. Entertainment- 10-50 thousand rubles. ($170-850). This item can be minimized if the wedding estimate turns out to be too large.

Bride's image

1. Dress- 6-100 thousand rubles. ($100-1700). The price depends on the salon and model of the dress, on the fabrics and decorative elements used.
2. Shoes
3. Bouquet- 3-8 thousand rubles. ($50-150).
4. Accessories- 10-30 thousand rubles. ($170-500). This includes a veil, gloves, clutch, hair decorations, jewelry and other small items.
5. Hairstyle- 2.5-6 rub. ($40-100). The price of a hairstyle rehearsal will be 30-50% of their cost.
6. Makeup- 2.5-5 thousand rubles. ($40-85). The cost of a makeup rehearsal will be 30-50% of their cost.
7. Manicure- 0.5-3 thousand rubles. ($8-50). Depending on the type of manicure.

Groom image

1. Costume- 3-50 thousand rubles. ($50-850).
2. Shoes- 2-10 thousand rubles. ($35-170).
3. Accessories- 1.5-20 thousand rubles. ($25-350). This includes a tie, cufflinks, boutonniere, etc.
4. Manicure and hairstyle(if necessary) - 1.5-3 thousand rubles. ($25-50)

other expenses

1. Photography
2. Video shooting- 20-50 thousand rubles. per day ($350-850).
3. Registration at the Civil Registry Office- within 5 thousand rubles. ($85). Prices may vary in different registry offices, but only slightly.

5-10% of the total budget

1. Wedding Dress
2. Groom suit
3. Shoes (+ spare flats for the evening)
4. Underwear
5. Veil / its alternatives
6. Jewelry and accessories
7. Stylist services

Optional:

• Bridesmaids' Dresses
• Second dress for the evening

How to cut costs:

1. Start looking for a dress early: in the fall and winter, salons offer good discounts.
2. Shoes for a wedding can be bought not only in a bridal salon. If you are not necessarily looking for classic white pumps, then take a look at regular shoe stores: they have a larger assortment and more affordable prices.
3. In many salons, adjusting a dress to your figure is free, but additional alterations (changing the length of sleeves, neckline shape, etc.) will require additional costs from you, so if your budget is limited, it is better to immediately look for a model that suits you completely, or sew a dress to order.

Wedding rings

3% of total budget

We do not recommend saving on rings, because this is the most important decoration, a symbol of your marriage. Show your imagination: consider different types of metals, shapes, stones, come up with an individual engraving. You can even make rings yourself - jewelry stores hold similar master classes. If your budget is very limited, choose a classic: a simple, smooth ring without stones will not only reduce costs, but will always be in trend.

Decor and floristry

10-15% of the total budget

1. Bridal bouquet + boutonniere for the groom
2. Decoration of the outdoor ceremony
3. Dinner decoration: presidium, central compositions, additional decorative elements
4. Lighting
5. Florist decorator services

Optional:

• Bridesmaids bouquets
• Petals for the ceremony
• Photo zone/lounge area
• Evening ceremony decoration

How to cut costs:

1. Choose seasonal flowers. They will not only be cheaper, but also of better quality.
2. The wedding venue should match the style of the wedding, then the decor will be minimal, you won’t have to completely redo its appearance with it - just add flowers and place accents.
3. Combine zones: for example, a photo session with guests can be held against the backdrop of a wedding arch, and the buffet area can be turned into a relaxation area by placing upholstered furniture and complementing it with warm lighting.

Photographer, videographer

15% of the total budget

How to cut costs:

1. Consider package offers from professionals, usually cheaper than hourly shooting.
2. Keep an eye on promotions and special offers (subscribe to the social media accounts of the pros you like): some photographers offer a love-story as a gift for ordering a full wedding day shoot, a discount for booking a date earlier, saving prices from the previous season when signing a contract in December, etc.

BUT! Never skimp on the quality of services. Choose only those specialists whose work you really like and with whom you find it easy to work. Photos and videos are your memory of the wedding, trust your memories only to the best!

Banquet

40-45% of the total budget

1. Site rental
2. Food and drink
3. Service
4. Leading
5. Corkage fee
6. Cake and sweet table
7. Food for contractors

How to cut costs:

1. As a rule, the cost of a banquet directly depends on the number of guests, so reduce the list of guests by crossing out distant relatives whom you have seen once in your life, and acquaintances with whom you communicate extremely rarely.
2. If the wedding format allows, a five-hour banquet with a change of dishes can be replaced with a light buffet: this will not only help significantly reduce costs, but will also make the holiday more active and informal.

Printing

3% of total budget

At modern weddings, printing is more of a decorative element than a vital necessity: instead of paper invitations, you can create a wedding website that will contain all the information necessary for guests, and seating cards can replace personalized compliments for guests.

On the other hand, beautiful calligraphy, an elegantly designed menu, original Save the date cards - these are the little details that give your wedding a special touch and create its unique character. Therefore, the costs, composition and style of wedding printing depend only on your preferences and financial capabilities.

Entertainment and music

5-10% of the total budget

Whether it will be a DJ or a cover band, whether live music is needed at the ceremony, whether it is necessary to invite animators, how to entertain guests during the buffet and at the banquet - all this is very individual, and depends on your personal preferences, style and location of the wedding, and, of course, budget.

First of all, decide on the format of the event itself - it will be a magnificent classical celebration (in which case a string quartet at the ceremony and performances by artists during the evening are appropriate), a youth party (with a DJ, board games and creative performances from the guests themselves) or a cozy family dinner, the main focus of which will be light music and long conversations?

Wedding planner

10% of the total budget

Unexpected expenses

3% of total budget

Taxi for late guests, spare decorative and serving elements in case something breaks, additional rental of the venue and contractors’ working hours if the holiday drags on a little - just set aside a certain amount at the very beginning of preparations so that you don’t have to worry about such little things on your wedding day and just enjoy the holiday!

Planning a wedding budget is where you should start preparing for any celebration, small or large. By drawing up a brief economic plan, you will be able to correctly prioritize when preparing for such an important event as a wedding, and not miss anything. Don't know where to start? The Svadebka.ws portal will help you.

Answer important questions!

Before distributing funds between individual wedding spending items, it is worth answering 8 important questions that will help you decide on an approximate wedding budget:

1. Time of year and date of the wedding (a summer celebration will cost more than a winter one).
2. Source of financing (own funds, parental assistance, loan, etc.).
3. Number and composition of guests.
4. What kind of wedding will you have: classic or themed (the latter will require more expenses than a traditional one, because for a stylized celebration you will have to purchase or rent rather specific outfits and interior details, which will require additional expenses).
5. Where will you register: at the registry office or outside its walls.
6. Where do you want to hold the banquet (restaurant, cottage, home, etc.).
7. The desired composition of contractors (presenter, photographer, videographer, etc. - who is required and who can be refused).
8. Are there any friends in the wedding industry who can offer you their services at a lower price than other specialists?

By answering these questions with your groom, you can determine the approximate budget you will need to organize the wedding of your dreams. And then, based on this budget, you should draw up a more detailed wedding spending plan.

Numbers, numbers, numbers...

If we talk about competently calculating a wedding budget, we recommend distributing the available funds as follows:

• Wedding banquet (hall rental, menu, etc.) - 40%.
• Host and show program - 20%.
• Organization and coordination of a wedding - 10%.
• The image of the newlyweds - 10%.
• Wedding photo and video shooting - 10%.
• Decor and floristry - 10%.
• Accessories for banquets and ceremonies - 3%.
• Other expenses (transport, staging a wedding dance, etc.) - 2%.

Using these simple ratios, you can determine how much you can spend on a wedding dress or renting a banquet hall, and whether you fit into the required amount when ordering the services of a particular photographer. This will make it easier to make a rational choice, and not be guided by the immediate “I want”, and then worry that there is not enough money for other items of wedding expenses.

Many newlyweds start to panic when it comes time to plan their wedding budget. Don’t panic, we present to your attention some important tips that will help you wisely distribute your available funds, organizing exactly the celebration you dreamed of:

• We all have our weaknesses, and if you want a wedding dress from a world brand or an expensive photographer, you shouldn’t immediately abandon this idea, you just need to make a list of services and goods that must be at your wedding in advance in order to correctly “redraw” the budget . Just don’t go to extremes, because even if you wear a Vera Wang dress, your guests won’t appreciate your celebration without interesting entertainment and delicious treats.
• Carefully study the market using wedding catalogs to find the ideal options for services and products in terms of price-quality. As a result of such monitoring, make a list of necessary goods and services with an average price for each, so you can make an informed choice, and not choose blindly.
• Don’t follow trends if you don’t like them, and don’t try to please anyone, because this is your holiday.
• Read the stories of other brides: now on the Internet you can find many blogs of girls who talk in detail about all stages of preparation for the wedding. This way you can learn all the moments and nuances of organizing a celebration from the lips of real brides.

Making a list of wedding expenses

The more detailed you make a list of wedding expenses, the easier it will be for you to navigate the abundance of offers. You will buy only what you need, without forgetting anything. So, the main points of compiling such a list are:

• Detailed description: a list like “restaurant, dress, host” is unlikely to help you correctly allocate your budget and organize the perfect celebration. Therefore, decipher each of the points in detail, indicating what is important to you, for example: a restaurant (open area, complete closure, the ability to bring your own alcohol, a small “corkage” fee, a classic interior in light colors).
• Enter designations about the importance of each item that will help, if necessary, refuse some service/product (+++ - required, ++ - possible, + - can be refused).
• Leave a margin of 10-15% of the total budget for unforeseen expenses (unexpected guests, additional purchase of alcohol, unaccounted for transportation costs, etc.).

When the budget is drawn up, you should follow it strictly point by point, noting what you have already purchased/ordered. The portal www.site presents to your attention an approximate table of wedding expenses that will help you properly plan your wedding budget. Gradually enter your expenses into this table - then you will not forget about anything and will be able to control your expenses during the entire preparation for the wedding.

Wedding planning should begin with a key point - discussing the wedding budget. After all, a well-designed wedding budget is the best saving option for those newlyweds who want their celebration to be simply impeccable.

“How much will our wedding cost?” — our first meeting with future newlyweds who come to us for the first time to organize a wedding usually begins with this question.

Someone asks while roughly planning the amount they could spend on their celebration. Others immediately name the cherished figure and timidly ask: “Do we have enough for the wedding we dream of?” There are also those who mainly talk about their wedding, without talking about money and immediately placing the highest demands on the organization of the celebration, because they are talking about a premium-level wedding.

And yet, in our time, everyone counts money, it’s hard to disagree with this, and even more so when it comes to such a serious celebration as a wedding. So what components influence the wedding budget?

First of all, the wedding budget directly depends on the number of invited guests, and also on the content of the celebration.

The main mistake of newlyweds who plan a wedding on their own is to invest 80% in the wedding banquet and leave only 20% for creating the atmosphere. Below we offer an easy to understand financial scheme, which will help you organize your wedding budget:

How this plan will help you:

• It is better to plan a budget than to spend money obeying a momentary “I want” or “I like” - later you will find that expenses are out of control.
• When planning to spend, for example, a million on a wedding, you will immediately understand that you need to spend no more than 400 thousand on a restaurant, otherwise you will not meet your budget.
• If you have chosen a more expensive service for yourself, for example, photography, which exceeds 5% or even 10% of your budget, then you already understand perfectly well that this either increases the overall budget or is to the detriment of other positions, and this is wrong. Therefore, your budget should increase in proportion to the additional expenses.

What is included in the price of a wedding banquet?

Restaurants and banquet venues in Moscow and the Moscow region operate according to several banquet service schemes. Some offer calculations based on the menu per person, while others immediately imply “restaurant closing.” For example, the banquet manager tells you a deposit of 300 thousand, which means that you will have to pay this money regardless of whether you invited 30 or 60 guests to your wedding. If the prices on the menu of this establishment are high and you cannot meet this amount with such a number of guests, then the cost of your banquet will be even higher.

Surely you would be interested in your alcoholic drinks, because this is a significant cost optimization.

Many establishments accommodate customers halfway by offering a so-called “corkage tax,” which is charged if the restaurant provides its own glassware and waiters to serve your alcohol. Speaking of waiters: keep in mind that a service fee will be added to your bill - usually 10% of the cost of the banquet (although some venues are already asking for 15%, and during the season even 20%).

How much to spend on decor?

There are brides who want and can spend quite a lot of money on decorating the wedding of their dreams, building luxurious decorations and expecting a “WOW!” reaction from the guests. Of course, for such brides there are also designers who can create conceptual decor on the level of Karen Tran and Preston Bailey. It’s great if your wedding is the most luxurious and unusual. The only thing you shouldn’t forget about is the plan, where decor should take up only 10-15%, or at least 20% of your budget. Please note that you will always have to increase your wedding expenses in proportion to the increase in decoration costs, since the first delight of what you see, even the stunning decor, will not replace a decent dinner and an excellent entertainment program.

Host and show - do you need your wedding to be memorable?

Fees for professional wedding hosts in Moscow start from 50-70 thousand. These are the masters of their craft who not only know how to “speak into a microphone” well, but feel the atmosphere and know how to get out of unforeseen situations in the best possible way. Immediately decide with your host what kind of humor suits you, and what and with whom you shouldn’t joke at all, tell us about those guests who are happy to participate in any interactions and fun, and who are better left alone.

If you want to invite some of the star artists and media personalities, 15-20% of the budget, of course, is out of the question. Such persons can be safely incurred as additional or other expenses, because it often happens that the fee of such an artist is equal to the entire budget of one good wedding in Moscow.

How much does good photo and video shooting cost?

As when choosing a presenter, you should not focus on cost. Still, the only thing that will remain after the celebration, besides the memories, is your photo album and wedding film.

Why pay organizers?

Here you can draw an analogy with other services for which you turn to specialists in your everyday life. For example, if you need to change your hairstyle, you go to a stylist, and for high-quality renovation of your apartment, you go to designers and builders. You can, of course, trim your bangs yourself and even paste wallpaper, but the main question is whether you need to do it yourself?

A wedding is the first and, we sincerely wish you, the only such event in your life. And for a professional wedding planner, these events happen almost every week.

Good specialists in their field, of course, also value their time and their work and are unlikely to work for less than 50 thousand rubles if they fix their fee. There are also those who work for a percentage of the wedding budget (this is from 10 to 15%), and this payment scheme is also convenient and understandable for many.

Is it possible to reduce costs if you move the holiday to the Moscow region or abroad?

Future brides and grooms are asking this more and more often. Let's just say: in Moscow it's ALSO possible. Moving out of town is not always justified by the budget, because your costs will increase both for the transfer of invitees and for the delivery of equipment, employees and personnel. Arm yourself with Excel spreadsheets or a calculator and calculate for yourself what will be more profitable for you - have a wedding in a tent by the water, for example, in Istra, or stay in a Moscow restaurant. Regardless of any calculation, it is clear that logistics costs will become significant and are unlikely to fall within the 5% mentioned in our plan.

In this budget scheme there is no tangible expense item called "Wedding image". We, wedding planners, traditionally put it “out of the picture” and do not take it into account when planning the wedding budget.

The main thing I would like to say in conclusion: This scheme does not oblige you to anything. You are free to manage your money as you see fit. We reserve the right to recommend to you the correct balance of components of the wedding budget, and you can replace or increase/decrease each of the positions within the framework of your priorities. For example, you have chosen a self-sufficient restaurant that does not require large expenses for decoration. It would be logical to use the “freed up” amount for entertainment or a more expensive photographer, which you may have long dreamed of.

The situation is much more serious with the location of your holiday, because a lot depends on it. You need to start looking for a location for your celebration as early as possible. But before that, don't forget to make a guest list. Armed with an exact figure, as well as knowing the amount you can spend on one guest, you can begin calculating the menu and negotiating with the establishments that you like most. When indicating the number of guests, just in case, add two or three people in case there are more guests than you originally planned or someone decides to come in a larger group. Enter the cost of the banquet per person at fifteen percent higher than the actual price. You can save quite a lot if you agree with the management of the establishment that the delivery of alcohol will be carried out separately. There are many tricks and tricks in how to calculate a wedding budget, for example, you can create a menu of a couple of main courses, appetizers, and dessert. You should avoid a large number of salads and cold cuts by choosing separately served dishes. Not only will you be able to make positive changes in this way, but your holiday table will look elite, the guests will be well-fed and no one will have to deal with the “Everests” of leftover food. Of course, initially the wedding estimate, which you can download on the Internet, depends on the number of loved ones, friends, and acquaintances you invited. However, when making this important list, try to act from the heart, leaving aside any thoughts about the grandiose “economies of scale” effect that can be achieved. If you want to calculate your wedding, remember that the banquet takes up at least fifty percent of the total budget. Therefore, you definitely need to add it to the wedding expenses calculator, which is very easy to download.

Most restaurants now name a specific amount for closing a floor, hall or entire establishment, so sometimes the “scale” of the event matters when you calculate how much it costs to organize a wedding. When the time comes, don't forget that the cake is usually ordered separately from a bakery that specializes in such works of holiday art. The agency will provide you with a list of restaurants that can host and hold your gala banquet at the proper level.

In order to properly plan your celebration, you can use the online wedding calculator service, which all newlyweds need to download. Do not forget to include in the budget of your celebration the cost of the services of florists and decorators, because the surroundings of the ceremony and your mood depend on this. The more guests you invite, the more chairs and tables you will have to give the appropriate look. When talking about decorations, you need to keep in mind printing, textiles, and floristry.

When estimating how much an average wedding costs, do not forget about related services, which include: payment for registry office services, state fees, car rental, videographer, photographer, hairdresser, makeup artist, as well as accessories, bonbonnieres, printing of invitations and symbolic memorable gifts for guests. It is impossible to calculate wedding expenses without these items, since they are the ones who help make the celebration bright and memorable. Some newlyweds mistakenly believe that the cost of photos and videos does not depend in any way on the number of people invited to the celebration. It should be borne in mind that one photography master and one videographer will be able to take really high-quality footage of approximately fifty guests. A larger number of invitees will definitely be divided into small groups, so you will need two-camera filming, because you cannot skimp on memory and emotions!

The level, quality of the festive organization, emotions and atmosphere, which will certainly remain in the memory of your guests, largely depend on how exactly you distribute your budget.