Wedding Budget

I have been asked countless times "How much does it take to get married?" and I normally throw back a question straight and direct to the point... "It depends on how much you want to pay for it?".

Yes, it all depends on how much you want to spend for your wedding. You can get married for as low as Php 7,000 (just enough to pay for legal papers) or the moon is the limit (well here, anything goes - the most expensive wedding we did was at 2.5M).

When my clients get confused with their budget, I get them to answer a short questionnaire just to find out if they are at the same page in their wedding preps and their priorities.

In planning your dream wedding and staying on the budget, here's what you need to do:

                            

Think about your dream wedding. Each of you should list down everything that you want to make your dream wedding come true. Once you're done with that, time to go back to reality and compare notes (to find out if you are at the same page), determine how much you both are willing to spend or save up for your wedding.

                         

Now, you have to work with your fiance on the following:

1) Be realistic... up to how much do you want to spend?

• Getting married these days is pretty expensive. Better to know early on what your limit is would be a great help. Remember, there is still life after the wedding. You don't have to impress anybody.

2) Identify your top 3 or top 5 priorities and your least priorities.  

• Knowing your priorities will help you determine where you can splurge - food, venue, photo and video?
• It will determine what items you can skimp on - souvenirs, decor, flowers, etc.
• Make sure that both of you have the same priorities. If not, it's time to talk about it and compromise if needed (e.g. You want a vintage bridal car but he wants a Mercedes Benz bridal car). 
• Our clients normally decide on prioritizing the following: photo and video, venue (church and reception), food, entertainment and gown

3) Allocate a specific amount for all the items in your list

• If you prioritize your photo and video allocate a certain budget for this. Packages from good photo and video suppliers starts at Php 35,000. The most expensive we know of is at Php 150,000. 
• If you're not prioritizing your gown, you may opt to buy it at Divisoria at Php 5,000. Just don't tell anyone about it. Nobody would really know it's from Divisoria. For all they know you had a big time designer to create it for you (as long as it's nicely done).

4) Tally everything

• Add the total cost of the amount you alotted for your wedding based on your "dream wedding"
• If you're over budget, find out which item made you go over budget
• Determine what items you can skimp on, do it yourself, delegate, let go or keep the optimism high by finding the next best thing.

5) Search for your suppliers

• The best way to meet suppliers is to attend bridal fairs. It's just like shopping but here you'll be shopping for the best deals for your wedding
• Buy wedding magazines. For international magazines, I prefer Martha Stewart Weddings because of their do-it-yourself crafts but I would still buy our local wedding magazines as reference since it features local suppliers.
• Browse thru wedding portals such as kasal.com 
• Ask your coordinator (if you're getting one)

6) You can always ask for a wedding package

• Some suppliers, normally caterers and hotels, have wedding packages that includes almost everything. Making it easier for you to plan your wedding and sometimes it comes out cheaper

Hope this helps you plan your wedding!

Feel free to add more tips!

Scribbles of an Event Planner