Online Budget Calculators Question

lfritos

Ok I've checked out a few online budget calculators, and I'm wondering how accurate people think they are? The reason I ask is that Fi and I were originally planning on keeping our numbers really low so that we could control costs. But when we sat down to do the guest list, there were a lot of people the he wanted to invite, that we just wouldn't be able to and keep it at the number we want.So I calculated and to add an extra 30 people it adds about 2000 to the cost, but we also have a little bit more money that we originally thought we would. Because of that I would be all for it, but I'm concerned the wedding calculators are unrealistic. Can you really get invitations for 300? Sorry this was so long, and TIA

**Mutley**

I would not trust an online calculator.  It is a good starting point though.Invitations CAN be $300... or they can be $1000.  You need to decide what is important to you and go from there. Also, make sure you have a cushion.  Everything ends up costing more than planned.  Or at least it has in our case. 

jackelbride

You can get invitations for under $300 if you're smart about it. My friend did really cute Micheal's invites... they were less than $100 for 120. Given she got them all on sale and printed them at home.I bought 65 custom invites from etsy for $120. As far as the budget calculators you will have to take those things that your cutting back on or omitting and reallocate those costs to other areas where you would like to spend more... but yes, they are helpful and will keep you on track if you follow your budget closely and only splurge when you readjust/cut other areas. 

stanfordwoman

Hi,The problem with a lot of online budget calculators is that they take your budget total (say $20,000) and then tell you how much you should spend on each item, i.e. 10% on flowers. This does not mean that you can get flowers for $2000, or that you need to spend this much, it just is a basic starting point of approximately what percentage you should budget for each item, if that makes sense. It's a good starting point. The only real way to know how much it's going to cost for extra people is to find your venue, which will be the largest per person cost. Extra people also slightly increase the cost for flowers, invitations, and cake, but it's the reception per person that will really determine whether the extra people are affordable. Good luck with budgeting.

lfritos

Thanks Everyone!!That is kinda what I thought about the calculators, that they just calculate it as a percentage of the whole and don't take into account actual costs. We have our venue, so I know the exact price it will be for the venue and catering. And making sure I have some wiggle room is a great idea!