Newley Engaged... but waiting until 2014!

[Deleted User]

Hey girls...

I just got engaged Christmas Eve and I am already driving my friends/family crazy with this wedding talk! We are waiting until May of 2014 to get married so we can save up to buy a house and not be in debt after our wedding/honeymoon. 

What is a typical budget for a wedding? My dad is pretty well off, but I don't want to solely rely on him to pay for the whole wedding. Just curious how much saving I should be doing and what tends to be too much or too little to spend on a wedding.

Happy Planning!

Megan

diamonds4eva

Hi Megan, Congrats on your engagement!!  Your wedding budget is really going to depend on your guest count, and where you would like to have ur wedding.  Your guest list is going determine how much u can really afford, since 50% of the budget goes towards reception - food & beverage.  As for wedding location, Baltimore city & downtown Annapolis is usually more expensive than the counties.  It's great that ur saving $$ for the wedding. Keep saving & continue checking out the board. The girls here a super helpful w/ advice & suggestions.

Again, congrats!

HTH!

kimbrout

I agree with pp that the total cost of your wedding is greatly influenced by the guest count.  That being said, my DH and I set our budget first, which dictated how many people we were able to invite, what venue we chose and in what location.  The national average is $28,000 I believe.  There are tons of brides who will spend way less than that, and tons of brides who will spend way more.  You should sit down with your dad and have a heart-to-heart about what he is willing to contribute and decide how much you will be able to save by 2014.  If you have always wanted a black tie wedding with white glove service and all the trimmings, you are going to have to budget for that. 

Some ways to save money are to book your vendors earlier rather than later.  Most won't take offers for 3 years out, but you can start researching now and see who your top contenders might be.  Sometimes they will let you lock in rates for the year you book them and then you won't have to pay the upcoming year's rates.  Be prepared that most will require a deposit at the time of booking - which can be as much as 50% of your estimated fees. 

You can choose to do Friday evening or a Sunday wedding to save extra money as well.  Saturday evening weddings are prime time and you will pay more for that, as well as more for weddings in "wedding season" - April through October. 

HTH!