How to Manage Your Wedding Budget (with DIYs and tips to hire a professional photographer).

Wedding budgets can be extremely stressful. Just remember that each wedding is different and what works for someone else may not work for you. Stick to what is comfortable to you. Here are a few tips for planning and sticking to a wedding budget!

1. Tackle the basics! Start by figuring out who is paying for the wedding, and how much savings they have. What size wedding can you afford? Plan a number of guests and venues that work with that number. Do you need a wedding planner or can you organize the entire wedding yourselves? Is the wedding where you want to spend your money or do you want to invest in your future or even in your honeymoon?

2. Figure out must-haves. Are any items non-negotiable? Do you want a live band? On-site sleeping accommodations, professional photographer? Go through some of these items and prioritize the ones that you don’t want to compromise.

3. Out-of-season dates are your friend. If you want to save money on venues and vendors, you may want to consider seasons that are not peak wedding seasons like the spring or winter.

4. Reduce flowers. The cost of flowers is incredibly high and can rack up to thousands of dollars. Consider reducing the amount of flowers that you want or look for DIY options like grocery stores, farmers markets, and local farms.

5. Rent your attire. Though your dress is a big statement in your wedding, remember that you will only wear it once and consider renting a dress and tux instead so that you can spend money on other things that you want.

6. DIY everything you can! This can be a great bonding activity with your partner or your wedding party. DIY items for your wedding will allow you to save tons of money and it will be even more meaningful. Consider things like invitations, chair decor, table decor, guestbook ideas, and hair accessories.