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Budgeting For
Your Wedding in the UK
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Why Budget
The Cost of an average Wedding
Priorities and Funding
Preparing a Provisional Budget
Preparing a Final Budget
Allowing for Contingencies
Tipping
Quotations and Estimates
Tips on Buying Products and
Services
Value Added Tax (VAT)
Keeping Accurate Records
Unless you have access to unlimited funds, chances are
that you will have to financially plan your wedding very
carefully. Whether you, your parents or a combination of
you and your parents are paying for your wedding, there
will probably be a financial ceiling on what each of you
can afford. An inherent danger with planning anything on
the scale of a traditional wedding is that you can very
easily overextend yourselves, especially if you commit
yourselves to expenses on a one-by-one basis without
keeping an eye on the overall picture.
With the average cost of a traditional wedding in the UK
being about £11,000, overrunning by just 15 per cent out
will mean having to find another £1,650. If your parents
are paying for, or contributing to, your wedding, it is
important that you don't end up having to go back to
them asking for more money and thereby putting them
under unwelcome financial pressure. If you are paying
for your wedding, it may mean starting married life with
an unplanned debt.
By preparing a budget, that is, a list of intended
expenditure for each item, you will be in a much better
position to control and monitor your costs. Most couples
change their mind many times over exactly what they want
and how much they are willing to allocate for any given
item. By recording any changes on your budget, you will
always be aware of the impact on the total cost and
thereby giving you the opportunity to adjust your
expenditure levels accordingly.
Unfortunately, dealing with the financial aspects of
getting married can be the cause of much tension between
those involved in organising your wedding. However, by
carefully monitoring and controlling your expenditure
with use of a budget, you will go a long way to reducing
the stress that you will undoubtedly experience during
your wedding preparations.
It will be helpful at this stage to get a feel for the
average cost of a wedding. However, estimates vary
greatly since there are so many options to choose from.
Furthermore, for each item there is a tremendous range
of prices depending upon your tastes and priorities etc.
Take for example, your wedding dress. You could buy a
good quality second hand dress for just £100 or less or
buy a top designer dress for £4,000 or more!
The number of guests you have and how well you want to
cater for them will also has a tremendous impact on your
budget. For example, if you had 100 guests and wanted to
have a traditional full wedding breakfast, the cost per
head could be £50. This would give a total of £5,000. A
less lavish buffet may only cost £15 per head, bringing
the total down to £1,500. On top of this there are
drinks to consider and the evening party. Do you want to
have free drinks or have your guests pay for their own?
The difference between the two could be as much as
£1,500.
From our experience and research, we have listed below
the costs of what we would call an 'average wedding''
(excluding engagements costs). But remember, your
wedding can cost a great deal more or a great deal less
depending upon your budget, priorities and whether you
use professionals or get family and friends to help out.
In fact, our average costs take into account products
and services that are sometimes provided free or at low
cost by family and friends. For example, your wedding
cake may be made by a relative and given as a gift.
Therefore, the cost to you will be nil. However, if you
use a professional cakemaker, the cake may cost, say,
£300. The average of these two examples is £150, which
is the cost of neither. This is the problem with
averages!
Many of the items listed are hyperlinks enabling you to
view companies that supply the product or services
mentioned.
But do remember, it is quite possible to get married for
just a few hundred pounds. On the other hand, it is
quite easy to spend £20,000 or more!
Initially, you should decide on what sort of wedding you
want and then prioritise what items are most important
to you. Is the most important item the reception venue
and the meal or your wedding dress? Do you want your
guests to enjoy free drinks from the bar or are you
happy just to pay for the table wine and champagne? If
you both have large families and many friends, do you
want as many of them as possible to attend, which may
mean having to compromise on the lavishness or your
wedding? Is your honeymoon an important element of your
wedding celebrations or are you willing to sacrifice an
expensive and exotic honeymoon for that designer wedding
dress you have fallen in love with?
Also at this stage you should allocate a provisional sum
for the total cost of your wedding. If you are paying
for your wedding yourselves, only you have to decide on
an approximate sum that you are prepared to spend. If
your parents are paying, or contributing, you will need
to know what they are prepared to pay. However, many
parents will ask for an estimate of the total cost for
the wedding that you would like. With this information,
they can then decide whether they can afford to pay all
the costs as per the
traditional responsibilities
or decide on a sum that they are able to afford.
The next step is to prepare a provisional budget from
the list you have drawn up for the wedding that you
would like. This is a substantial task requiring a great
deal of research but once completed you will know
whether or not your available funds are sufficient. If
they are not, knowing your priorities will enable you to
trim items accordingly. Listed below are the main items
that are associated with a traditional wedding. Many of
the items listed are hyperlinks enabling you to view
companies that supply the product or services mentioned.
Next to each item is an abbreviation for who
traditionally pays:
(BF) = Bride's father, (GP) = Groom's parents, (B) =
Bride, (G) = Groom.
Wedding Clothing
Wedding dress ,
headdress, shoes,
lingerie and jewellery
(BF)
Something old, new, borrowed and
blue (B)
Bridesmaids' dresses
and accessories (BF)
Page boy outfits (BF)
Ushers' outfits (G)
*see below
Groom's outfit (G)
Best man's outfit (G)
*see below
Bride's parent's outfits
(BF)
Groom's parent's outfits (GP)
Bride's going-away outfit (B)
Groom's going-away outfit (G)
* Often paid for by the participants themselves.
Bridal Beauty
Hairdresser (B)
Make-up
(B)
Beautician
(B)
Transport
To
ceremony for bride, bride's father, bridesmaids and
bride's mother (BF)
To
ceremony for groom and best man (G)
From
ceremony to reception (BF)
From
reception for bride and groom (G)
Decorations
(ribbons) for wedding transportation (BF)
Photography/Videography
Photography package
(BF)
Videography package
(BF)
Photograph
album (BF)
Additional
prints/videos (BF)
Flowers
Church (BF)
Reception
(BF)
Bride's
and bridesmaids' bouquets (BF) * see below
Buttonholes
for participants and guests (BF) * see below
*Sometimes considered the responsibility of the groom.
Civil/Religious Ceremony Fees
Church, including bells, choir, organist and heating if
required (G)
Register
office or Approved Premise fees including giving notice,
certificate of marriage and the service (G)
Reception
Venue hire (BF)
Balloons and decorations
(BF)
Toastmaster (BF)
Wedding cake (BF)
Catering
and equipment (BF)
Bridal
favours (BF)
Drinks
with meal, for toasts and evening (BF)
Entertainment (BF)
Honeymoon
Passports and visas (G)
Travel
and accommodation (G)
Bride's
clothing (B)
Groom's
clothing (G)
Spending
money (G)
Travel
insurance (G)
Inoculations
(G)
Stationery
Invitations and postage (BF)
Order
of Service (BF)
Menus
(BF)
Place
name cards and seating plan chart (BF)
Other
personalised items such as napkins, coasters and matches
(BF)
Thank-you
notepaper (BF)
Guest
book (BF)
Gifts
Engagement and wedding rings for
bride (G)
Wedding ring for groom
(B)
Present for bride, bridesmaids,
pages, ushers and best man (G)
Present for groom (B)
Present
for bride's parents (B) and (G)
Presents
for newly weds (BF) and (GP)
Other
Engagement party (BF)
Hen night (B)
Stag night (G)
Wedding co-ordinator fees
(BF)
Wedding
night venue, if not the honeymoon destination (G)
Wedding insurance (BF)
Overnight
accommodation for close family if required (BF)
Press
announcements for engagement (BF)
Press
announcements for wedding (G)
Once your provisional budget has been calculated and any
modifications have been made to suit your priorities and
funding, you will now be in a position to prepare your
final budget. This simply means allocating a fixed sum
for each item and trying to keep within the amounts
allocated as you order your goods and services.
As your costs become known, you need to record the
committed sums plus details of any deposits paid. If you
are able to order items for less than you budgeted, you
can either allocate any surplus to another area or
simply take the saving. If you go over your budget for
any item, you will have to decide whether to make a
saving in another area or find the money to pay for the
additional sum.
When you start discussing the details of your
requirements with companies, you will be amazed by all
the options and extras you can have. No doubt these
extras will all help to make your wedding day more
special and unique but they will of course add to your
final cost. If you are working to a strict budget you
should not be tempted unless you find that you can make
savings in other areas. However, knowing that certain
extras will be become a 'must have', you should include
in your budget a contingency sum of around 10 per cent.
Furthermore, there will always be items that you
overlook in your provisional budget.
For example, if your funds are strictly limited to say
£8,000 and you choose to have a contingency of 10 per
cent, you will need to work to a budget of £7,275
thereby leaving you a contingency sum of £725 (£725
being 10 per cent of £7,275).
There is no need to tip individuals or companies that
supply you services at wedding rates. However, you may
have family or friends that provide you with goods or
services at lower than normal rates that you may wish to
reward in addition to the sum charged. For example, you
may have a friend that offers to do your hair or make-up
or a relative who offers to make your cake at cost.
However, it is more appropriate to acknowledge their
kindness by buying them a small gift as a memento of
your special day.
There is an important difference between getting a quote
from a company and getting an estimate. A quotation is a
fixed price given by a company for the product or
service you want. It is a legally binding contract
between you and the supplying company.
An estimate is what a company thinks will be the charge
for the product or service you want and they are at
liberty to invoice you for a different sum depending
upon their final costs for supplying you. If the company
get their sums wrong, you will end up footing the bill
and you will not normally have any legal recourse.
When drawing up your provisional budget, by all means
ask for an estimate so you can get a feel for the
general level of expenditure required. However, when you
are in a position to place an order always and always
get a quotation first, preferably in writing. You must
also ensure that you know exactly what the quotation is
made up of, particularly what is and what isn't
included. If you change your mind about anything, for
example, you decide to have cloth napkins at your
reception instead of paper ones, ask for a supplementary
quotation.
Before you place an order, try to get at least one or
two other quote so you see that you are paying a
reasonable rate for the goods or services offered. In
many cases this will not be possible, especially where
you are considering items that are unique in some way.
However, you should still try to satisfy yourself that
you are getting value for money. If you are able to get
an alternative quotation, always ensure that you are
comparing like for like otherwise your comparison will
be meaningless.
You probably know someone who always seems to get a
discount on anything they buy. Is this a special skill
they have or is it something everyone can do? The answer
is yes to both. Certainly it is a skill, whether natural
or through training but with a little preparation before
you place your order you should be able to achieve some
form of saving on many items.
Getting a discount often involves a bit of 'give and
take'. By this we mean that there must usually be
something to be gained by the company in exchange for a
discount. For example, if something you want to order
costs £200, you might say something like 'we'll offer
you £180 and pay for the item in full now'. If the
company accepts, you both have benefited - you have made
a 10 per cent saving and the company has your money up
front to help their cashflow. Sometimes just saying
'we'll offer £180 and we'll place the order now' will be
sufficient. If you feel confident you could offer a
large deposit or full payment as a fall-back position
should your first offer be declined. One word of caution
if you pay a large deposit or payment in full. Should
the company go broke before your wedding day, you will
lose your money (although this will be covered if you
take out
wedding insurance).
Here are a few other tips that might help you achieve a
saving:
Try to hide your excitement and enthusiasm about items
you have fallen in love with. A company will be less
likely to respond to a request for a discount if they
feel that their product is your only choice.
Try to establish through conversation how busy your
supplier is around the date of your wedding. At certain
times of the year (October to May) companies can be very
quiet so they will want your order (and money) as much
as you want their products!
Try to give the impression that there are products from
other companies you are seriously considering but for a
discount you are prepared to place an order now.
Don't offend a company by offering cash. Most companies
are respectable and the inference that they are
otherwise could upset them and weaken your negotiating
position. Also, with cash transactions, where no receipt
is given, it may be difficult to prove what you paid
should you have reason to complain later.
Finally, bear in mind that you generally get what you
pay for. If you are a skilful buyer and you knock a
company's price down too much, you may not get the full
quality of service that others will get who are paying
full price. Companies need to make a profit to stay in
business, so don't insult them by offering too low a
figure - a little saving is better than none at all.
Remember, a good deal is when both parties are happy
with the transaction.
When you request quotations, you may notice that for the
same product or service, one company might charge VAT
whilst another does not. It is worth, therefore, a
moment to briefly explain the VAT regulations so that
you understand why this may happen.
Value Added Tax (VAT) at the current standard rate of
17.5% is applicable on all wedding goods and services
with the exception of:
Wedding cakes - if supplied independently of catering.
Children's
clothing - e.g. bridesmaid dresses and shoes etc.
Stationery
- Orders of Service only.
However, VAT can only be charged by companies that are
registered for VAT. Therefore, if one photographer
quotes you 'inclusive of VAT' while another does not, it
will not be because photography is or isn't subject to
VAT, but because one photographer is registered for VAT
while the other is not.
Consequently, if a company is registered for VAT, it
will be at a price disadvantage compared to a company
that is not registered for VAT since it has to add 17.5%
to its prices. Therefore, there are clear merits in
using companies that are not registered for VAT. As a
company must register for VAT if its annual turnover is
greater that £50,000, it is 'small' companies that do
not have to add VAT to their prices. Fortunately, many
companies involved in the wedding industry are 'small'
so your contribution to the exchequer's coffers may be
minimal!
Finally, you should ensure that with every quotation you
receive you are absolutely clear whether VAT is included
in the price or needs to be added. You don't want any
costly surprises when it comes to paying up!
It is vitally important that you keep accurate records,
particularly if you are working to a strict budget. You
should retain all your paperwork, quotations and
receipts you receive and keep details of any deposits
paid and when any balances are due
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