Practical Advice for Helping Your Clients Stick to a Wedding Budget (Of Any Size)

By: Tracey Manailescu

It doesn’t matter if your couple has a twenty thousand dollar budget, or two hundred thousand one, chances are there is still going to be budgeting involved.

Did you know that there are an estimated 160,000 weddings in Canada each year?

75% of brides agree that they are likely to spend more than anticipated on their wedding. –Weddingbells

The average wedding in Canada costs $30, 717 (including honeymoon and rings) according to Weddingbells. Most of the budget will go towards the venue and catering. If you live and work in the urban areas and cities across Canada, you know that wedding budgets can be well above the average quoted above.

 

 

How can we as certified wedding coordinators help our clients stay on track with managing the wedding expenses?

• We suggest vendors who fit with our couples personalities, style and budget: We have already vetted and sourced out wonderful wedding pros which saves time and energy when looking for the right fit for our couples. We know their level of professionalism and have relationships with them, too. (If you need some new recommendations than don’t forget to check wpicalumni.com. There are hundreds of suggested wedding pros listed on our boards for this very reason.)
• We as wedding professionals can suggest where to cut costs and where to spend to make a difference: Suggest venues that already have decorated space, floral gardens, or blank canvases, permanent tents, onsite equipment such as tables, upgraded linens, nice looking chairs, etc. Suggest amping up the decor and cutting back on guest favours or that extra tier of cake, and when in doubt add more add candles (a ton of them) and don’t be afraid to add lighting. It can make a huge difference in the overall look and feel of an event space and mood.
• Get your couples to set a realistic budget: This is better accomplished once they are working with you so that they can understand and appreciate pricing of vendors and their services. The sticker price of some services or specialty items may shock some couples.
• Keep the guest list in check: Sometimes the easiest way to save money is to narrow done who will be invited to the wedding, and then narrow it down again if need be.
• Recommend that your couples open up a separate bank account that will strictly be used for wedding related expenses:  Anything that goes in or out of this account is for the wedding.
• Event Management Software and Wedding Planning Programs can make life so much easier for us and our clients: For my own wedding planning company at Tracey M Events I use Aisle Planner. I like that I can open the program up to my clients so they can add relevant information and make changes to it. There is a budget tracker built into the system (as well as so many other amazing features!) *A lot of our WPIC alumni have also recommended 17Hats, Evernote, Planning Pod, Dubsado, and Honeybook.
• This should go without saying, but here I am saying it! Be nice to your vendors! Treat vendors with respect and kindness. It really goes a long way in the scheme of things. They are going to be much easier to deal with over the course of the planning process and wedding day when there is mutual respect. If there isn’t, then we as wedding planners can help with that, too 😉