Creating a Wedding Budget with Carolyn
On this episode of Financially Naked: Stories from The Financial Gym, our host is Emily Egan, Strategic Projects Manager, and she is joined by Carolyn McManus, Head of People, to talk about all things weddings and budgets.
Podcast Notes
Carolyn got engaged in May 2018. She and her fiancé started by dreaming about their ideal wedding on a beach at an all-inclusive resort, and then they scaled it back from there.
The aspects they really wanted were sunset, sand, and water. Long Beach Island in New Jersey offered all of these things and it is close. That became more realistic and they planned their budget around that venue.
Carolyn’s budget was $28,000 to $30,000, and they ended up spending about $35,000. They both had families who offered to contribute to the wedding, but they still planned on using their own money, in case anything fell through.
Toward the second half of wedding planning, they opened a joint checking account for the wedding that they both direct deposited into each paycheck.
When planning, think about the three areas that are most important to you. That is where the majority of your budget should be spent.
For Carolyn, the venue, the food, and the overall experience were important. She always dreamed of walking down the aisle to a violinist playing Halo, by Beyoncé. They wanted it to be personalized.
Instead of a band, they went with a DJ, and instead of a sit-down meal, they had a buffet. Carolyn was able to borrow decor from friends who got married before them. One friend owns a photo booth and she did it for free as a wedding gift. They hired a flower vendor to make the two bouquets and two boutonnières, and a friend’s sister made the other flowers as a wedding gift.
To save money, they skipped dessert through their caterer and instead hired a Mister Softee ice cream truck. They didn’t have a traditional bridal party, only her sister and her husband’s best friend. They had their other friends dress up in the color palette, so when they took photos, they had them in the pictures.
The closer they got to the wedding day, the small expenses were adding up. Carolyn did a lot of research on Google about what is customary for tips. Her friend who was married at the same venue gave her a template of her budget so it gave Carolyn a better idea of what to expect regionally.
Carolyn and her husband took a honeymoon about five months after the wedding, because they had the wedding in October, she was starting a new job in September, she graduated grad school in November, and they moved in December.
This gave them time to rebuild their savings and they could really enjoy the time off. They took a three-day cruise a few days after the wedding to hold them over.
Carolyn and her husband went through Zola for their gift registry and they had a cash fund and a honeymoon fund that friends and family could contribute to.
The biggest thing they learned was how the small expenses add up. There are a lot of upcharges on different items, like invitations.
The upside of being engaged in 2020 is you have more time to enjoy being engaged and everyone has a different mindset about priorities. It is a good time to do a pulse check of what you really want your wedding to look like.
Resources Mentioned