nobody wants to talk about it, but it’s the question everybody is dying to ask. what’s the budget for your wedding? how much is this going to cost me? money is always an object, so naturally, you want yours to stretch as far as you can. here’s a few of my thoughts on the subject.

according to www.costofwedding.com, the average cost of a wedding in eugene is between $14,959 and $24,931. about eight to thirteen percent of that ($1,208 to $2,014) was spent on flowers and decor for the bridal party, ceremony, and reception. click their link to learn more about what all they include in those figures.

there’s a zillion ways to break down a wedding budget. here’s one suggestion: 

• 45% venue and catering
• 15% photography and videography
• 10% flowers and decor
• 10% attire for the bride and groom
• 5% invitations and paper goods
• 5% entertainment
• 10% officiant and miscellaneous expenses

of course, your mileage may vary, especially based on your priorities. if you’re a photography buff, splurge to hire the one you’ve dreamed of working with and scale back something else. not that i’m biased at all, but i happen to believe that if you love pretty things, you should make flowers a priority. 


once you’ve figured out what you want to spend it on, here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your money.

• hire a planner. seriously. they can help you stay on budget and make smart decisions about what you need or don’t need. they’re also great at finding creative ways to work with what you’ve got. better yet, they deal with weddings all the time and are total pros at it, so anybody that alleviates that clueless, head-scratching feeling is a-ok with me.
• be up front with your vendors about how much you have to spend. this saves everybody involved time and it helps the professionals you hire find creative solutions for you. specifically talking flowers, there are so many different combinations and options that there really are flowers for every budget.
• choose your date carefully. dates around holidays will increase hotel and travel expenses for your guests and your honeymoon. valentines and mother’s day will skyrocket the cost of roses and other popular flowers. a weird consideration here in eugene? graduation week at the u of o. (or if you’re a complete flower geek like me, you choose your wedding date based on when locally grown dahlias are available, everything else be damned. true story.)
• don’t buy crap that you don’t need. this sounds simple, but it’s really easy to get inspired by something and snap it up while you’re shopping without having a real use for it. come up with a real design plan first, and tackle projects from there, one at a time.

happy planning! got any budget tips or questions? let me know with a comment!