Is there a Budget Rule of Thumb?

Definitely only what you can afford; it's up to you to determine what you feel comfortable spending. Don't go into debt over a party!

Based on our overall price we put aside what we could spend out on it per month. But it's definitely whatever you can afford.

What you're willing and able to spend without going into debt?

It's going to vary greatly from person to person.

Start putting aside a different savings for your wedding fund. See what you can contribute on average each month, figure how many months away you are planning for, and that will at least create a rough, affordable budget to start from. Definitely do not spend more than you can afford! Not worth it.

Don't go in debt over your wedding, and if possible try not to pay with a credit card but instead with money you actually have.

As the other ladies have said it's only what you can afford. You and FH need to discuss what's a priority to you for your day, then start taking a look at pricing; which it sounds like you've already started; and work from there to see what you can reasonably afford that fits in with what you want.

We seach contributed x from when we started planning until the big day. We added up what that would be, added in savings we were willing to contribute, and contribution from my parents, and bam, our budget!

Wedding_Budget <= Current_Balance_of_Savings + (Savings_Rate × Monthly_Income × Number_of_Months_Until_Wedding) - Emergency_Fund

Emergency_Fund: 3 - 6 months of expenses

I suggest calculating how much the both of you can put aside by your wedding date and make that your overall budget. Then list out the aspects of the wedding from most to least important to you and break it down further.

What you are willing and able to spend while still maintaining adequate emergency savings. That varies based on how much savings you already have allotted to this and what you can reasonably save by your wedding date.

I think it really depends on a combination of what you can save and what you're willing to spend on one night of celebration. It's not so much appalling; probably most people here have gone out to dinner and spent xx.00 on it, but when you mulitply that by 150 guests, yeah...the end result is suprising. Most people have sent flowers or bought them, but when you look at 20 tables, that becomes a big amount too.

So some of the problem is scale.

Figure out what you want to spend without robbing your other financial needs and then back into what you'll spend for the wedding to treat your guests well.

The last thing we want to do is go into debt. I'm trying to balance this, saving for a down payment on a house, and paying off my student loans. We have a good amount of savings but we don't want to blow it on one day. We will use credit but pay it off within a month.

I just know that when looking for an apartment, it's recommended to spend no more than 30% of gross income on rent (general rule of thumb). Anything similar to that for a wedding? I'm not sure what "what you can afford" really means because I don't want to spend my entire savings (minus emergency fund) on one day. I can afford that...but i don't think that's smart for my case.

I rarely go out to dinner/dancing and spend $100 on myself. Catering here are generally $150+/person not including taxes, gratuity, venue rentals, etc. . I find that in itself appalling....then yes add the scale of it and I want to puke.

I would say whatever you are comfortable spending. Im not gonna lie and say I have paid everything in cash because I havent. We too are paying for our own wedding with very minimal help from parents. We were ok with a small amount of credit card debt which is what we ended up with. Your expenses need to come before you wedding. I pay our bills before purchasing added expenses for the wedding. I have cut back on many projects and ideas in order to save money in the end.

@Celia - that is a great way of putting it into perspective. Yes, on occasion DH and I go out to dinner and drop $100 or so, thus $50pp. My food and alcohol were less than that per person.

My advice - do as others said figure out what you can spend and what you are comfortable with and prioritize! I spent the bulk of my budget on food and alcohol. Those were the most important items to me. I found ways to save on everything else.

Absolutely only what you can afford.

Don't be afraid to think outside the box and do crazy RESEARCH!

My wedding was stunningly gorgeous (if I do say so myself!) on a less than 10-thousand dollar budget for over 100 people! Get creative...think venues that aren't typical venues for example. Rather than dropping 4 grand on a venue, I booked the gorgeous courtyard/garden of a museum that is a historical house in San Antonio. It was $500!!! Bringing in chairs, tables, etc was only $800. With a little extra work and research, there are great ways to find alternatives and save money.

Everyone will budget a bit differently, my goal was to do the best I could at the lowest price lol. I didn't have a set budget exactly. Absolutely DO NOT put yourself into debt. That is golden advice up there! I guess speaking from my experience... you don't have to go the typical route you expect. I also want to add that with an 8,000 budget I still had a limo, great food, full open bar, DJ, live music, photographer..its possible to have a great wedding on a budget! Good luck

I don't want to spend my entire savings (minus emergency fund) on one day

That's why I put "less than or equal to" instead of "equal to". I don't know of a rule of thumb that exists, but I can make one up if that's helpful.

Frugal_gator's budget rule of thumb: No more than 15% of your annual income.

Well, lolar, you probably don't have an hour of cocktails and hors then dinner then dessert....

And seriously, there is always the 50 person fabulous wedding option, which, IMHO, gets considered way too infrequently.

It is totally possible to have 25 people at a gorgeous wedding with flowers, wine, cake and music for 5000.00, even in NJ.

But somewhere in the process, people seem to aquire another 200 guests they can't live without, and that's where it all starts to go to hell.....

I'm all for paying for your wedding on a credit card, as long as you pay off the balance right away and are earning points!

I'm not saying spend money you don't have, just that you might as well get rewards when you're spending that much money.