What is a realistic wedding budget?

Depending on your location and other factors that you would like at your wedding the average per guest is $100 per person. 
As a planner i run of a basic breakdown 
Recpetion 48-50%
Ceremony 2-3%

Attire 8-10%

Flower 8-10%

Entertainment/ Music 8-10%

Photography/Videography 10-12%

Stationery: 2-3 %

Wedding Rings: 2-3 %

Parking/Transportation: 2-3 %

Gifts: 2-3 %

Miscellaneous: 8%

If you ae paying for your honey moon you also need to place that in your budget aswell.

Hope this helps

Tara-Lee Farrell Wedding Planner

Hi Kira and congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding.  

Budget is probably the first and biggest stress factor for most couples getting married.  It is the difference between what you dream of and what you can actually afford.  In our experience it is also the one thing that can and usually does blow out of proportion if the wedding planning is not managed very tightly.  

Your budget will also be completely determined by the style and theme of your wedding.  Not knowing what your venue will cost I would suggest that you start with an estimated figure for food per head - as this is usually your biggest expense.  And then add from there.  For example:

Venue: $750 - $2500

Food:  $35 x 100 = $3500

Alcohol: $20 x 100 = $2000

Celebrant: $500 - $750

Photographer: $2500 - $5000

Cake: $250 - $350

Ceremony Styling: $1000 - $1600

Venue stylist: $1000 - $3000

DJ/Entertainment: $400 - $1500

Flowers: $1000 - $5000

Dress, groom's gear, hair and makeup

Rings

Cars and transport

Invitations

etc etc etc

Complete a wishlist, compare it to your budget and then remove the items that are not absolutely necessary or where you can get things for a lower cost.  

We at Hunt and Heart work with our couples in matching budget to your Dream Day - it's all about what you and your fiance want, and then keeping it all on track.  Just as an aside - recent statistics show that the average Australian couple expected to spend $30 000 on their wedding, and ended up spending an average of $65 500.  Working with the right planners will help you stay closer to the original budget.  Take care and enjoy your journey to marriage.

Happy planning

Gill

Hi Kira, congratulations on the up coming wedding. We at Heels and flats have worked with the most unmanageable budgets starting from 4 figures and 5 figures. It all depends on you and your fiancé how much you can spend or would like to spend. At the end of the day finding the right person to help you is key. 

Hi Kira, there are a lot of factors that need to be considered to be able to give a figure on this one because realistic for you can be very different to the next based on what you want at your wedding and how many people etc. That's I guess the hardest thing when you're thinking about how much money to part with for your day.

With all my clients, we sit down and look at the overall budget that each couple has (considering their savings and if any parents are contributing) and then start allocating money to the things they want at the wedding. Sometimes they have to put more to their budget if they want to include more things, sometimes they come away with extra money to put towards a house or their honeymoon.

Realistic is whatever you feel comfortable putting towards on the day. If it is really small amount, you just can't have too many expectations on what is included.

All the best.