You’re planning your perfect Wedding day, and you’ve got your wedding day budget completed with a checklist of all the vendors and their expenses. Pens at the ready, but here are 15 hidden costs that you may have forgotten to budget for.
Table of Contents
1. The Hair and the Spare
You’ve budgeted for professional hair and makeup for the Wedding day, but have you accounted for trial runs, too? Trials are important not just for deciding what look suits you best, but being comfortable with your stylist. You may want to have a few trials before the big day. We suggest getting your trials done on the day of your kitchen tea, bridal shower or pre-wedding photo shoot – that way you are putting your full face of makeup to good use.
2. Head-to-toe Prep
You want to look your absolute best on your wedding, so don’t forget to account for pre-wedding treatments in your budget. Getting your hair coloured, teeth whitened, having a few facials and skin treatments, manicures, pedicures, are all important parts of your pre-wedding prep so plan ahead.
Image via : Aaron and Madeline
3. Alterations and Steaming
You’ve gone and custom designed the perfect wedding dress. But the stress of planning and running around has got you losing or gaining a bit of weight and your bodice needs last minute adjusting. Make sure that alterations as well as steaming are part of the cost of dress. If you’re buying ready-to-wear, account for the cost of hemming and resizing so it fits flawlessly, and remember to bring your shoes along to every appointment.
4. Shaped to Perfection
Proper undergarments and shape wear can be pretty costly, so make sure you account for this in your budget. Our advice? Stalk the sales and try them on before you buy to avoid any problems with sizing.
5. All That Glitters
Often enough you budget for wedding rings and other jewellery. But don’t forget veil, shoes and belt – all accessories you need to budget for. And don’t forget to budget your grooms accessories too!
Image via : Melina and Ramey
6. Pre-wedding Attire
You’ve organised a kitchen tea, bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, and you need to budget for outfits for every event. Hire out a dress, this way you’re not only being savvy but you’re not being wasteful either – nobody likes an outfit you can only wear once!
7. Travel & Accommodation
Besides hiring a hotel on the day of the wedding, if you’re getting married out of town you might want to frequent the venue a few times before the actual event. This can definitely come at a cost. Don’t forget to budget for travel to and from, as well as accommodation for out of town guests if necessary. Be sure to consider these costs when deciding where you’ll be married.
8. Permission Granted
Often local councils will place a hefty cost on permits to utilise their park space. Permits may cost higher depending on timing and space allocation. So if you’re having an outdoor ceremony/wedding check with the landowner or council before booking the event.
Image via : Dee and Celia
9. The Backup
Couples often budget for tent hire or backup indoor venue in the case of rain, but forget to budget for flooring. If it’s been raining, chances are the grass will be soggy and muddy which is not ideal (especially not for dancing!). You don’t want to be caught with a major add on bill to deal with after the wedding, so keep this in mind when budgeting.
10. The Power You’re Supplying … It’s Electrifying
You’ve hired the space, but it’s only the night of the wedding you realise that the lighting is poor. Don’t let this happen to you! If you’re hiring an outdoor space or getting married in an old building chances are they are not equipped for large events. Also, having a DJ or band at the venue might need for extra sound equipment. Make sure you account for this in your budget and speak to the venue owner about adding lighting etc. We suggest visiting the venue a few times to get an idea of lighting and power needs way in advance.
11. Delivery, Set up & Dismantle
Everything involved in the decoration of the event the flowers, tables, chairs will need to be delivered to the venue, and will come at an added cost. Then there is cost of set up, dismantle and pick up, not to mention early access to the venue and possible overtime charges. We suggest discussing these costs with the vendors before you hire them and of course including these costs into the wedding budget.
Image via : Andrea and Mark
12. Vendor Meals
You’ve got all these people running around trying to make your wedding day perfect, make sure they are well fed. Most wedding venues do account for vendor meals at a discounted price. If not discuss it with your venue.
13. Day of Stationery
You’ve accounted for the invitation suite and save the date cards, but don’t forget the programs, name cards, table numbers, menus, and signs. To cut the cost try DIY stationery – they’re budget friendly and personalised.
14. Pre-Honeymoon expenses
Often enough we budget for the honeymoon but forget the smaller fees that come along with the honeymoon. Passports, travel guides, luggage, vacation clothing, transport to the airport all-important details that need to be budgeted.
15. In the Case of an Emergency
Just in case a pair of shoes or groomsmen’s tie is forgotten, best to keep a small emergency fund for possible items that you might need. We suggest making a list and packing all the important items a few weeks before the wedding. Also, make sure to get someone else to have a look at the list just in case you’ve forgotten anything!
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