Wedding Budgets: Have The Conversation

A lot of people have an idea of their “dream” wedding, and honestly, the age of social media has made that dream day even more extravagant. It’s easy to become consumed with selecting the perfect venue, dress, décor, vendors, etc. But as hard as it is to take a step back, the first step—at least in my experience—is an honest and open conversation with your fiancé, family, or other loved ones who are supporting you financially.

As the parents/grandparents/bride/groom/etc., it’s important to have a conversation around spending. I’m someone who doesn’t like to make assumptions and really doesn’t like depending on others, so I had been saving for my own wedding long before I met my fiancé.

After I got engaged, I wanted to understand what expectations there were. Maybe my parents or loved ones had been saving for this goal too—or maybe I needed to take on more of the cost. It wasn’t exactly a fun conversation—not because of the topic, but because I’ve always valued financial independence, but it was a necessary one.

Balance Wedding Costs with Future Goals

Once I understood the financial expectations, I could start planning. But that’s when the financial planner in me said “pause.”

Even if the funds are available to pay for the wedding of my dreams, does that mean I want to spend all of it on one day? Or, maybe this is when you realize that you must make choices to fund your special day, but what are your non-negotiables? This answer is going to be different for everyone.

This led to our second honest conversation – about our future goals. This conversation for us was centered around our goals for the future. As exciting as our wedding is, the most important thing to us is that we get to marry our best friend. And yes, we wanted a photographer and a venue we loved, but we still wanted to be mindful of our future goals, like buying a home, potentially starting a family and even retirement.

After all, in the grand scheme of things, our wedding day is important and special, but the life ahead of us is the most important thing.

Creeping Costs & Staying Accountable

Having the conversation and the best intentions is one thing—execution is another. I’ll be completely honest: my brain has become a bit numb to big numbers. Everything is so expensive in the wedding industry that it becomes almost second nature to write a check for something that’s 3–4 digits. It’s scary.

The average wedding cost in 2025 across the U.S. is $36,000 (Zola, 2025), and approximately 67% of couples go into debt paying for their wedding (LendingTree, 2025).

What helped us stay grounded was a detailed Excel sheet (yes, the nerd in me). I tracked every dollar—from vendors to dress alterations to invitations.

A non-negotiable for us: no debt for our wedding and no derailment of our other financial goals.

I’m not saying we’re perfect by any stretch—it’s so easy to get lost in the vision of the possibilities. But it’s important to stay accountable with check-ins and open conversations. This kept us aligned with our goals.

Tools & Tactics That Helped Manage Wedding Costs

We also built a cost timeline to track when payments were due. For expenses more than six months out, we used CDs to earn better interest versus leaving the money in cash. This helped us plan ahead and have cash on hand when needed.

The Heart of It All

Wedding planning has been a busy, fun and exciting season. I don’t want to make it sound like it’s all deep conversations and tough decisions. But like every major life event or goal, it requires:

• Open and honest conversations
• Accountability
• Commitment

At the end of the day, the biggest goal with wedding planning is to marry the person you love. And regardless of what that looks like, it will be perfectly imperfect.