Breakdown Your £30k Wedding Budget - From a Wedding Planner and 2022 Bride!

Without compromising your big day!

At Green Lily we have worked with couples with budget’s ranging from 20k - 100k and each wedding has been absolutely perfect! This is because we use your budget as a guideline and make sure we plan for things that are a non-negotiable for you and your partner because you shouldn’t have to compromise on your DREAM wedding. 

Let’s break down a £30k wedding budget together. 

The first thing you should budget - your venue.

Venue

We recommend setting aside £13,000 for the venue + catering (booze included ;) )

This can be broken down into whether you are having a marquee, booking a traditional venue, having a separate catering company etc. 

Make sure you set aside enough for your venue and catering, these are the two things in particular you don’t want to scrimp out on. They set the tone for your day and for your wedding reception and your venue is the perfect place to execute your wedding vision!

Next up, your wedding planner ;)

Wedding Planner

While your wedding venue might be the perfect place to execute your wedding vision; Your wedding planner is the perfect PERSON to do this for you. Typically for full wedding planning this would be 10% of your wedding budget, which at £30k would amount to £3,000 for your wedding planner. 

Your wedding planner would cover sourcing everything - from your venue, to your caterer, your florist, photographer, videographer; you get the message. We source everything as well as getting you the BEST deals and the BEST quality. So my one piece of advice would be to not skip out on the wedding planner - we are ESSENTIAL to your day. (And we pay for ourselves by the time we negotiate vendor pricing).

Next thing: photography + videography.

Yes. Both.

Photographer + Videographer

We usually budget £4,500 for both the photographer + videographer combined. This is broken down into £2,400 for the photographer and £2,100 for your videographer. 

I’m sure you’re so annoyed of this right now, but… you can’t skimp on the photographer or videographer either. You pay for their experience, their editing style, and their ability to immortalise the best day of your life. Forever. 

Next on the list. Your DJ. 

DJ/Entertainment

Your entertainment not only provides the soundtrack to your wedding reception. But it also sets the tone to your dancefloor, the mood of your guests and the overall atmosphere of your day. 

So we budget £1,000 for your DJ and PA system. 

You need to make sure you choose someone who will take on board your expectations and your energy and who can make your night feel like YOURS. And not the same as everybody else’s. 

The ultimate way to bring your vision to life is with your flowers and decor. That’s the next thing we budget.

Flowers/Decor

For flowers we budget £1,800. This covers your bouquet, your aisle decoration, your table decor, and everywhere else you want flowers. This also covers your general decor. So this could be candles, table trains, pampas grass archways…etc

Flowers and decor are the main components of turning your venue into YOUR wedding. You need these to bring your vision to life - so choosing suppliers that you trust is so important for this step.

Aside from your catering, your cake is the next thing we need to budget for. So for this we set aside £350. 

Cake

Your cake is important and is probably one of the most photographed things of your wedding aside from your actual vows/marriage. 

When choosing a company for your cake - make sure you’ve been and tried a few different places to ensure you get the best quality and looks for your big day - the last thing anybody wants is a dry wedding cake!

The next thing to tackle is wedding attire…

Wedding Attire

So for this with a £30k budget, you would be looking at budgeting around £1,800 in total. So this would cover the bride's dress, the groom's suit, and also hair and make up for the bride!

The bride's dress should be budgeted around £1,250. And hair and makeup should be about £350.

This leaves £200 for the groom's suit. 

The wedding rings. The main event. 

Wedding Rings

For wedding rings you want to set aside around £1,000. This is for both the bride and the groom. If you would prefer to budget more for these as they are a lifetime commitment, this is what we have a miscellaneous section for (more on this later) and you can always alter any of these figures to suit your personal needs as a couple. 

Next for the details. Your wedding stationary.

Wedding Stationary

Your wedding stationary is what is going to tie everything together and provide all the special details to your big day. So for this you want to be budgeting around £200.

Wedding stationery includes: Save The Dates, Seating Charts etc. 

Another thing to budget for that could be forgotten is your accommodation. 

Wedding Accommodation

Whether you choose to stay on site of the venue you choose, or book accommodation elsewhere, make sure to remember to set aside some of your budget for this. 

We recommend about £350 to be budgeted for your accommodation. This covers everything you need whether you choose to stay the night before, or just the night of your wedding. This figure might change if you choose to provide accommodation for your guests as well as yourselves - but this is where you can reallocate funds whilst still sticking to your budget. 

And last but not least is our miscellaneous section of the budget. 

Miscellaneous

For the miscellaneous section of the budget, we recommend setting aside around 10% of your budget, which in this case is £3,000. 

This section of your budget is to cover all forgotten expenses, such as your registrar or anything extra that you want on your big day, whether it be more decor - or maybe a bar rental so you can have personalised drinks etc. Or even hidden fees you didn’t know you had. Whatever it might be is covered through this section of the budget. 

Looking at starting your wedding budgeting but want some help? Become a Green Lily couple by enquiring through our website!