Your wedding budget is typically the first major project to knock out when you first start planning for your big day and is also the most overwhelming. And there’s generally no easy way to jump into it. How much do we need to save? Who’s paying for what? Where can we cut back on costs? Beyond all the questions you may be asking yourself, how are you supposed to keep it all straight?

 

Let’s get into the nitty gritty and I’ll show you how I was able to stick to my wedding budget. I’ve already had a few of my friends ask for budgeting help so I figured I might as well share my spreadsheet with everyone! Download the budget tracker spreadsheet here!

One

Excel is your best friend. I promise it won’t be hard. It’s just a great way to keep track of who to pay and when!

Two

List out every single thing you think you might want on your wedding day (in column A). Things will change (be okay with that) but this doubles as a little to do list to keep you organized. It’s pretty fun to put all your dreamy ideas on paper too. The template has a sample list of items that we had for our wedding day, but every wedding is unique so add and delete as needed!

Three

Estimate all yours costs (in column B). Don’t worry about it too much; this will just give you a general idea to put your mind at ease. It will also help you subconsciously stay on budget. If you overspend in one area, maybe underspend in another to offset. Once you’ve filled out your line items, don’t be alarmed at the total. Weddings are an investment but with these steps, it will be easier to manage!

 

Four

Track the real cost (in column E). Each time you sign a contract or what not with one of your vendors, put the total cost here! This may be a good time to fill out columns F, G and H if you’d like (due date, who’s payin’, and day of tips).

Five

Keep track of your payments (in column C). Each time you make a payment, add it in. This will help you and your vendors keep track of costs which makes for a much calmer bride! This may seem like a lot at first, but I promise that as soon as you start to see the remaining balance decrease (in the shaded column D which fills out automatically!), you will feel a sense of accomplishment.

 

I hope this wedding budget tracker helps you as much as it did for me! Having a solid resource to refer to as the big day got closer totally helped me stay sane.