Weddings in India, a day event, requires months of planning as it is coming together of two families, their religions, the communities, and the personal preferences of the bride and groom. These are more than festival celebrations in India celebrated with extensive decorations, color, music, dance, costumes, and rituals that vary from communities, regions, and faith of the bride and the groom across India.
Indian Families love to make their budget and often save for it from a long time to withstand the glamorous wedding. In organizing weddings, budgeting comes into consideration among the first few bullets, and from this comes the ” Big Fat Indian wedding”. Money is spent from both the bride and groom sides on various things such as inviting guests, food, clothes, decor, marriage gardens, or banquets, and the list continues. No matter how big of an amount you are spending on the wedding, there is always a budget. We will discuss here in detail on how you can effectively divide your budget as per your requirement.
- To start with budgeting, once you decide on how many events you will organize such as reception, haldi, mehndi, sangeet, cocktail, etc. along with number of guests to be invited for each ceremony, wedding venue costs need to be assessed. Along with that hotel stay for the groom’s family or outstation guests have to be added. Include transportation cost for guests for pickup from the airport or railway station and to & fro from the hotel to the wedding venue.
- The next cost to be considered is Invitations and enclosures (R.S.V.P. cards & envelopes, maps, etc.). Include postages and stationery budget too in this cost as they might be small for individual items but the total sum might come out to be something significant.
- Food and Catering. This one occupies the maximum percentage of the wedding budget. The wedding festivities mainly consist of food for all the events which will give you an idea of the food budget. Add to this Event rental (Chairs, Tables, Flatware, Glassware, China), Catering and Servers, Bar and non-alcoholic beverages, Wedding Cake.
- There is no limit to this expense in the wedding as decoration can be of varied types from flowers to shimmering lights. Mandap, music setup, cost of DJ, and as is popular nowadays, an LED screen for sangeet, baraat, and cocktail can be done as per your willingness to spend.
- Clothes are also one’s personal choice so there is no bracket to amount. Lehengas can vary from low to high pricing. Also, accessories, jewelry, and shoes have no count. The same goes for a groom. Wedding attire budget along with other casual and party wear clothes and accessories should also be considered while preparing the budget and then purchased accordingly.
- Creating and keeping those memories alive for the wedding is done by the photographer. Thus Photography, Videography, Album Printing, or other digital media with all the photos, Ceremonies, and Reception packages should also be considered while preparing the wedding budget.
- This is where all those random “little” items add up. Make sure you have an extra cushion for all those extra expenses. Wedding gifts for each other (if you choose to do so), Favors for the guests & Dakshina/ Fee for the Priest, etc can also be considered.
We hope this article gave you a good idea of how to plan your wedding budget and will be helpful.
For your detailed wedding budgeting or consultations, or even planning your dream wedding, you can contact Conwedd. We will be happy to realize your dream wedding.
