Top 10 Most Commonly Forgotten Wedding Items to Budget For

items forgotten on the wedding budgetCreating a wedding budget can be a daunting task – you’ve got to allocate funds for so many things, including flowers, music, your dress . . . But, even with all the checklists available, there are still items forgotten on the wedding budget.

You’ve got several other items besides the big stuff that has to be paid for. While they’re not really “hidden” costs, they can be easily overlooked until it’s time that you really need it.

The following are the most common items that all couples will have, but end up being items forgotten on the wedding budget.

10 Items Forgotten On The Wedding Budget

1) Alterations
Your wedding gown will require some type of alterations, whether it’s a hem, a little nip at the waist, or adding straps to a strapless gown. Depending on how much is needed, this can easily cost you several hundred dollars.

2) Undergarments/Accessories
What goes underneath is (almost) as important the gown. Besides that beautiful dress, you’ll be wearing a veil, shoes, undergarments, shapewear, and jewelry.

3) Marriage License
Don’t forget to make it legal! Marriage licenses typically cost between $20 and $100, depending on where you’re getting married (see your state’s and county’s guidelines).

4) Postage
Make sure you carefully weigh your invitations with all of the enclosures. You won’t want them coming back to you with postage due (or end up putting on too much postage and wasting money). Also keep in mind that square or over-sized invitations will require extra postage regardless of how much they weigh. You’ll also need stamps for your save-the-dates, RSVP cards, and thank-you notes.

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5) Wedding Day Meals
You’ve got a fabulous dinner picked out. Don’t forget you and your bridal party have to eat the rest of the day too. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Bagels and a fruit tray is perfect for breakfast, and a platter of sandwiches makes a great lunch.

6) Meals for your Vendors
Your vendors will be easily with you on your wedding day for 8 -12 hours, and unlike other jobs, we cannot leave to take a lunch break. We need to re-fuel so to speak, so we can be able to give you our best. Your vendors (photographer, videographer, coordinator, dj or band members) don’t have to be fed the same meal that you are providing for your guests. Most caterers offer vendor meals.

7) Counting Yourselves in the Final Head Count
When you’re counting up those “Yes” RSVPs, it’s too easy for forget to count yourselves (or your parents if they are issuing the invitations). You’re gonna want to eat too, so remember to add yourselves to the final head count.

8) Sales Tax/Service Charges
When you’re looking at that catering menu, the listed prices do not include the service charges or sales taxes. Service charges can vary anywhere from 18% to 22% of your catering bill, which can be a quite significant “extra” if it wasn’t figured into the budget in the first place.

9) Day-of Coordinator
So many times brides don’t hire a day-of coordinator because they didn’t include one in their budget, but after the wedding day they wish they would have had someone there to take care of all the little details for them.

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Your wedding day should be the one day where you, your fiancé, your mom, and your BFFs (eg. your bridesmaids) should only have to think about enjoying yourselves, and NOT on worrying about if deliveries have been made, and things are set up the right way, and the everything flows smoothly.

10) Overtime
When your reception is in full party mode and you want to go over the scheduled end time, (or if you got a late start and are running behind) overtime charges will incur. Remember this goes not only for your venue, but for your photographer, videographer, dj/band, and day-of coordinator. Not only will they require overtime fees, these fees will most likely need to be paid that night.

Add a Miscellaneous category to your budget and allocate 10% of your wedding funds to it. You can use these funds for any forgotten items or last minute must-haves.

What do you think of our list of the 10 most common items forgotten on the wedding budget? Are there any others you’d add? Let me know in the comments below!

Hearts, Joy, Love!
Jean

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Need help with developing your budget or other wedding planning assistance? Contact me today at [email protected] or at 937-581-3647!

Photo credit: sinksanctity

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