Wedding Budget Worksheet

Weddings are an expensive business, so a wedding budget worksheet is essential to ensure you keep track of your spending.

A wedding is an easy event to overspend on and many brides go over their budgets by thousands of pounds, but if you plan well upfront, keep track of your budget and make wise choices you should be able to stick to your budget.

This budget worksheet outlines all the areas where you could spend money.

You should use it throughout your planning process and whenever you purchase something towards your wedding.

The key to keeping your wedding budget on track is making sure it's up to date, so update it regularly.

With this wedding budget worksheet, you'll also see a 'contingency' line. Here, you should put 10% of your budget for any unforeseen purchases. This is a cushion for when things go wrong or you need a little extra cash 'just in case'. Be careful though, it's important to use the contingency wisely.

This budget is available in Microsoft Office Excel, 2003 or as a PDF. Choose your preference below.

10 Tips to keep your wedding budget on track

1. Start with your planning. It's important to do lots of research before you decide on what you want. If you change your mind later down the line, you'll spend more and miss out on the best deals.
2. Speak to your parents. Involve them early on in the planning process so they don't change your costs by adding extra guests or elements to your big day that you hadn't considered.
3. Get like-for-like quotes. Don't settle with what one supplier says, ask another for a quote and compare them. Just make sure you ask for identical requirements to ensure you compare them on equal grounds.
4. Get three quotes for everything. You'll benefit from looking at other vendors costs, so whether it's stationery, decorations or your venue, get three quotes.
5. Always allow 10% contingency in your budget to act as a cushion if things get tight later on.
6. Always ask for a receipt. It'll make filling in your budget worksheet much easier.
7. Look out for the little items as they can really push your spend up. A few extra decorations and an a little upgrade on that ring will soon add up.
8. If you've not included it in your budget, then forget it! If you plan and research properly before setting your budget, this shouldn't be an issue. Those unplanned items can cost a fortune and easily send you over budget.
9. If you're getting friends and family to help out to save money, then make sure they're still willing and able! People change their minds and if you suddenly find yourself without a photographer or a chauffeur, it can be expensive.
10. Update your budget worksheet regularly.

How to download this wedding budget

Wedding Budget Worksheet (zip / xls)

Instructions to Download

Click on the link and save the zip file to your computer. Saving it to the desktop may be easiest for you but if you want to save it somewhere else do take note of where you saved it so that you can find it again.

Once saved, find it on your computer, double click on the zip folder to open it and you will either have an option to ‘extract all files’, or you will be able to double click on the actual xls file to open it. The worksheet file has been created as a Microsoft Excel 2003 worksheet.

The PDF version

Once the file has opened, you can save it to your desktop and print it out.

You will need Adobe Reader (the latest version is recommended) installed on your computer in order to open and read the budget. You can get Adobe Reader here (a new window will open so you can download it without leaving this page).

More about budgeting for a wedding

Wedding Budget

Wedding Budget Planner (spreadsheet)

Wedding on a Budget

More free budget worksheets