Guide

How to budget for your wedding

By Jacob Sauzier, creator of Aisle | 14 October 2026

Start by listing what you want your wedding to include, what you're comfortable spending on each part and when you'll need to pay for it. Add those amounts together, leave room for changes, then check whether your savings plan can cover the total.

That's how Kirsten and I approached ours. We're planning a completely DIY wedding with a budget of roughly $36,000 AUD, excluding our honeymoon. We built that figure category by category, based on what mattered to us and what we felt comfortable spending.

That's our planned budget, not a recommended amount for your wedding. Your priorities, venue and choices might produce a very different total.

The DIY side is also why I started building Aisle. I wanted guidance and control without a billion spreadsheets, scattered information and things we'd forgotten to write down. Planning our wedding has become a project we work on together, and having somewhere to keep the details has helped.

Here's a practical way to build a budget you can keep using as plans take shape.

1. Decide what matters to each of you

Before collecting quotes, talk about which parts of the day you care about most. You don't need identical priorities, but you do need to know what the other person wants to protect when decisions get harder.

Photography was important to me. For Kirsten, being able to do the wedding ourselves was a priority. Those choices helped us work out where we wanted to spend money and what sort of wedding we wanted to organise.

Music matters to me too, but I didn't want to spend a large amount on a full band. We're curating our own playlist, and I've bought an amplifier, thrifted speakers and microphones for our setup.

That choice suits us. It also creates jobs: testing the equipment, setting it up and deciding who will manage it on the day. Include that work when you compare doing something yourselves with paying someone else.

Each write down:

• Three things you most want from the day.
• Things you'd enjoy if the budget allows.
• Things you're comfortable skipping.

Use those lists when reviewing quotes. They give you a reason to say yes or no beyond whether something looks good in a photo.

2. Build the total from the individual costs

Write down an amount you're comfortable spending for each category. These are starting limits, not predictions of what suppliers will charge. Replace assumptions with actual quotes as you get them.

Be clear about what belongs in the wedding budget. Are rings included? Accommodation? The honeymoon? There's no problem tracking them separately, as long as you both know where they sit.

Use this list to check for gaps:

Keep refundable bonds separate from your expected final spending, but include them in the cash you need available. You may need to pay them before earlier bonds are returned.

Outfits deserve a full category too. A suit's purchase price may only be part of the amount once alterations, shoes and accessories are included.

An illustrative $30,000 wedding budget

The figures below demonstrate how a total can be divided. They are not our budget breakdown, supplier quotes or Australian average prices. Some categories may need much more or less for your wedding.

This example excludes a honeymoon, guest accommodation and refundable bonds. Its contingency is 10% of the total; that's an illustration, not a rule. If several major costs are still unknown, allow more room or firm up those quotes before committing elsewhere.

Keep your contingency available for gaps and changes. If you allocate it all to upgrades, it's no longer a buffer.

3. Check which costs change with guest numbers

Some costs increase with each guest. Others stay broadly the same until you cross a supplier's capacity or package limit.

Ask which applies to each quote. Food, drinks and hired place settings may change with numbers. A venue hire fee or photography package may stay the same even if your guest list gets smaller. Minimum spends can also limit the savings from reducing numbers.

For example, if genuinely variable costs total $150 per guest, ten extra guests add $1,500 before any other changes. That's a calculation example, not a suggested catering rate.

A small wedding can still involve substantial fixed costs. Use your actual quotes to judge what your guest count means for your budget.

4. Compare the whole quote

Before deciding one supplier is cheaper, check that you're comparing the same scope.

• What is included, and what costs extra?
• Are delivery, collection, travel and setup included?
• How many hours or items does the price cover?
• Is the quoted total inclusive of applicable tax and mandatory charges?
• What deposit is required, and when is the balance due?
• Are there minimum numbers, minimum spends or refundable bonds?
• What happens if your numbers or plans change?

For a DIY wedding, look closely at what the venue provides. Supplying your own furniture, glassware or sound equipment changes both the cost and the amount of organising you'll need to do.

Record the quote and its inclusions together. A number without the details is difficult to compare later.

5. Separate the total cost from what you've paid

Your budget needs to answer two different questions: what have we committed to, and how much still needs paying?

For each booking, keep these figures clear:

In this example, photography is $200 over the original allowance. The $800 deposit is part of the $3,200 total, not an extra cost.

Keep estimates for unbooked items in your overall forecast. Otherwise, a budget can look comfortably under control simply because you haven't booked several expensive things yet.

For a working total, add booked costs, estimates for remaining items and your unused contingency. Update it when a quote becomes a booking or the agreed scope changes.

6. Work backwards from payment deadlines

Kirsten and I looked at what we had, what we expected the wedding to cost and what we would need to save. We worked backwards with the aim of having enough saved three months before the wedding.

That gives us a target ahead of the day itself. Your own target should also account for when suppliers require payment; some amounts will be due much earlier.

To calculate a basic savings target:

Amount still needed = remaining expected costs − money already set aside − confirmed contributions still to come.

Then divide that gap by the number of pay periods before you need the money.

For example, if you have $24,000 left to pay and $6,000 set aside, you still need $18,000. Across 18 months, that's $1,000 a month between you. This assumes no other contributions and excludes interest.

Now check the actual payment dates. An average savings target can look manageable while a large deposit is due next week.

If the timing doesn't work, revisit costs or discuss payment arrangements with suppliers before booking. Don't base commitments on gifts or contributions that haven't been confirmed.

7. Give DIY its own budget and inventory

Doing parts of the wedding ourselves has helped us save on some costs. It has also given us more to buy, store, transport and keep track of.

For each DIY idea, include materials, tools, delivery, test pieces and any replacements. Consider how much time it will take and who will set it up. Don't count possible resale money as cash you can use to pay suppliers before the wedding.

We've also organised a day-of coordinator. Doing a DIY wedding doesn't mean we want to personally manage every job on the day.

The inventory in Aisle has been one of the most useful parts for me. Having photos and quantities available while we're out means I can check what we have, rather than try to remember it all.

Whichever system you use, keep a record of each item's name, quantity, photo and storage location. For borrowed or hired items, note who they belong to and when they need returning. That record becomes useful again when you pack for the venue and clear everything afterwards.

8. Review the plan together

Our planning moves along gradually, through conversations about what we want, what we have and what things will cost. It feels like a project we're doing together.

A short, regular review can help keep both people involved. Pick a rhythm that suits you, then check:

• What has been booked or bought since you last looked?
• Has anything changed from the original estimate?
• Which payments are coming up?
• Are you saving enough to meet those dates?
• What decisions need both of you?

Update the shared record as you go. It's much easier to make the next decision when you're both looking at the same numbers.

Start with one conversation

Sit down together, choose the things you most care about and put an initial amount against each category. Add the total, check it against what you can save and identify the quotes you need next.

You don't need every answer straight away. You need a starting point you can both understand and a habit of updating it as decisions become real.