Even with the perfect excel spreadsheet and methodically thought-out budget, unexpected expenses can arise and cause a big issue for your budget. Here are 10 commonly forgotten costs to make sure you allocate in your spreadsheet:
1. Food & Beverage Taxes and Fees
Typically, catering companies charge a service fee as well as state food and beverage taxes. In Virginia, F&B tax is 7.5% and service charges can be as high as 25%. With a large subtotal, these taxes and fees can be in the thousands of dollars- a definite budget buster. To avoid this surprise increase in costs, take your catering budget and subtract around 28%. This new amount will be your sub-total budget, to make sure your overall budget stays intact even after the taxes and fees.
2. Vendor Meals
For vendors that will be with you throughout the day, such as the band/DJ, photographer and videographer, you will need to provide a meal. Their requirements will be outlined in their contract. Some vendors expect a hot meal, while others are fine with a sandwich. Make sure to pay close attention to the vendors’ contracts and budget for meals accordingly.
3. Corkage & Cake Cutting Fees
More catering-related fees are the corkage and cake cutting fees. Some venues/catering companies charge corkage fees for bottles or wine and liquor that are opened and served. Typically, these fees are in place when the couple is permitted to provide their own alcohol and the venue is responsible for serving it. This can range from a little as $5 per bottle to almost $40 per bottle. Make sure to inquire with your venue prior to signing your contract and make necessary allocations in your budget.
Similarly, a cake cutting fee is charged to incentivize couples to utilize an in-house baker (so the fees can be avoided) or to compensate employees for their work slicing the dessert. Usually the cost is around $3 per person, or less depending on the region.
4. Postage
When budgeting for stationary, don’t forget to include postage! A standard envelope can be mailed with a single Forever stamp, costing $0.73 per parcel. Oversized, unusually shaped, or heavier envelopes will cost more. Multiply the number of invitations expected to be sent times 2, to account for save the dates, the multiply that product by the current cost of stamps to get your postage budget. Keep in mind that trendy invitation designs, like thicker paper and wax seals can cause the weight of your envelope to go over what is covered by a single stamp, so do a trial run with one invitation to see how much postage is required.
*Bonus tip: When calculating how many invitations are needed, make sure to count the number of households not the number of guests. Many brides order the same number of invites as guests, which will leave you with a plethora of extras and an unneeded expense.
5. Marriage License
The Commonwealth of Virginia charges $30 for a marriage license. This varies by state and the license must be obtained in the state the marriage is taking place, so be sure to do some research for your out of state nuptials.
6. ABC License
Depending on the venue, you may need to obtain an ABC license for the day of the event. In Virginia, the individual banquet license cost $195 total, including the application fee, processing fee, and state license fee.
7. Alterations
After saying “YES” to the dress, don’t forget to budget for alterations needed on your gown. Simple alterations average between $150 and $600, but can go as high as $1,000 for major changes.
8. Extra Rentals
If renting tables and chairs, make sure you rent enough chairs to fill all the tables. This might sound like common sense, but for example, if you have 105 guests seated at tables of 10, you should rent 110 chairs so the final table will match the others, even if only 5 guests will be sitting there. Budget for these extra chairs as well as any high-top tables needed for cocktail hour, a guestbook table, etc. so the rental bill isn’t higher than expected.
9. Day Of Meals
With all the excitement beginning later in the day, your may forget to make a plan for breakfast and/or lunch on the big day. Whether someone picks up Starbucks and bagels or you have a more formal meal, these expenses can add up and should be budgeted for!
10. Vendor Tips
Vendor tips are the perfect way to show your appreciation for your amazing vendors and are super important, but can easily be left out of your budget plan. Here is a general guide of industry standards for tips so you can budget accordingly:
Florist: $50-$200
Wedding Planner: 15-20% of coordination fee
Photographer & Videographer: $50-$250 per team member
Band Members: $25-$50 per person
Hair & Makeup Artist: 15-20% of fee
DJ: $50-$150
Delivery & Setup Staff: $10-$50 per person
Officiant: $100-$500 donation to place of worship or tip of $50-$100
Waitstaff & Bartenders: 15-20% of food and beverage fee
Parking Attendants: $1-$5 per car
Ceremony Musicians: $15-$50 per person
- Featured Image by Butterfly Photography
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