5 Additional Costs Engaged Couples Forget to add to their Wedding Budget

May 31, 20243 min read

Updated: Jul 17, 2024

Dress Alterations & Outfit Details

Many times brides include “dress cost” to their wedding budget, but quickly forget all of the other elements that fall under that category! Alterations, special undergarments/garter, veil, shoes, jewelry, comfy shoes to dance in if needed, and any other accessory should also be included under that cost!

2. Security Officers

I see this one forgotten MOST out of this whole list. If you plan on serving alcohol at your wedding, you need to budget for security officers. Not just for safety, although that is a good reason, but because it is a standard policy in the industry that professional wedding venues REQUIRE security guards to be present the whole time that alcohol is being served. Ask your venue what county the security officers come from, how they typically take payment, and what rate they charge. Your guest count will determine how many officers need to be present. I know it just seems like one more added cost to your wedding, but if there is any alcohol present, you will be glad to have someone that can step in if a situation arises. I typically see officers charge $40-$60/hour for each officer present.

3. Vendor Tips

Tips usually aren’t required, but they are much appreciated! If there is a vendor that you feel has gone above & beyond throughout the planning process & on the day of, you might want to give them a tip to show your appreciation! I suggest saving 5-10% of your total wedding budget to use towards tipping those exceptional vendors.

4. Wedding Coordinator

I know what you’re thinking! Of course a wedding coordinator is going to say we need to budget for a coordinator, but HEAR ME OUT!! I got married before I ever became a coordinator, and still to this day, my mom & I agree it was the best money we spent on the whole wedding. I won’t go into a ton of detail here on the why, because I could write a whole book on that, but coordinators really do allow you and your family to ENJOY the day! We take all of the stress off of you & handle all of the logistics behind the scenes. Why spend thousands of dollars on an event, just for the day to finally get here and you can’t even enjoy it because you are too busy running around doing things. Professional coordinators are where it is at! Depending on if you hire a coordinator or a full planner, I suggest budgeting around 2k-10k for a coordinator/planner.

5. Buffer Room

Weddings are not just expensive events, but they are also very emotional events. I know it can be hard to talk about the potential hiccups or additional costs that can arise, but it happens! Problems can arise in any way, shape, or form (another reason to have a coordinator;)). Plan for it & save for it! I suggest saving around 10% of your total wedding budget to use towards any additional costs that might arise when wedding planning! This will give you plenty of buffer room in your budget! Planning your budget well will make it harder to go over budget later on, and that means also planning for any additional costs or problems that come up. Give yourself some buffer room to save yourself the stress later on.

I hope you found this checklist helpful while creating your budget! Stay tuned for more resources & blog posts on creating & sticking to your wedding budget.