Eek! Budgets! What a pesky thing to do! And yet, when first starting out, it’s extremely important to create one—especially if you have nonexistent start-up funds. It doesn’t cost a lot to start a wedding planning business, but you can easily get sucked into a lot of useless hype of promised leads. I have fallen victim to it a few times. To get more leads, you’re just going to have to #hustle—honest truth.
A Wedding Planner Business Budget
Budgeting will help you achieve the goals you’re working toward. Is that a pretty, new website? More education? More advertising? So how do you make a budget? Well, first you take what you have to start a business and then subtract your start-up expenses. Once you start making money, you’ll be able to add more expenses.
Budgeting for the First Year
Only you know how much you have to work with, but if I were going to start out and I only had $1,300, this is what I’d do:
| What to Do | Resource | Cost | Description |
| Create my own logo | Picmonkey | $71.88 | Subscriptions and Dues |
| Register with State | $50 | Taxes | |
| Register with City | $25 | Taxes | |
| Create a website | Weebly | $0 | Website Expense |
| Contract | The Contract Shop | $455 | Legal |
| Invoicing and Accounting | FreshBooks | $160 | Accounting |
| Insurance | HISCOX | $35/mo | Insurance |
| Business Cards | PSPrint | $25 | Office Supplies |
Total $1,206.88
*See our toolbox for other handy resources.
Other Start Up Costs
Setting up a wedding planning business can be pretty affordable if done right. The hardest part is getting leads when you are new. For newer wedding planners, I always suggest advertising on WeddingWire. WeddingWire is not cheap though. They charge depending on the area you serve. Because of this, there’s no way to give an exact number on the cost. Another added expense might be education. I would highly recommend taking some sort of formal training on the subject. It could really help cut down on the mistakes and the hard lessons. The wedding industry market is a bit saturated and having an edge on the competition is always helpful. We offer a very comprehensive Wedding Planner Foundations course. In this self-guided course, planners learn how to master the art of Month of Coordinating.
Don’t Waste Your Money
Alexa, from the EWPA Facebook Group, said that advertising on the Knot was a complete waste of money in her first year of business. Another unnecessary cost might be hiring someone to do your social media.
What type of expenses are you spending your business money on?
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