A strong budget that you rigidly stick to is important for your big day. However, you may discover that there are many costs you hadn’t realised were required. So, before you look around any venues or try on outfits for the big day, bear the following costs in mind to ensure you aren’t faced with having to unexpectedly extend your budget.

Marriage registration

An important cost many couples neglect to factor into their wedding budget is the price of registering their marriage. First you need to give notice of your intent to marry, then pay a fee to register. On top of this, your venue will charge you a fee for the ceremony itself and this can vary greatly between a register office and a religious venue. Read through the Gov.uk site for all the details.

Wedding rings

Many couples get so wrapped up planning the ceremony venue, the food and drink and the DJ that they forget about one of the most important things to factor in – the wedding rings. You don’t have to blow budget on your bands, but ensure you add the cost to your budge. Spend a day or two trying on rings and spending time together.

Including yourself

Don’t forget you need to be included on the dining list as two extra heads! Some couples completely forget to factor themselves in and discover they need to pay for two more meals on top of all their guests. Who decided paying for the guest’s meals was a ‘thing’ anyway..?

Stationery and invitations

However you decide to do it, creating your invitations is going to cost you more than you initially anticipated - the world of stationery is an expansive and expensive one. Whether you opt to hand make everything – and remember, you need to factor in the time of doing this on top of the cost – or get a company or local designer to put something together for you, it’s a cost many couples forget. So, make sure you include it in your initial budgeting.

Stamps

As well as the cost of the invitations and stationery, you need to factor in the cost of posting invitations out to people if they don’t live nearby. The amount it costs to post your invitations depends on size and weight too, so if you’ve used heavy card or want to send out lots of information you could see the cost of postage rise quickly.

Travel between venues

You don’t have to provide transport for your guests, but you do for your wedding party as well as you and your partner. This can bump costs up significantly so be sure to get plenty of quotes and factor this expense in right from the start.

Weddings are already expensive, so it pays to be prepared. Know what you need to factor in and don’t come across any shocking bills before your big day.