Wedding Budget: How Much Does a Wedding Cost in 2024?

Figure Out Who’s Paying

Nowadays, it is more common for couples to marry later in life and already have a job and self-sufficiency. For couples to cover their own wedding expenses or to split the finances between the couple and the two families.

As sensitive as the topic of finances is, it’s best to have these conversations early and come to an agreement on what the wedding budget is, who’s responsible for what, and most who gets to say what — especially if the person contributing to the wedding feels entitled to make decisions.

If this isn’t something you’re comfortable with, it’s best to know ahead of time. Early conversations can help avoid awkward and difficult conversations later in the process.

Choose a Realistic Budget

According to Zzeeh Wedding planners, the average costs can range anywhere from 2.5 lakhs to 25 lakhs.

With this in mind, you should focus on the budget. Creating (and sticking to) a budget will help you avoid overspending on things outside of your budget and creating unnecessary debt. As much as we love everything we see, not all budgets have it all.

While this is an important milestone for many and a time to allow for a few splurges. It’s definitely not a good idea to without fail you during the wedding process.

Prefer What Matters Most Important on Your Wedding Day

There are many smart ways to organize your dream wedding on a budget you can afford. By visualizing and identifying what matters most, people are better able to divide their funds in smart ways. A less elaborate affair can still result in a stunning, elegant, and memorable wedding.

Get several quotes from different vendors. You’d surprise how prices vary between different companies.

Focus on the head table where guests see it the most. Calling attention to many areas is excessive and unnecessary.

You May be Ready to Spend More than you Think

It may sound counterintuitive, but part of planning your budget is realizing that you spend more than you think. According to a report by Zzeeh, half of the couples who got married last year spent more than they budgeted for.

Change it up, and keep your budget flexible. Then, when you’re shopping, planning, and booking wedding supplies, tries not to go over every area.

Determine Your Priorities

Before you set your budget, you should ask yourself these questions:

1. What are your top priorities?
2. Or, what are the lowest priorities?

When you’ve identified your priorities—food, a top photographer, tons of amazing flowers, etc.

You already know where you shouldn’t spend. If you say that having a big cake, a live band, and a designer dress isn’t that important to you, you’re looking to divide elsewhere and save some money.

Know Your Hidden Costs

While many vendors offer free consultations or design mockups, that may not be true for everyone. Be sure to consider not only the cost of the day of styling but also the costs of hair and makeup trials. If you go overtime with your photographer, venue, or planner from the contracted times, the fees will be higher to go with it. Be sure to know these costs ahead of time so you’re not surprised if you run into this scenario.

If your planner, designer, or photographer is staying for at least part of your reception. You’ll usually be required to provide a meal on time or count them as guests for your catering. Be sure to discuss this with your vendors beforehand.

Make Sure How Many Guests you Want to Invite

One of the most effective ways to save money on your wedding is to have a small guest list. The number of guests will affect the cost of your venue, catering, rentals, and transportation.

For example, the average catering cost for a 50-person wedding is approximately 50,000, but that cost doubles when you expand the guest list to 100 people.

Talk to your fiancé about who you’re inviting and try to set a reasonable limit on your guest list. If you’re having trouble coming up with a good number, list all the guests you want and make some hard rules to trim the headcount.

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Figure Out How Much You Can afford

The first step in creating a wedding budget is figuring out how much money you can spend. This means taking all expenses related to the event, including the ceremony, reception, attire, photography and videography, flowers, transportation, food and beverages, and other expenses.

You can get credit cards for fair credit and work out a good payment plan so your family doesn’t get stressed out by the cost of the event. It’s important to be realistic about what you can afford and include some cushion in your budget for unexpected expenses.

Decide on Your Wedding Style

The way you approach your wedding planning will reflect the type of ceremony and reception you envision for yourself. If you want to go rural, have a campfire ceremony. If it’s winter, go to an ice skating party instead.

If you think dancing is important, decide what kind of music you want and choose a reception hall with a dance floor. If you want to focus on the food, choose a location with an outdoor garden.

Pricing for a Wedding Venue: ~20%

Unsurprisingly, the biggest investment in your wedding budget is often the venue. Our study found that couples typically spend about 30% of their total budget on their wedding setting.

A wedding venue can cost thousands to lakhs and even a few crores of rupees! But for an average Indian, the wedding venue has to be one of the most time- and resource-consuming decisions he makes for wedding planning. An average wedding venue for around 1000-1500 people will cost you INR 1,00,000 to INR 3,00,000.

It may vary depending on the number of guests, location of the venue and its extravagance. It takes a major part of the budget, so choosing the venue with pleasure is very monumental.  

Cost of Wedding Catering: ~20%

Catering is another big-ticket item, taking up 20% of the average wedding budget. (This is the cost per food item at your reception.) Depending on the packages your venue offers, this element may include alcohol and cake. However, some couples choose to budget separately.

Did everyone know that people remember your wedding day based on how delicious it was? Most banquets set a per-plate price, which includes your banquet charges. Each plate costs a minimum and maximum of ₹500 to ₹2000. But some dinners don’t last on their own catering services. In that situation, you can choose your own caterer.

 A good option for all is to hire a cook instead of a caterer if your venues allow it. It helps if you choose the dishes and recipes you want in the menu. What you need to worry about is the number and variety of combinations of dishes that the caterer offers. Also, your choice of international dishes will cost you anywhere between ₹1000-₹1500 to ₹1700-₹2000 per plate.

Cost of Wedding Planner & Decoration: ~20%

A big business in the wedding industry is the stage decoration business. A typical wedding decoration setup (depending on the size of the venue) will cost you anywhere from INR 70,000 to INR 30,00,000. However, for an average Indian, the cost would be around INR 1,50,000 for a simple yet elegant venue set up with flowers and other attractive accessories.

After all, you can rest easy knowing your ceremony will go off without a hitch when you have a great professional taking care of all the details. Save ~20% of your total budget for a wedding planner.

A wedding planner will plan your entire wedding from start to finish.  The advantage here is that a full-service wedding planner utilizes his or her network of trusted vendors that he or she recommends. So does your research to a minimum! You can expect to pay at least ₹ 2,00,000 to ₹6,00,000 lakhs or even higher for a great wedding planner at this level of service.

Cost of a Wedding Photographer: ~10%

Stunning photos will last a lifetime and become treasured memories from the big day, making it a splurge-worthy purchase. Brides-to-be typically spend ~10% of their wedding budget on their photographer.

Photography is very important for any wedding. As you look back on your wedding, many precious memories are captured through these photo and video creations. Thus, hiring a good photographer will cost you around Rs 50,000 to Rs 2,00,000 per day. 

Go for a packaged deal of photography and videography as a bundle. By doing this you will definitely save more money and you will also get two conveniences from one vendor.

It is an intense part of the wedding because it captures the beautiful memories of this new beginning. And it is sought after for life and for that reason, you need to find a good photographer. Nowadays photography has become an art form.

There are many types of photography available, so you need to decide whether you want candid photography, traditional photography, videography or drone photography. You also have another option to get a pre-wedding photoshoot. 

Wedding Attire: ~6%

Luxurious wedding dresses, tuxedos, Trousseau, are expensive. This usually runs between 6% of your wedding budget breakdown. So, based on our example budget, the total cost will be between ₹30,000 and ₹3,50,000.

Entertainment and Music : ~5%

Are you thinking of a DJ or band for your wedding? Everyone has costs and expenses. However, you can block out about ~5% of in your wedding budget or spreadsheet for entertainment.

Videography: ~5%

Just like pictures, a video can also commemorate your wedding. We are big proponents of investing in a wedding videographer because nothing brings back your favorite wedding memories like a short film. Planning permitting, we recommend allocating around 5% of your wedding budget for a videographer. And a videographer around Rs 50,000 per day.

Bridal Beauty (Makeup): ~4%

The way a bride envisions her wedding is simple: she looks gorgeous next to her prince or princess. And who does it all? Trick question! All you need to look amazing is a beautiful, happy smile… but yes, a little hair and makeup, mehendi  will help too! It will cost you anywhere between ₹10000 to ₹50000.

Lighting & Flower Decor: ~5%

Flowers can completely change the look of your wedding. Additionally, many couples prefer to carry bouquets or wear boutonnieres. We found that on average, 5% of the wedding budget is dedicated to flowers and lighting.

Whether you want a beautiful display of red roses or twinkling lights to decorate the venue, the average cost for flowers and decoration is about 5% of your total budget.

Along with flowers, lighting and decor are effective ways to personalize your wedding look. This includes everything from candles to statement lighting installations, as well as signs, table displays, non-floral centerpieces and other decorative elements. 5% of your budget is on these voices.

Other Activities: ~5%

Many other major activities are crucial on the wedding day. These include invitations, ceremony priests, transportation, accommodation, live concerts, return gift specialists, etc. Each of them play an immense role and without them any wedding is incomplete. You should budget at least INR 2 lakhs- INR 4 lakhs for the category. 

Apply Wedding Loan

A wedding loan also known as a personal loan, or taken out to finance a wedding. The interest rate usually starts from ~5% to10.99% and this loan can be repaid in flexible EMIs.

Personal loans for weddings carry a much lower interest rate than what you would pay by charging your wedding expenses on a credit card.

Personal Line of Credit

A wedding personal credit line is an unsecured credit line that comes in handy when you need immediate cash to meet the wedding expenses.

For example, you have budgeted all aspects of the wedding. Later, you realize that you need an extra ₹ 15,000 for an expense that you didn’t account for in the wedding budget. Getting a personal loan means all you need is a large amount. It also means paying interest on the entire amount when your need is only ₹ 15,000.

In the above example, a personal line of credit works very well. You can withdraw ₹ 15,000 from an approved line of credit and pay interest only on the borrowed amount. It is the best type of loan to meet and cover other or temporary expenses.

​Other budget wedding finance options are listed below:

Using part of your investments: If you have made certain investments to build your savings to earn a better lifestyle, you can use part of that investment.

PPF: You can withdraw employee shares for marriage expenses.

Loan against property: You can take a loan from a bank by pledging your residential or commercial property as per its current market value.

Asking Friends and Family: If you have tried all the above options to no avail and still have little, ask your family or friends. It can be a sticky substance. Drop hints. If they don’t get the instructions, be bold and ask.

Savings

One of the ideal ways to cover big wedding expenses is to be able to cover expenses with funds from a savings account. Couples planning long engagements are more likely to use this method than those with shorter engagements. Saving and planning for their big day over several months or years.

Always keeping comfortable savings separate from wedding funds for emergencies is a smart money move that can help avoid financial roadblocks in the future. It’s wise to err on the side of caution if doing so puts you in financial limbo or prevents you from reaching other financial goals. Having those funds after the wedding is more important than spending them now.

Consider the Pros in Place

Ask a talented friend to style your hair and do the makeup yourself rather than paying for professional services and premium packages. (And you probably don’t have to worry too much about gratuity among friends, but you’ll want to tip the hairdresser.)

Cut the Guest List

Some venues have minimum and maximum guest requirements and are priced accordingly, and vendors may charge per person for food and drinks. Head count affects costs across the board.

That with 10 fewer guests on your list, you’ll be cutting at least one table: that means 10 chairs, 10 place settings, 10 favors and one centerpiece you’re not paying for. By cutting your guest list by 10 or 20 people, you can literally save 40000.

Seek Off-peak Season

Ceremony venues, reception halls and photographers offer lower prices during off-peak months like January or February.

Saturday is the most popular day for weddings, and high demand often comes with a high price tag. You can save by scheduling your big day on a Sunday or weekday unless it coincides with a popular holiday.

Wedding Invitations

Invitations are usually the first thing in a wedding, so think about saving from the beginning. In a technology-driven age, rituals should start adopting technology. Therefore, the first milestone to make the process budget-free and eco-friendly is to replace paper or card with video or virtual images.

Create personalized e-invites or set up a matrimonial website or video that your guests can access. Wedding card printing and sending expenses. If some of your relatives are not good enough to appreciate an e-invitation, print only a small number of wedding cards for them.

 Multiple Ceremonies

You can avoid different dates for many celebrations. If possible, do as much as you can in one day. This gives you two types of benefits, one is saving your time and, it is saving your money.