So you want to get married? Before even jumping to the crazy world of wedding preparations and booking suppliers, be sure to tick these things off your list first. These will give you enough idea of what you would be dealing with later on.
- Are you really sure you both want to get married? As in mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally and financially READY TO GET MARRIED?
- Are you done with the Proposal? (with the ring, only if you can afford.. this goes for the men)
- Are you done doing the Pamamanhikan (if you want to be traditional) or have you asked both your parents and family’s blessing for this union?
- Do you want to get married in Civil rights only or at Church?
- When and where is your tentative wedding Date and Time?
and most importantly…
- Do you have an allotted wedding budget in mind?
If you both said YES to all these, now it’s the best time to consider the money part. The big question is – how much are you both willing to spend for your once-in-a-lifetime dream wedding? From this would stem a lot of things. This would be your answerable objective. Both of you – yourself and your fiancee, need to FOCUS hard on this unless you got awesome “angels” who would sponsor all your wedding expenses.
Let’s be clear about this. Wedding Budget will depend on how much you are willing to spend. It depends per couple. There’s no standard amount to get married with. You can spend Php 30,000 on a civil rights ceremony or you can spend Php 1,000,000 ++ in a Church ceremony. You can splurge all your hard earned money or you can just do away with a minimum amount you both have in mind and save more for your future after the wedding aka the real life after getting married.
Here’s the thing – No one can really tell you how much you will need. Coordinators can tell you figures on how much you may need, but is that already it? No. Why? Because you’re the ones who are getting married, not them! It’s your personal touch and taste that should reflect your wedding, not theirs! Yes, they can give you a lot of information about the current rates of different classes of wedding suppliers (these days they categorize suppliers as well depending on how much they charge with their services) because that’s their job and they’re passionate about it, but would that suffice your needs? Probably not. It will still highly depend on —
- How you envision your dream wedding
- How much you’re only willing to spend..realistically speaking
- The quality and type of service each wedding supplier can give
When you both finally answered these questions honestly, it’s best to say that you can now start scouting for wedding suppliers by checking their portfolios and price range for their services. Good research, reputation, history and real past couple reviews are the keys to spotting good ones. On this blog, we have listed some of the suppliers that we have encountered as we go through this wedding preps (we have a long way to go as of this writing) together with their service price range. Check them out for yourself which fits you and your fiancee’s taste and budget. If you still think their rates are way over your budget, there are this so-called All-In-Packages being offered by a few Event planners/companies that cater from the ceremony to reception services, usually including gowns. The purpose is that you don’t have to think about anything but leave it all up to them! But of course, I cannot guarantee if they’ll suit you and your fiancee’s taste.
Weddings can be fancy or simple, but remember the most important thing is you’re getting married to the person you truly love. If you think you both deserve to throw yourselves a luxurious celebration then so be it. Just be sure you’re not both buried in debts or loans after the wedding because that would definitely have a big impact on your finances as a newly married couple. Whether you push through with what you have in mind, it’s always good to have a starting marriage fund after the wedding day.
Goodluck and Happy preps! 🙂
** Don’t know where to start? You may check out our Wedding Checklist Part 1 post to get you started. **
** Is it the Bride or the Groom? Or both? Who should really prepare for the wedding? Find out HERE! **
** Wedding Preparation Struggles, anyone? Find out to know more. **
OUR BUDGET DREAM WEDDING 
Hi!!!!!
Just wanted to say thank you so much for your blog. Just got engaged last month and we are planning to do it on December 2017 and being first to get married in my close circle of friends, I don’t know where to start and we are based overseas too. But I stumbled upon your blog and really a great help!!! Just wanna say thank you and will follow your wedding preps 🙂
Thanks a lot and God bless! 🙂
Hi Creees. Thanks for appreciating the blog. If you have any other questions, you can just send us a comment and we’ll be glad to help. Happy wedding preps and God bless you too! 🙂
The list of suppliers with their rates are really helpful too so clueless bride like me have at least an idea of how much the rates are (even though some supplier have already increase their rates na) but still very very helpful and thanks again!!! 🙂
Side note: Grabe ang mahal na pala talaga ng wedding rates sa PH ngayon haha 🙂
Hi Creees. Yes mahal na talaga magpakasal sa PH. But, doable naman if you have a budget. You just have to stick to suppliers within your budget range. Good luck! 🙂
Hello 🙂
I just got engaged but I’m doing my research na as early as now, medyo excited lang po. hehe we’re also overseas and i’m a waw member too. And i’m glad na nakita ko po itong blog ninyo, this will help me a lot specially on budgeting and creating my checklist, esp. nung nakita ko dto na gumawa din kayo ng list of suppliers and their rates. Pero medyo tumaas na rates nila, kasi yung ibang supplier na nalagay niyo dito nakapaginquire na ako. e ang tentative date namin is 2018. But we have faith that God will suplly all our needs.
Again, thank you and God bless you and your husband.
Hi Hershey. It’s so nice to hear na waw member ka din. If you have any questions regarding wedding preps don’t hesitate to ask me or post ka sa waw fb/yahoo group page. Basta focus lang on your priorities and budget. God bless you too and thank you for the kind words. Good luck!
As of now tingin tingin muna ako sa mga posts sa waw. Hehe pero unti unti nakakakuha na ako ng idea based sa mga pinopost nila. Dun ko din po nahagilap itong site ninyo kasi nakita ko na naicomment niyo yung link. 🙂 Ang nakakatuwa po sa waw e once nagask ka sasagutin ka talaga and tutulungan. 🙂 scratch pa po lahat sa akin ngayon. Pero atleast based sa checklist na ginawa ninyo may reference na ako. 🙂 pero sa tingin niyo po ba 500kphp is enough na po na magkaron ng magandang wedding?
Yes ganun culture sa waw, plus ang maganda pa is you know they’re reliable since kapwa brides din sila. So just ask if you need help. If you have more time do your own research din. Hindi na mahirap makakuha ng feedback from your prospective wedding suppliers since halos lahat may FB pages/IG/websites. With regards to your question, I can’t really say since you didn’t mention for how many guests, saan target location for the church and venue, if sagot niyo ba lahat or your parents/family/relatives/friends will sponsor your wedding, if yung tipong wedding niyo ba eh simple lang talaga with not-so-known suppliers etc. Madami kasi factors to consider. Kami around din sa ganyan range starting budget before, as in overall kasama na airfares namin pauwi ng pinas with vacation budget na but turns out we exceeded it since suppliers also increase over time. Remember, magkaiba rate ng 2016 wedding sa 2018 wedding. So just make a draft checklist muna with your allotted budget and possible costing para makita niyo in actual.
kasi po 100-150 persons ang target pero kung mas mafifilter pa namin kahit mga 100 lang. pero gusto ko talaga intimate, kaso marami ring relatives si h2b. ayun nga po, yung mga binibigay nilang rate sakin ngayon is for 2016-2017 so medyo nakakakaba pagka 2018 na rate na. haha. glass garden po sana, and about sa suppliers, naghahanap po ako yung hindi ganun kakilala pero ok ng service, pero I’m considering po Imbitados for my OTD sana. kaya search search muna ako, and nagulat din ako nung nakita ko checklist niyo marami pa pala kailangan iconsider. ahah kasi nakaset lang sakin is venue, catering, p/v, flowers, gown, hmua, pero andami pa pala. dun sa 500k namin di pa naman nakasama airfare at vacation namin. thank you po ulit!!
Thats good. So if that’s the case check mo lang yung checklist namin and gawa kayo ng draft costing to know possibly magkano aabutin ng wedding niyo. Importante kasi makita niyo figures if kaya or not. Actually kakayanin naman pero depende talaga sa inyo since matagal pa wedding plus madami possible changes na pwede mangyari. Yung usual na big expenses kasi is venue, caterer, gown, photo at video team. If low to mid range suppliers, pwede. Pero again nasa inyo yan. Good luck!