Wedding Planner Spreadsheet

Raggie

Hi,


well never thought I would end up in this section of the forums..


so hello ...


DD1 & SILTB1 has begun planning their wedding.. being a bit old fashioned we are going to help financially as much as we can. So have been googling for a good old fashioned spreadsheet to track and plan the costings.


Now I can find a lot of old threads with obsolete links to spreadsheets, and a lot of current links to online "apps" but don't really want to take that approach.


So can any kind person recommend a downloadable spreadsheet or maybe share one they created?


Many Thanks

When_the_going_gets_tough

I cant advise on spreadsheets but from one who has done this - think about giving them what you can afford and let them plan and choose the wedding that suits them. If they have to cut according to their cloth thats no bad thing. But for this to work you have to be hands off. Interested, engaged but not interfering - and that includes the guest list! Hope you take my comments the right way - and have a lovely day!

firebird082

Agreed with the poster above. Decide how much you can afford/want to give them, and leave the organising to them. There are loads of spreadsheet templates around which work quite well if you are having a bog-standard hotel wedding. If not, best just to create your own - worked perfectly for us.

My feeling is that template spreadsheets encourage you to spend your money in certain ways, rather than encouraging the couple to focus on the areas that are important to them. If they ask for your help, suggest you start from scratch with them, but Don't Take Over!

clairesilverspar

I'm using this to help plan my wedding as it has auto-calculation etc, but I've made some fairly major changes to it as I'm not having a lot of the things it's asking for, and my budget is split very differently to the percentages they suggest. Just don't assume everything it says is needed.
https://drive.google.com/previewtemplate?id=0AhN0y99GtIFTdEc0ZzFkMU8tZmFTSVp3dmhhMlRycWc&&urp=https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3D%26esrc%3Ds%26&pli=1&ddrp=1#


However, I would agree with the previous posters. Plan and budget what you can afford to give, and let them know. Either give them a sum, or say "I'll pay for the food up to X amount". Leave the planning to the couple as they'll need to discuss their wishes and ideas, and it's a special time for them both. Offer to help as an when asked, or make it clear you are available.

Raggie

Thanks for the replies.

You all raised the similar "interfering" point, and I fully concur with that. I/we have no intention of doing that. It's their day and they will be calling the shots. All the shots...

To expand on original question. The sheet was for me to look at all the various expenditures to help me visulise the spends.

google indicate average wedding prices of £20k+

Having spent years on MSE being smart with money, we have got in the habit of planning and budgeting and to have a spread sheet seems to have become our default position when planning an expenditure... It will only be used to help us judge how much to contribute, not on where they will spend it...


Thanks

GlasweJen

I'm having cold sweats just reading this, it's exactly what my future in laws said 18 months ago.

Now we are at the stage where because I'm a tiny bit unconventional and he's the only child I've got a mother of the groom-Zila to contend with and its escalating the closer we get to the wedding. The tiniest variation on quotes and she is in a sulk, wants to dictate where our money goes as she thinks X is a waste and would rather we did y.

Just do what my parents did, choose a number and gift it with no strings. Choose an outfit and turn up at the wedding and prepare for quirks without sighing, rolling your eyes or costing everything up mentally.

I have a thread, look it up.

Raggie

Hi Jen,


thanks for the post, did have a read of your thread and fully understand your concern.


We really do plan to give them some ££ and leave them to it. But how much, that's all I am trying to figure out.


We have always promised DD1 & DD2 the same amount so whatever DD1 gets DD2 will have the same amount placed in her savings account ready for when/if she chooses to marry.


So its the desire not to short change (or spoil) either of them that is driving this, not that we want to decide what to do or where to spend it.


Hence me trying to visualise the wedding process, typical expenditures etc.


Cheers

ScarlettKitsune

I overhauled a spreadsheet I found on google docs for this purpose (when I say overhauled, I mostly mean I added useful formulas for calculation). You can download my version here.

Hope you find it useful.

firebird082

Raggie wrote: »

We really do plan to give them some ££ and leave them to it. But how much, that's all I am trying to figure out.

Average wedding costs are no help at all really - my parents gifted us £5k towards the wedding, and we spent about £8k total. I could have spent more had they given us more, but equally, we budgeted to have everything we wanted within what we could afford. If you are really that unsure, have a conversation with them? I thought £5k was very generous, as had originally started off with that as my entire budget, although that was a bit of a challenge! £10k would cover, I would imagine, a lot of possibilities. I really have no idea how you could spend £20k on a wedding...

Edited to add: The most expensive items tend to be the venue and the food - look up a few to get an idea of 'normal' costs. Both obviously increase in price as you add more guests.

Mojisola

Raggie wrote: »

Having spent years on MSE being smart with money, we have got in the habit of planning and budgeting and to have a spread sheet seems to have become our default position when planning an expenditure... It will only be used to help us judge how much to contribute, not on where they will spend it...

Give what you can afford.

If they decide to spend it all on the wedding (and even add some of their own money to it) - that's their choice.

If they decide to be frugal and spend less so that they have a lump sum to start married life together - that's their choice.

Raggie

Mojisola wrote: »

Give what you can afford.

If they decide to spend it all on the wedding (and even add some of their own money to it) - that's their choice.

If they decide to be frugal and spend less so that they have a lump sum to start married life together - that's their choice.

Thanks - we can afford to cover the entire cost, money is not the issue here - I am trying not to throw money at them rather provide an amount that will get them a "nice" wedding and reliving the pressure of funding the day. But not give them too much as to spoil them.


Google indicates average wedding of £21K - now a village hall/registry office could probably be done for a £2K- somewhere in between is a figure that means they have a choice of venue- choice of caterers - choice of flowers - choice of.. without having to compromise.


I was only asking for a spread sheet to allow ME to visualise all the components of a wedding as its over twenty years since we did it - I was after a spread sheet so I could put some figures in columns and transfer DD1 some cash.


Please don't over think this - we are not forcing ourselves on their life - what they do or don't do is up to them.


So those that are in the process or have recently done it how much did you spend?


Venue/drinks/clothes/flowers/cars/entertainment etc - for something "reasonable" is it £5K,£10K,£15K,£20K, £25K or £30K?


cheers