How to Plan An Event Budget

An event budget can help you have the wedding of your dreams.

Every event needs a budget, unless of course you have a generous benefactor who is willing to hand over a blank check. From weddings to corporate parties, a budget is one of the most important elements of your event planning. Here's some tips for planning a budget that will lead to a successful event:

Things You'll Need

• Spreadsheet
• Event details

Instructions

1. 

   Open a new spreadsheet in Excel or a similar program. To create a budget, it helps to add the following headers:

   Item
   Budget Amount
   Actual Amount
   Deposit
   Notes

   Add a line for Total, and use the Sum or Auto Total function to add up each column.

   If you are planning a large wedding or corporate event, you may also want to add categories such as Food/Drink, Entertainment, Printing or Advertising, Gifts, Transportation, etc.

2. Now fill in each line item with an item description and a budget amount. Keep in mind food and drink are usually 30% of the overall costs. Consider the first pass as a "rough draft". You will probably make several adjustments to your budget along the way. Once you've completed a rough draft, be sure to save the document!

3. 

   As your event plans progress, go back and update your spreadsheet so that you know exactly where you are in regards to your budget. Adding in actual costs can also help you adjust other items or categories. You may have budgeted $200 for guest gifts, but in actuality, only spent $150 - leaving you $50 to apply to another event item.

   For deposits: I add in the deposit amount and change the font color to red. As you pay deposits for items like entertainment, hotels, etc. you can change the color back to black (or whatever your default is). It's just another visual to show what's still outstanding.

   Use the notes section to list additional pricing quotes, or dates that pricing may go up for a budgeted item.

   Make sure to check your auto-Total. It's always great to be under-budget for an event, but going over can be extremely stressful!

4. Distributing an event budget to everyone involved keeps all parties on the same page. If you are planning an event such as a wedding or an anniversary party, your budget can show others how much funding is needed by each person to ensure your event goes on without a hitch!

Tips & Warnings

• Have a contingency fund! 20% at minimum - 30% is best.

• No event should be defined solely by its' budget. If you are working with a small budget, look to some creative solutions for getting the items you want.

Resources

• Event Budget Books on AMAZON