10 Unexpected Wedding Expenses You Need to Prepare For

Weddings are expensive. Duh, right? But guess how much the average price tag is for the entire day? Wait for it — $35,329! Since money doesn’t grow on trees for any of us and most of us aren’t independently wealthy, that is quite the price tag.

But when you stop to think about it, it’s (kind of) easy to see how it all adds up. There’s your wedding dress, booking wedding vendors, finding a venue, getting transportation and hiring a florist, caterer and photographer and videographer — not to mention the unexpected wedding expenses that can easily throw off your wedding budget, no matter how carefully you're planning your budget wedding.

Expenses like what? We’re glad that you asked.

If you’re currently in the process of planning for your own wedding, here are 10 (other) things that you need to make sure to factor into your wedding costs.

Marriage License

You can’t get married without a marriage license — not legally, anyway. And it’s something that you’ll need to have in your possession before walking down the aisle.

How much do marriage licenses cost? That depends on what state you live in, but it shouldn’t be much more than around $100. Just make sure that you know the guidelines for your county/state, that you both sign it, and that it’s properly filed before your nuptials.

Oh, and if you’re in the process of putting a destination wedding together, it’s important to also know the waiting period that may apply to where you are going. Otherwise, you could end up spending even more money on travel fees and hotel stays. (Let’s try and avoid that if at all possible.)

Postage

Maybe you want to save money. Maybe you’re putting together an eco-friendly wedding and you want to use as little paper products as possible. If either of these things apply to you, what you could do is nix going the traditional route of mailing out wedding invitations altogether and create a digital one using an app instead.

On the other hand, if you—or your mother—wouldn’t dream of you getting married without sending out formal invites to your family members and friends, make sure to factor in postage. Also, don’t forget that stamps currently cost somewhere around 50 cents a pop.

If you’re planning on inviting hundreds of people, that can easily add up; especially since most wedding invitations are going to require 2-3 stamps, at least.

Alterations

In a perfect world, once you've finally chosen your perfect wedding dress, wedding attire would fit perfectly the very first time they tried it on. But we don’t live in that kind of universe and someone, somewhere, is going to need an alteration… or two, or more.

How much will they run you? It kind of depends. Just know that when it comes to this particular unexpected expense, you basically get what you pay for. Translation—you should set aside at least a few hundred bucks so that you can get what you need done and done right (especially if you’re planning on getting your wedding dress or your groom’s tux or suit altered).

One more tip about alterations is to allot enough time. You don’t want to wait until the week of your wedding to try and get alterations done. Give yourself at least a two-week lead, just to be on the safe side.

Beauty Treatments

Hopefully, getting your hair and make-up done by a professional doesn’t fall into the category of unexpected wedding expenses. That said, you are going to need more than that in order to look your absolute best on your special day!

As you’re planning out all of your upcoming wedding costs, something that absolutely must go on the list is your beauty treatments. What falls under this category? Manicures, pedicures, facials, massages, waxing, eyebrow threading/waxing, faux eyelashes—basically all of the “extras” that will make you feel like the princess that you are.

Out of all of the unexpected costs that we’ll talk about in this article, this is one of the most important. You should probably set aside at least $400-500 just for this alone.

Bachelor/Bachelorette Parties

It’s the kind of tradition that we hope never gets old!

Getting married is a HUGE commitment. Ask any married couple and they will tell you that once you say “I do,” things are never quite the same. That’s why we think it’s a good idea to throw a bachelor/bachelorette party with your friends.

It’s not so much about how much “trouble” you can get into so much as it’s about enjoying one last time to have a blast as an officially single individual!

How much will these parties run you? It kind of depends on what you want to do and where you want to go to do it. But even if it’s just dinner up the street, it’s gonna require a few dollars—times two. Make sure to keep that in mind.

Hotel Stay Before Your Wedding

If you’re planning on staying at your parents’ house or with a friend, this isn’t something that needs to go into your wedding budget. But if you did want to have a few hours to yourself to soak in the tub, watch a sappy movie (on loop), or simply to “unplug” so that you can get some much-needed rest before your wedding day, you need to set some money aside for your hotel stay for the day before your wedding.

Aside from the actual cost of the hotel room itself, try and also have a few bucks for incidentals. This is the day before YOUR DAY. If you want to get room service or take advantage of the candy or mini bar the room has, you should certainly do it.

Wedding Décor

Speaking of unexpected wedding costs, what else do you want to have for your wedding décor other than flowers (by the way, we just read that hiring a professional florist can easily run you seven percent of your overall wedding cost alone!)?

If you desire candles, centerpieces, or any other kinds of decorations for your wedding and reception venues, be prepared to set aside at least a couple grand.

That’s a lot, we know, and definitely one of the kinds of things that a lot of couples overlook when they’re in the process of putting their wedding budget together.

Of course, you could get a few members of your wedding party to help you make some of your decorations, but even if you're throwing a totally DIY wedding, the supplies are still going to cost you.

Gratuity

Something else that a lot of couples forget is gratuity. We kind of get why that happens, because with all of the cash that they are shelling out, the LAST thing they want to think about is setting aside money for tips. But the reality is, the people who are working to make your day perfect are doing a service and their initial fee is just for the work alone, not necessarily the quality of it.

If the vendors did an excellent job, thank them by giving them a little extra money. Same goes for your stylist, dress maker, limo driver, or anyone else who went above and beyond. It’s not only a nice gesture, but it’s something that all of us should do as a courtesy.

Sales Tax

Ugh. This one is a total headache. It’s still something that must be prepared for, though—and oftentimes isn’t.

As you’re planning your wedding, don’t forget that pretty much everything is going to come with a sales tax that needs to be tacked onto it. The rehearsal dinner? It will have a sales tax. Your wedding venue? It will have a sales tax. The gifts that you plan on buying the members of your wedding party? They too will have a sales tax (and maybe a set of service charges).

Case in point: Say that you decide to use a private club for your ceremony. You could easily end up having a 20 percent service charge tacked onto that.

Does this break down to needing to set aside a couple of thousand just for sales tax and service fees alone? As much as we hate to say it… yep.

Overtime

If you want a super-motivating reason to start your wedding on time, here’s one—your wedding budget!

We’ve got one final point about how to financially prepare for unexpected wedding expenses and that’s making sure that you don’t pay for overtime.

You know, like starting your wedding an hour late (overtime). Making the limo driver wait longer than the initially agreed upon time (overtime). Throwing vendors off of their schedule because someone is not available to assist them at your wedding or reception venue (overtime).

This is actually a good reason to read the fine print on contracts as well. When it comes to things like overtime, you can easily pay 15-25 percent more (if not more than that) if your time is not properly managed.

The good news is this is the kind of cost that can easily be avoided. Time is money, whether you’re planning a wedding or not. Real talk.