If you think about it, setting your wedding budget is one of the most important decisions you will make in planning your wedding. It dictates every other choice, from what you wear to who gets invited to where you will hold it.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that you approach it from the point of view of how much you have to spend. While it seems to make perfect sense, that thinking may be exactly what is standing in the way of your perfect wedding.

Before you even think about your budget in any way deeper than the most general idea, think about what is most important to you. What is it that you picture when you think about your wedding day, besides your beloved, of course?

Is it the look? Is it the people? Is it the place? What is one thing more important to you than any other?

Now go out and find out what that really costs.

You have most likely been scrolling and pinning for months now with no idea what all those dreams cost. Before you set your budget, get a little reality check.

The problem is that pricing on anything wedding is hard to find. Wedding vendors are notorious for not putting pricing on their websites. They have good reason because so much of what they do is custom designed. To get the information you need to set a realistic wedding budget, you are going to have to make some phone calls or send some emails.

Figure out what your top priorities are (venue, decor, photography, guest count, whatever) and then start contacting some professionals. If you tell the vendors honestly that you are only at the point of creating your budget and are looking for some ballpark numbers they will probably help you out.

Give them some idea of what you are dreaming and ask for a range of possible prices. Let them know you aren’t asking for a quote, just an idea.

Now you have some reality to work with! You have a basic cost for your top priority and you can start building your budget around that.

Just like a great marriage, a great wedding budget starts with a solid foundation based in reality.