Instyle

News flash—wedding planning is very stressful. Almost all engaged couples would agree with this statement and add that the number one culprit: sticking to a budget. Yes, your most special day may end up draining your bank account even if you think you’ve calculated it all to the last cent. And, one of the first things you learn once you start booking your vendors is that what you planned for is not nearly enough to cover your expenses.

By how much, you may ask? Well, according to WeddingWire research, by 40 percent! Yes, that means you may need almost half more of what you are planning on spending. That’s why the company just launched its first ever Wedding Cost Guide that addresses the age-old question: how much does a wedding cost? The best part about it is that the online tool shows you pricing data that includes the high, low and average range of what other real couples recently spent in their geographic area.

That’s obviously important because while average country numbers are helpful, a wedding in New York City will surely cost you a lot more than a chic celebration in Cleveland. The new resource is also extremely helpful in case you have to negotiate with your vendors—thanks to the detailed information about how much other couples have paid for the same services, you can get a better idea of how much to offer and avoid being overcharged.

Here’s how it works: if you’re planning on getting hitched in the Washington, D.C. area, for example, and are wondering how much to set aside for a venue, you simply have to choose “Venue” from the drop-down menu here and fill out your ZIP code, and click “Find.” In addition to the pricing information on the result page, you will also find a comprehensive guide on how to tackle venue-related issues such as what impacts a wedding venue’s prices, what usually is included in the price (that way you don’t get hit by additional fees), and what questions you should ask before writing a deposit check for your venue.

And finally, because WeddingWire has a database of over 400,000 vendors, you can find the ones that fit your budget, and filter them out based on more than five million reviews.

Trust us, and just bookmark the page immediately.