Well..The fact is "Yes" You need Bookings for Flight and Hotel as per the Visa application requirement .However there is no need to pay the whole price for the ticket and for hotel bookings. here are some sample templates which I had used to book my Schengen visa.
Accommodation and travel details
You may wish to submit the following documents to help show us your accommodation and travel arrangements in the UK and on which date you intend to leave the UK. We advise that you do not make any payments for accommodation, travel and so on until you have received your visa.
Details of accommodation and return
travel Documents
This could be:
hotel booking confirmation (usually email) travel booking
confirmation (can be email or copy of tickets) travel agent
confirmation of both accommodation details with a supporting letter from the occupant confirming that you are able to stay there
Ask your travel agent to provide an itinerary, including flight details (and confirmation numbers if they have them - these are generated before the ticket is paid for) and use that as proof of your flights. Although many may not provide you this . I have used the below service a few times and it worked wonderful.
TravelVisaguru - Flight Itineraries, Hotel bookings for any visa application