How much is your wedding costing you?

[kellymiller]

We aren't having a set budget, but we want to keep it under 15000 for sure. Since we are just starting the planning it is hard to say exactly how much we will pay since we have no idea how many people will actually be there!

[FutureMrsSam]

We don't have a budgte either but since our wedding isn't until 2016 I'm hoping what I spend won't hurt as much since it'll be spread out

[mysticjade]

I was hoping to spend $15K max but it looks like it’s going to end up being $20K, not due to the DW costs but rather due to the cost of feeding everyone after the church ceremony at home beforehand.

[LauraM]

Ours is looking like 35K-ish including airfare, honeymoon, dress, etc.

 

and that is WAY more than we had originally budgeted for or expected to pay for a destination wedding...

[Meandhim]

We have a temporary budget of 13k (that's the max that we can afford to spend). We are still in the very early stages of planning so I am just working with averages and estimating on the high side! This will Include everything...dress, travel, gifts, décor, documentation, wedding, reception, photographer, EVERYTHING! and it is tight!

 

Our budget will be hugely affected by the number of people to actually book. The wedding package cost is really low, but it's the extras that can break the budget. our wedding package only includes 8 people..every person after that is 20pp...boo

 

They say that 1/3 of the people you invite will actually go, so we thought a safe number to invite would be approx 150....50 people going would be ideal and we could lower our budget or upgrade some of our options, but we could accommodate 100 and not break our max budget, but we would have to do with out some extras.  

 

I assume the brides who are lucky enough to have 2-3k weddings are having really small guest lists, or are not including everything in their budget, or had their wedding 5-6 years ago when the package/travel prices were much more reasonable and all inclusive. If not, I would love to know how they did it!

[Traci Felton]

The cost can get out of control without a budget and restraint.

[pddcmc]

I am aiming for right at or less than $10,000 for approx 30-40 guests... Buuuut, that's without considering OOT bags, invites, etc. I was wondering how some brides were able to spend less.. If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.

[AyeWatSoon]

Our budget is $10,000 for 40 guests and a surprised catamaran cruise.  We are saving money because we aren't utilizing the services of a DJ for our reception or extending it for an additional hour.  We are having a long table set up for our "first family dinner".  We will use our iPad and sound system for background music.

 

We have no wedding party so we don't have to buy gifts for them or provide bouquets and bouts. 

 

We are using the photographer included in our wedding package.  We have booked an underwater TTD session and those will be our official wedding photos.  

 

So far our Excel budget sheet has us sitting around $9,500.  

 

I am aiming for right at or less than $10,000 for approx 30-40 guests... Buuuut, that's without considering OOT bags, invites, etc. I was wondering how some brides were able to spend less.. If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.

[DinaQtobe]

I am aiming for right at or less than $10,000 for approx 30-40 guests... Buuuut, that's without considering OOT bags, invites, etc. I was wondering how some brides were able to spend less.. If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.

We saved money in quite a few areas. 

1. We purchased our invitations at hobby lobby and then put them together ourselves.  It took one evening and was not hard at all.  I waited until they had a great sale and got 50 for $30.  I bought my stamps in bulk which saved a bit of money too.  I did not do traditional RSVP cards, but instead had people RSVP online (only about half even RSVP'd anyway!)

2. My dress - I bought my dress and veil off the rack at a sample sale.  I got my shoes at TJ Maxx.

3. We got my husband's suit at JosABank.  We waited until they were having a sale on the suit he wanted.  We got it for half price!  We got his sandals at an outlet mall, again, saving money.

4.  We didn't use a DJ or rent speakers from the resort ($150/hr!).  Instead we invested in a set of speakers for 120$.  These we can now use at our home too!

5. I didn't do OOT bags.  Instead I bought travel mugs from Sam's club in the summer and gave those to our guests.  Six mugs were $20.  My sister personalized them for me, which also saved me money.

6. We used the photographer included in our package.  We also had my sister supplement the photographers pictures by capturing pictures of getting ready and the dinner.  Though I did buy her a nice gift, it was nowhere near the cost of extending our photography coverage.  I know this is not an option for everyone, but for us it saved a lot of money.

7. Decor: the resort wanted to charge anywhere from $80-$300 per centerpiece, then extra for linens, chair sashes, etc.  I used the white linens provided in our package.  To add some color, my mom made us a beautiful table runner.  I had 3 bridesmaids and used all of our bouquets as our centerpieces.  I brought down plastic cups/vases to put them in.    I bought some seashells from Michaels, and some battery operated tealights from the dollar store.  I had the wedding coordinator place the shells and tealights into wine glasses to add to the bouquets as centerpieces.  All of this cost us nothing, but saved us tons.  The resort is beautiful on its own, it didn't need a lot of decor.  Also, when I think back to the weddings I have been to, I don't remember the centerpieces.  Instead I remember the ceremony, the food, the dress, and how much fun I had!

 

I hope this helps give you ideas on where you can save easily.  We did splurge on a few things, our rings for example.

You can see photos of our wedding by going to the gallery on my profile.  If you have any questions please let me know! 

Edited April 17, 2014 by DinaQtobe

[FutureMrsGlover]

Great ideas.....my FI is not into spending a lot of money so I am also cutting back on some things.  He doesn't feel we need to have all the decorations so I am doing a lot of DIY things to save on them.  The resort prices are really expensive and it adds up really fast.  I have a spreadsheet with all the totals for each resort I was considering.  I am trying to keep the budget to $10k.