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Have you checked out the real budgets series in the blog?
http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/07/05/5000-real-wedding-budgets/
I see you're in IL... hope you're not planning a city wedding? That is sending our budget skyrocketing! There are a lot of wonderful places out in the country where $5,000 is doable, though. My parents got married in a friend (who is also a pro gardener's) personal garden. It was gorgeous!
Thanks for the link it helped out alot.
And nope its not a city wedding we live in a decently small town and will be moving to an even smaller one soon.
We live in Traverse City, MI and are hoping to do ours for under $4,000. It will take a lot of diy and strict planning, but I am confident we can do it.
It also helps that we are waiting until 2011 so we have ample time to deal with vendors and avoid any rush fees, etc.
A site to check out is www.brokeassbride.com - they have some great money saving tips and blogs from brides working under $2,000. I was inspired and it motivated me........ especially after seeing all sorts of $20,000 budgets being the "norm."
My budget was under 5,000 if you exclude the rings and honeymoon. We spent the biggest chunk on photography and food (each around $1500) but did a lot DIY, got a good deal on a venue, and gave food favors. Another way we saved money was by buying our own alcohol, which our venue permitted. So we had bottles of wine, beers, and sodas.
My dress felt like a splurge at around $500. It's entirely possible, just decide what's important to you and realize that the little things can really add up.
Did you know Broke Ass Bride blogged on Weddingbee as Meatball? She's awesome!
Our budget was $5k and I think we may have come in below, in reality. I'll have to do the budget breakdown soon - but it can totally be done! The majority of our money went to the venue and photos.
Doing a wedding for $5000 or less is totally doable. The big thing for us was to have something low-key for only the closest family & friends, and then have an after-party that included everyone else. We ended up doing a noon wedding at a private room at Maggiano's. It was relaxed ceremony in the round with a friend marrying us & another friend doing ceremony music. We didn't have a bridal party, just my husband's daughter doing a reading. We followed that with lunch - no dj, introduction, first dance, etc since it just wasn't us. In fact, we didn't even do invites since it all came together in less than 6 weeks - we just sent an email! We had a bar hopping after-party that night downtown. Our friends still talk about how much fun it was to this day!
I say pick what's important to you. What I wanted was to look pretty & not have to worry about all the details. I wanted to just be present in the day and not worry about programs, place settings, bridal parties, etc. I think it worked since I had the people at the salon comment on how I was the calmest bride they had ever had. Plus, it was so nice to have time at the restaurant with the family and then more time with all my girls to party that night. I wouldn't change a thing except for how I did my hair. ;0)
Room Rental, Food & Open Bar for 30 - $2000
Cake - $ 300
Flowers (1 bouquet & 1 bout) - $ 130
Photographer - $ 500
Dress, shoes, alterations, etc - $ 525
Hair & Makeup - $ 250
Groom's Suit - $ 400
Rings - $ 500
Misc (photomat, license, cake knife) - $ 250
Stepdaughter dress, hair & airline tix - $ 300
Total - $5005
Our wedding budget was $5,000 and we had 100 guests. However, there a few items I puchased on my own not using the wedding budget money (my dress & accessories, his tux rental, etc). Below is my budget. Feel free to send me a PM if you would like more details on how we pulled it off.
Reception Venue Fee - $450
Reception Food - $875
Cake - $345
Reception Servers - $225
Paper Goods for Reception - $200
Coffee, Creamer, Nuts & Candy For Reception - $155
Hair - $110
Nails - $50
Ceremony Location Feel - $250
Officiant Donations (we had 2) - $200
Flowers (ceremony & reception) - $600
Musician - $115
Photographer - $900
Guest Book - $15
Attendant Gifts - $250
Out of Town Gift Bags - $75
Food to Serve Family & Bridal Party @ Church Before Wedding - $180
Pick what's you really want and skip or fudge the rest. Try to find a venue that's free or close to free (a home, back yard, park, etc)! If you do that, I think you can do great with 5k. Keep in mind that if the guest count is low you can do a lot more
Marinara is right - I wanted a larger guest list, so some things had to go.
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Hello everyone. I starting to try and figure out where and how to spend the money for the wedding. The plan is to spend $5,000 at the most. That is because as things stand right now we are going to be paying for this ourselves, I'm a poor college student and Wolfy will hopefully just be starting a new job, AND getting into a house that we own is our first concern.
So I was curious if any of you who spent (or are planning on spending) around this much could share with me where the money went? Thanks!