My FI and I have a budget of $4,000. We both come from families that can't help much/at all. We will be working our tushies off to get the money in time, but we will manage it. We have cut corners in a lot of ways; we're not getting our dream reception location because of the price.
How much are you willing to/going to spend on your wedding?
My budget is just under $4000 at the moment. It may go up if we are able to make some money over the summer when we finish school.
Phew, I'm glad to see everyone (who's posted, at least) is staying on the low side of things. I'm currently trying to do it at about $4,000-$6,000 as well.
Can any married Bees who stayed around this budget post pictures/advice/tips?
I was hoping to be around 5. if less, then great! everything is so expensive!! anyone got any tips?
About 22k when all was said and done. About 13k of that was for the cocktail hour and recpetion for 140 people. 3k photographer, 1.5k DJ, 800 flowers, 400 dress, 400 cake + the rest of the misc items.
Ours WAS 8,000 but realized that things are SO stinking expensive (no one ever tells you really how much a wedding can cost!) . So now its literally almost doubled (15,000). I was recently at a 40,000 wedding...INSANE! It was a gorgeous wedding non the less, I just don't think I could spend that much either.
We cut ALOT of our budget by having it at my moms hiuse. She has a large backyard (2+ acres) so we will have ceremony and reception there.
Good luck ladies, I really hope you guys can work with the 4,000 budget. Its tough but it can be doable.
Budgets are super relative. They depend on so many factors: who's contributing (or not!), how old you are/how long you've worked (ie-how much you and your FI make), how long you've been together/how long you plan on being engaged (ie-how much you can save before X date), where you live (cost of living has a massive impact on the budget), what you want (indoor/outdoor, huge/intimate, etc).
Don't stress about your budget or start comparing yourself to other people--work with what you have and don't put yourself into debt trying to afford your DW that's out of your budget. Your wedding will be beautiful regardless.
We did a lot of research before setting a budget and decided that everything total should cost us around $10,000. So far we have all of the big stuff taken care of and are right on track with our budget. My parents are paying for a lot of it but we are also paying as much as we can. Our tax returns will be a huge help! :)
Our budget is $65K. It doesn't include honeymoon, rings, my dress or alterations. We are very lucky because my parents are paying for a majority of the wedding.
You shouldn't compare your budget to other people - there are so many factors that play into the cost and amount you spend on a wedding. You can make any budget work for your wedding
Well our budget originally was $25K however in the end our wedding cost $75K. We had to decide if we wanted to stick to the budget which was unrealistic for what we wanted or have the wedding of our dreams.
We're looking at about 5000 dress included( which was just under a grand) there are going to be 30-40 guests. most of the cost is food, venue, dress and lodging for the wedding night
$20K for about 80 people. Before I knew anything I thought $10K was plenty and then I put it at $15K after that. So I ended up going over that.
Includes everything except the honeymoon. If I cut out some unneccesary extras (such as my bachelorette party and boudoir photos it would cut off $1,000 from the total). Most of it is going into the venue rental, food, alcohol, and photographer (about 55% of the total).
Everything else just adds up. But I have just about every detail in my budget now and almost all of my vendors booked so it can't change too much.
Maybe I should have had that DW after all 
Our budget is way to stinking much... I dont even want to think about it. We are inviting too many people.
End rant.
When we first got engaged, I had NO IDEA where to start with a budget because I had no idea what things would cost. And I know it's more important figuring out what you can afford first, but that was a problem, too, because FI was going to be the only one contributing to the wedding since I'm in no position to contribute. FI has money saved up but it didn't mean we should spend all our money on a wedding.
So originally I was thinking we would be able to plan a DIY "camping" wedding in the woods for 5k. I knew that was a low budget but didn't want to spend a whole lot of money. Then I realized that a DIY camping wedding was just too impossible for me to put together by myself so I started looking at wedding planners and the budget became 10k. Before I knew it, I realized that the wedding I had envisioned just wasn't going to match the budget and something had to give.
Luckily, his dad generously donated 20k for our wedding and with our 10k contribution, we are now at a budget of 30k. Now that I have a better idea of what everything costs, I don't know how I ever thought a 5k budget was going to work for my "vision." But of course, that's not saying that you can't pull off a wedding for ANY budget.
This is SO hard for us too. My friends have gotten married in the past couple years had their parents foot their entire $25k bills and that made me really wish I had parents who could afford that for ours. We are paying for a lot of ours ourselves. Our budget was $14k. (No rings or honeymoon) My family contributed $5500. His family is paying the rehearsal dinner of $1k. The rest I worked over the summer on my vacation, I am a teacher and was off) and put everything towards it and we were in a car accident 2 years ago and I got my settlement and put most of it towards the wedding after I paid off what little credit card debt I had. I am happy to say the wedding is pretty much paid off and will not be going on any credit cards. My family and his did what they could. My mom and dad also had to pay for both my sister and brother's dress and accessories hair and make-up and tux rental. So did his mom for his sister and brother. So I am not complaining at all. We cut costs by having an afternoon wedding instead of an evening with only beer wine coffee and soda and appetizers and pasta instead of a full sit down dinner. Saved about $5k for 150 people.
Currently 7k, but I'm trying to push it down. We're having a small wedding (international couple), so have more options. We're currently looking at a historic house as our venue, which will cost $500 for ceremony and reception to rent. I'd love ot do it for 4-5. I'm stingy though. I refuse to pay full price for almost anything, ever!
I say 10k, he says hell no! But after all the vendors are paid, tips done, etc. That's where we will be. Guessing about 60-80 people.
Our wedding is shaping up to cost around $12K, and we'll most likely have about 150ish guests, so I guess as a per head cost, it's actually not too bad. Now I've just gotta get fiance to stop inviting people!
$10,000 or less :). We are paying for this ourselves and can't afford $20,000+. I have faith that everything will work out and it will look beautiful.
We actually didn't start off with a budget but we knew that our venue had to be exclusive and a shocker so we were willing to splurg on that as well as the photographer/videographer. As of right now we are at $50,000 without dress, accessories, honeymoon, and etc. getting a lot of financial support from our parents as well!!!
I think ours was about $30,000 by the time that we included dress, honeymoon, tips, and rings.
Under $6,000 for 100 people. We are cutting a lot out, both for stress and monetary reasons, and my parents generously offered to pay for our catering (which will be about $600). I did a ton of research and found great venues and vendors within our price range as well as good deals on everything else.
When we first got engaged I thought we were going to have a small wedding (around 50-60 people) and that our budget would be $5000. Little did I know how much weddings actually cost!
And now our list is probably around 100 instead, and our budget for EVERYTHING in, except for honeymoon is now about 20,000. That figure just makes me want to cry! But $7K came from my parents, and we're living rent free at my future in laws basement for the next 8 or so months, which saves us at least $10K on rent, so if I look at it that was it's not THAT bad... right? ....
including the rings?! We're at 15k without the rings and honeymoon (200 ppl) I wish it were A LOT less, but our planning is done. It'll be nice when the day gets here, but in the meantime I just keep thinking 'we shouldve gone to the courthouse'!!
I originally set my budget for 10k. Then I did a little "figuring", and bumped it up to 12,500. Im still trying to stay at 10, but I wanted to literally plan to have to save 12,500 so i wouldnt be unpleasantly surprised lol
Right now, we're at about $12k for everything including the honeymoon and are paying for everything ourselves. We've been buying items and signing contracts on a rolling basis to spread out the payments. The guest list is a little above 100 right now, but realistically we think only 60-70 people will be able to make it. Of course we're covered for every single person showing up, but I just wanted to give a true picture. We'll be bringing our own alcohol so are waiting until as late as possible to pull that trigger since we don't want to overbuy by way lots.
One thing that really made it possible for us to stay under $15k in SoCal is finding a totally awesome deal for our venue. The single best resource we've used to help us stay under budget is the internet and serious research.
Honestly, we haven't set a concrete budget. I kind of wish we would, but we've both been so indecisive about what we actually want to spend. I initially thought $7,000 - $8,000 would probably be fine. Nope. He then said maybe we should consider capping it at $10,000. And now ... We're not sure. It will likely be over $10,000, but I'd like to keep it as close to that number as possible. I don't think either of us would be willing to fork over more than $15,000 ... That just seems like too much to spend on one day.
It should be noted, though, that our budget talks have excluded the following:
- Dress
- Tux
- Rings
- Honeymoon
For some reason we both think of those things as "extras" (even though they really aren't). I don't even want to consider what the total cost will be once those things are added in ... Yuck.
I agree with other posters, though. It's difficult to compare budgets, especially in an online forum. For instance, if we lived in a really big city like NYC or San Francisco, I can guarantee we'd be spending at least double or triple (if not more!). Another thing to consider ... We're both "older" (I'm 28 and he's 30) and more set in our careers. We're definitely not rich by any means, but we make decent money between the two of us ... And we are planning to pay for the wedding ourselves.
Without the rings (mostly family heirloom) or honeymoon (up in the air still), it's about $13,000. Which seems like an ungodly amount of money for a party. But, we can't wait to be surrounded by all the people we love (guest list ~150), my parents are mostly paying for it and they can afford it, and it's a once in a lifetime thing. So whatevs.
Still cutting corners wherever we can... cheap department store dress, DIY wildflowers, free band who are our friends, etc.
@phillybride61513: +1 to that! If my parents were helping the budget would be a little more.. but not too much more maybe 2 ish grand or so? But my parents have never been people to throw money away for free. Even for their kids. And we are just starting out too I guess if we were a little more set up it could be more. You have a very good point here
25 people, $6k. Rings were $2k. :D Honeymoon will be a little one night getaway provided by our parents at a swanky spa. But, we are holding out for an Alaskan cruise later in the year.
We just couldn't see spending major cash when we were still saving for a house and planning our future.
We are not on a budget, but we are trying to spend as little as we can.. but when I say that, I don't mean going without things we want, I mean finding the best deals on them. Our families are somwhat contributing, the alcohol & dj is covered, and we are getting the rest.
I figure this will be my total expenses at the end [minus mishaps and whatnots]
Dress : >$400
Venue : $1900 [but that includes room & board for us & guests for 3 nights/4 days.
Catering : Was just over $1500 [but its covered]
Alcohol : We are going to spend at least $900 in alcohol [but its also covered]
Lighting : We are focusing mostly on lighting, floor lighting, ceiling lighting. $400
Flowers : I'm getting an entire artificial set for under $300 [21 pieces]
Linens : Tablecovers, chairs, plates, ect. $400
DJ : $300 - friend of the family [also covered]
Cake & Cupcakes: $250
Furniture : We are doing a lounge & pub area with 2 bars. All of these items are going to be purchased outright - $800
Tables & chairs are included in the venue price. My flower girl and bridemaids will cover their dress [they are only $120 each].
And I'd say tack on another $1500 for extras [alterations, candy buffet, odd decor, tux rental, ect]. Overall, I'm getting the wedding I've always wanted.
budget what budget? Lol all kidding aside I can't even remember what my budget is or was.
My budget is out of control. Started at 6-7K (GBP). Is now £10,000. I can't believe that it's got so out of control, but that's what just how much stuff costs! The only way we could have stayed within our original budget would have been to serve really **** food, or to have a buffet (and in the UK, people do NOT have buffets for their main meal unless they are absolutely desperate... evening buffet yes, but that's extra as opposed to instead of).
... I really admire people who stick within a budget, especially if they have decent food. I have no clue how they do it!
I am not completely sure, since we are contributing $5K and both our parents are paying for most everything else. I would guess it will be around $20K, not including the honeymoon (probably about $5K, maybe more)
@Lalk2bee: OUr wedding ended up being less than 5k.
Here's the link to my breakdown and pics: http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/our-low-budget-breakdown-pics-came-in-under-5k
$5000, not including the dress/attire, or rings. Also my mon will be convering the food and some wine for each table, so THAT HELPS.
Small guest list (approx. 50 people) helps cut down the cost.
Also, no limo since the ceremony and reception are at the same location
50,000 - not including rings or the honeymoon. We're paying for it ourselves.
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