Wedding Blog

Today we bring you three different wedding budgets within the $10,000 - $12,000 range.

- CC in Seattle is expecting 95 guests.  She’s saved money in lots of ways, like finding her Jim Hjelm gown on Craigslist, and having friends/family act as cake baker, officiant, and coordinator.  This has given her room to spend on other fun things, such as rented linens and even parasols!

- AB is expecting between 175 and 200 guests at her Dawson, Minnesota wedding.  She’s saving money by marrying in her hometown church, skipping favors, and having her former orchestra teacher provide ceremony music.

- Finally, SZ’s Philadelphia wedding really catered to its 49 guests.  She DIY’ed her paper goods and used an iPod for reception music. She also had all-inclusive catering package with table, chair, and linen rentals, as well as hors d’oeuvres, lunch, and cake.  You can see photos of her lovely wedding below.

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Submitted By: CC
City: Seattle
Budget: $10,000
# of Guests: 95

Wedding Day Expenses:

Ceremony/Reception Site Fees: $1500
Caterer/Food/Drink: $2104, or $15/pp
Service Charge/Gratuities: $300
Bridal Gown/Alterations: $160 (Jim Hjelm silk gown from Craigslist!)
Bridal Accessories: $90
Groom’s Attire: $320
Stationery/Postage: $150 (DIY invites)
Photography: $1700
Videography: $0
Ceremony Music: $400
Reception Music: $0 (iPod)
Flowers: $456
Favors: $47 (handmade bookmarks)
Cake: $50 (family friend is making it; the $50 is a gift certificate thank-you)
Officiant: $50 (SIL is officiating; $50 gift certificate as thank-you)
Coordinator: $50 (friend coordinating; $50 gift certificate as thank-you)
Hair/Makeup: $500 (bride and five bridesmaids)
Wedding Party Gifts: $600
Transportation: $0
Hotels: $0
Misc: $1645 (including rentals, alcohol, parasols, lanterns, and sparklers)

Nonwedding Day Expenses:

Wedding bands: $0 (inherited family heirlooms)
Rehearsal dinner: $500
Honeymoon: $4000

WEDDING DAY TOTAL: $10,442
COST PER PERSON: $110
NONWEDDING DAY TOTAL: $4500
GRAND TOTAL: $14,942

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Submitted By: AB
City: Dawson, Minnesota
Budget: $11,000
# of Guests: 260 invited, expecting 175-200

Wedding Day Expenses:

Ceremony Site Fee: $0 (hometown church)
Reception Site Fee: $400
Caterer/Food/Drink: $3000, or $~15/pp
Service Charge/Gratuities: $0 (included)
Bridal Gown/Alterations: $1199 (Anjolique dress, plus expected alterations)
Bridal Accessories: $400
Groom’s Attire: $100 (estimated)
Stationery/Postage: $550
Photography: $1400 (includes CD of proofs, album, and reprints package)
Videography: $500
Ceremony Music: $250 (organist, soloist, and string quartet comprised of former orchestra teacher and three of her students)
Reception Music: $550
Flowers: $750
Favors: $0 (none)
Cake: $300
Officiant: $75 tip (hometown church pastor)
Coordinator: $0 (n/a)
Hair/Makeup: $500
Wedding Party Gifts: $200
Transportation: $100
Hotels: $120
Misc: $1000

Nonwedding Day Expenses:

Wedding bands: $400
Rehearsal dinner: $200
Honeymoon: $2000

WEDDING DAY TOTAL: $11,394
COST PER PERSON: $~57
NONWEDDING DAY TOTAL: $2600
GRAND TOTAL: $13,994

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Submitted By: SZ
City: Philadelphia
Budget: $11-12,000
# of Guests: 49

Ceremony/Reception Site Fees: $0

Caterer/Food/Drink: $80/pp.  The catering included all tables, beautiful gold chairs, linens, hors d’oeuvres, lunch, and cake.

Service Charge/Gratuities: $0 (included)

Bridal Gown/Alterations: $405.  I got my dress at Nicole Miller, and no one had any idea that it cost so little!

Bridal Accessories: $180.  I ordered a mantila veil online, and my earrings were a bridal shower gift from DH.

Groom’s Attire: $400

Stationery/Postage: $500.  Besides my invitations, everything was DIY from Paper Source because I love paper so much.  I have to say that it ended up costing more than it should have because I kept changing my mind and having to order more materials!

Photography: $1900.  Worth every penny!  We happened to get our photographer just before a price increase and now (a week after our wedding), he costs $5000 for the same amount of time.  The pictures are amazing, and he threw in an extra hour just to make sure that he covered everything.  This and the flowers were really worth splurging on.

Videography: $0.  We saw no need for a videographer, since we knew we’d never watch a video.

Ceremony Music: $600.  We hired a string trio to play at the ceremony and cocktail hour.

Reception Music: $0.  We used an iPod, which worked especially well since DJs don’t generally play our mix of music.

Flowers: $2000.  Included personal flowers, aisle runner, aisle arrangements, altar arrangements, trees for the ceremony, and centerpieces.  Like I said above, these were worth spending a bigger precentage of the budget on.  We used peonies (unintentionally) with lots of greens, and it brought everything together without having to go all out.

Favors: $100.  We made a donation to an environmental charity.

Cake: $0 (included in catering).

Officiant: $700

Coordinator: $0

Hair/Makeup: $220.  This included me, both of my maids of honor, my flower girl, and the groom.

Wedding Party Gifts: $100

Transportation: $20

Hotels: $500

WEDDING DAY TOTAL: $11,625
COST PER PERSON: $237

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Thanks to everyone who submitted their budgets!  If you’d like to share yours, see details here.