Wedding Blog
Budgets are sticky topics, but when I first started planning I wanted to know how much people spent on everything. I knew weddings were expensive but I had no idea why. So, if you want to throw a Pineapple wedding of your own, here is the post for you.
From the get go Mr. Pineapple and I wanted to throw the party of our lives, but we didn’t want it to keep us from actually being able to afford living. I was constantly worried about the bottom line, about spending more than we had, about regretting the cost of just one day. In the end Mr. Pineapple and I came in about $3,000 under our goal budget and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Here is the breakdown of our wedding day (which excludes rehearsal dinner, hotel, and foodiemoon, partly because I don’t know how much we spent eating the last 5 days and maybe I don’t want to know.)
Stationery:
$171.00 including stamps and programs
Since I make wedding invites and such for a living I was able to do ours on the cheap, including the printing donated by a friend. The photos used on our save the dates were also a gift from my friend and former professor Charlee Brodsky.
Bridal Attire:
Including gown, alterations, crinoline, veil, headband and date embroidery.
$1,175.00 (a very generous gift from Momma P)
My gown retailed for $1000, but I got it during one of their regular sales. The veil, headband and crinoline were $310, the alterations were $65 and the embroidery was free after the mess that had been made.
Bride Hair and Make-up:
$150 including tip (a gift from Momma P)
Groom’s Suit:
$200 (a gift from Mr. P’s Mom)
Wedding Bands:
$1,000 for his
$1,350 for mine
Our bands were quite a bit more than we had ever intended to pay, but in the end I am glad we chose the bands we did. My band had to be custom made to fit the lovely crazy shape of my ring. Mr. Pineapple’s was made to match mine in rose gold. We will have them longer than our TV that was the same price, that is my justification. 
Bridemaids’ Gifts:
$50 more about what they were to come!
Groom’s tie and GMs’ ties:
$160 we got these all on sale at Macy’s.
Officiant:
$40 for a basket of goodies from Harry and David (a gift from Momma P)
Superior Court Judge Mary Jane Bowes officiated our wedding. She was incredible. She was so funny during the rehearsal keeping the mood light and the ceremony was perfect. Since were we already married she was in no way obligated to re-marry us, but she did and for that we are truly grateful.
Ceremony:
$500 for the room set-up at the Rivers Club
$25 for the hand painted aisle runner
$0 for the ceremony muscians, more on them to come
Photography:
$2450 + photo disks (we don’t know how much they will be yet)
We had three wonderful photographers with us on our wedding day. Including Mingwei Tay who is a student at my alma mater and asked us if he could shoot our wedding for his portfolio.
Flowers:
$825 after packing and shipping (a gift from Momma P)
Reception Decor:
$162.00 for centerpieces
$50 for escort card trees
$12 for the copper silk and satin used on the candy and cake tables
Thankfully the only decor we needed to add to the already cozy venue were the centerpieces.
Reception Dinner, Open Bar, and Cake:
$5,750 including tax and gratuity for 74 guests (very generous gifts from Mr. Pineapple’s family helped us pay for about half of this total)
The food and service were out of this world and deserve their own post, but for now just know that this was money very very very well spent.
Reception Details:
$150 for the favor scarves
$110 for the candy table (a gift from Momma P)
$0 for our free-j DJ, more on him to come
$0 for the dance floor, included with the venue
$0 for linens and such, included with the venue
Total:
$14,330
Yes, 14 grand is a down payment on a new home, but it is also about half of what the national average is these days. I am happy with what we were able to pull off. With so much help from Momma P while she was here these last 7 weeks, with gifts from friends and family, and diligent saving by Mr. P and I, we were able to squeak by debt-free so I consider that a win for the Pineapples.
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Share this post: Deeeeeeeep Breath….The Budget
Thank you for posting this — it IS really nice to have some context. You did a great job saving on your wedding — Congratulations!
Thank you so much for posting this–it is really helpful to those of us who anticipate being very constrained on budget. Lovely job!
Good for you for posting this! I’ve often wondered how much people spend, not to gawk, but to understand what we’re getting in to here. You rock. (And Thanks!!)
hmmm thats just the venue and food in our budget. I need to move to a cheaper area.
Big props for sharing your budget story here! You did a wonderful job with it!!!
“14 grand is a down payment on a new home” pfft, not here! lol.
I’m hoping to spend about that much, but we have twice the number of people at least X( Why does my family have to be so awesome!?!?
Thank you for posting this! We’re hoping to come in around $10k. It’s hard to make the choices, I’ve had to let go of my “dream” venue and photographer, but I realized quickly that I am in no hurry to go into debt for just one day. I have no doubt that our wedding will be gorgeous regardless, and even better, thrifty, so we won’t be starting our marriage deep in debt.
Thank you for this post. It’s always so nice and informative to read this and to actually see what it looked like.
It’s great to dream about a fantasy wedding but it’s nice to see it with a real eye too.
So thank you again.
wow you guys did a great job! i cannot wait to see your pictures and thanks for being open with posting your budget and the costs of everything.
@cinderellasmom: LOL I was thinking the EXACT same thing!! I’m in the DC area, where are you?
Mrs. P how many guests did you have?
@Katie: oh 74, it’s up there next to the food cost. The reason we came under budget was because our guest list ended up being pretty little, but I am so glad it was. Being able to spend time with EVERYONE there was one of the best parts.
THANK YOU so much for posting your budget!! As we are trying to come up with one and hoping to get it around $15,000.. but with everything we WANT its no where near that! but you are an inspiration that it CAN happen! It is just a scary time for us all, economically.. Great work!!!
I am so glad to see a post about budget esp. with the hard economic times this country is experiencing. I think as brides-to-be, we tend to get caught up in having everything and forget that each item on our “must have” list has a price tag attached. It’s nice to see how another bride on a budget handled it.
15k is our budget (assuming no help from the groom’s parents) so it’s nice to see what you were able to do with it.
$15,000 — not too shabby. That was our initial budget, before we decided to sell our current home and buy a new one.
Now, that’s been trimmed, but we have enough for our down payment (more than double our intial wedding budget) and a slightly down-sized wedding. I’d pick this house over our intial wedding plan, any day.
Wow, where could 14 grand be a down payment on a home? Not where I live!
I think you came out pretty good! We spent a little bit more than you did and felt like we did a good job budgeting.
This is great, thanks for sharing. I wish I didn’t live in LA, ours would’ve been so much more affordable.
Thanks for sharing. I wish more people would share their budgets, I find it very helpful.
I’m in Buffalo, so its comparable to Pittsburgh. Right now, my estimate is around $12K for 100 guests.
Maybe I’ll do a ‘real wedding’ feature after my wedding in 6 months.
p.s. Congrats!
Thank you for being open about your budget, more people should and not feel weird about it! It is totally helpful!
Oh good! I am glad to hear you all find it helpful! I went crazy trying to write our budget in the beginning so it is good to hear many of you look at it the same way and not as an “ew weird why is she talking about her money…”
@cinderellasmom: @Lissy: @Emma: haha yeahhhh we live in a very economically different part of the country than say LA or NYC. Homes here are pretty affordable, but for a good reason.
As a budget bride myself, I am sooo glad you posted this (and hope to do the same when everything is said and done!). I’m all about savin’ the $$!
I really do not see how $14,000 is a “budget wedding”. It might be half of the national “average”, but it is not means half of the national median (in other words, the average is inflated because there are enough people out there who have such grandeur weddings).
I would have found the budget aspect of the post helpful, if we had $14,000 to spend on a wedding. I find it fascinating that Andysdawgsmom is saying how nice it is to see brides on a budget with hard-economic times afoot.
Seriously, if you want to see a wedding on a budget, look no further than http://2000dollarwedding.com/
Even if you spend twice that much, it can still be the most beautiful day of your life.
@Kaitlin: I have never called myself a budget bride or said we had a budget wedding. I simply say this was my wedding budget.
Mrs. P you really DID do a fabulous job keeping your wedding a “budget” wedding.
I eat sleep and breathe budget weddings (here is my site http://www.big-wedding-tiny-budget.com/ - a work in progress) and despite what others might say/think, coming in at less than half the national “average” (inflated or not) is pretty darn good - especially if taking place in a “city” versus a “town.” I know you weren’t calling yourself a “budget bride”, but when someone like myself (budget wedding obsessed!) can give you kudos on spending where it was important to you, and saving on other areas so that you could concentrate more on your “wedding priorities,” you know you’ve done a good job.
Gorgeous pics by the way, can’t wait for more!
Mrs. Pineapple: My comments were not directed at you. Your wedding appears to have been lovely, and I’m thrilled that you were able to pull off the wedding of your dreams.
What I am having a hard time swallowing, and where my comments were directed, we all the people who found that $14,000 was a “budget” wedding, and who called you a “budget bride”. $14,000 might be considered a budget wedding if you have 200 guests… but I just don’t see it as such if you have less than a hundred.
@Liz: I think regardless of how much money you have to spend on your wedding (and Mrs. Pineapple was very thankful for the help, which is great), all brides should, and most do, try to concentrate on their priorities. That’s simply common sense, and good communication between the partners.
Like I said, my comments were not meant to be directed at you, because I think that your budget is helpful for people who are working in those areas. What has to be kept in mind, however (and it’s not limited to you by any means), is that $14,000 is not a “budget wedding”, and that most people who do get married spend somewhere in the neighbourhood of $5,000-7,000.
It’s really frightening to see how many people focus on the cosumer aspect of the wedding (a lot of comments saying “well, we want this dream day, and we know it should be able to happen”), rather than the fact that you get to see family and friends (like you said Mrs. P.) I just don’t quite understand the culture of excess when it comes to weddings.
@Kaitlin: Budgets are a touchy issue, and often trigger strong reactions.
It’s too bad, because this post is really informative and a lot of readers ask us why more people don’t share their budgets.
The way I see it ” to each its own” if you have the money to spend then spend it and feel good about it because you only get married once ( hopefully). I plan to go all out and I don’t think brides who spend less should judge those who spend more.
@Mr. Bee - Agreed! I hope this doesn’t discourage other bees from sharing their budgets in the future. It’s super helpful to have actual REAL numbers to put with specific wedding items when in the planning stages.
@Jasmine - Agreed once again! Each bride needs to do/spend what is comfortable for them. Regardless of your budget, the wedding of your dreams is doable. (Keyword being YOUR
Wow, that’s amazing… makes me realize just how inflated the prices in NYC really are. It’s like living on another planet. Thanks for sharing all the details!
@Kaitlin: “$14,000 is not a “budget wedding”, and that most people who do get married spend somewhere in the neighbourhood of $5,000-7,000.”
Do you have any sources for this information, especially with regards to how it varies by region? I’m not trying to be rude but I know, and have heard of only a relatively small number of people who have had weddings for $5-$7k, especially in my area. All the research I’ve seen has indicated that most people spent quite a bit more than that.
“It’s really frightening to see how many people focus on the cosumer aspect of the wedding (a lot of comments saying “well, we want this dream day, and we know it should be able to happen”), rather than the fact that you get to see family and friends”
Do you know what people mean by their “dream day”? Do you know that it -doesn’t- mean getting to see family and friends? To me, a large part of my “dream day” is getting to see my family and friends and treating them to a nice meal. I haven’t found anywhere in my area that I can even -feed- my family and friends for $5-$7k, and no, I’m not having a huge wedding(~100 people) but most of the places I’ve found are around $100/person just for food and or are too small.
The great thing about being able to plan your own wedding is that you and your fiance can make it whatever you want. Even though we had a small guest list we had planned according to our priorities all along. As you can see we didn’t have a DJ, videographer, extra linens/chair rentals, lighting, floral centerpieces etc even when we were initially planning for a 125 person list. Many aspects of a wedding are not affected by guest list alone and have a set price no matter how many friends and family can attend. Since we had originally planned for a larger wedding the price of the favors and such was for 125 person wedding, the only thing affected in the end was our food/drink cost.
There is a lot that determines the budget for a wedding, and above is what we came up with and not meant to be rules for anyone else. Some people dream of a small wedding, others of an extravagant one. To each their own and to each much wedded bliss.
Thanks for the recap, Mrs. P, and thank you for making a point to include how many guests you had…I find that often this is left out of the few budget recaps I’ve seen out there.
Pineapple you were brave and I hope to follow in your footsteps and be able to share my own budget. I’ll be warned to watch out for the haters
[...] Mrs. Pineapple - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - total budget: $14,000 [...]
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Mrs. Pineapple, Pittsburgh
Age and Occupation: 24, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Student Affairs Administration
Engagement Date: August 4, 2007
Wedding Date: October, 2008
Blogging Since: April 14, 2008
Venue: The Rivers Club
About Me: Being a transplant from sunny south Florida I am learning to live with all four seasons while playing with our cat collective, line dancing, and doing a ton of DIY projects for our wedding (seriously, like a thousand)!
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