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Weddingbee Blog
Mr. Jam and I have been living together (in sin, depending on who you talk to) for two-and-a-half years already. And in that time, we’ve created a real life together: we got a cat, a dog, and some mutual hobbies, and we bought a house, and filled it with a ton of really cool furniture…which also happens to be one of our mutual hobbies. Birds of a feather, baby.
Anyhoodle, all of this boils down to a few keywords: Responsibility. Finances. Growing up. Commitments.
Whether you have piles of monthly bills or are living under your parents’ roof, the first step in your life as newly engaged folks is to determine a reasonable budget and never, ever lose sight of it. The obvious rules apply: Only spend what you can afford to spend, and don’t go into debt for a wedding.
Trust me—it’s a lot easier said than done. I’m sure all the other budgeted couples out there would join me in a harmonious chorus of “AMEN.”
So, only days into our engagement, we came up with a seemingly realistic budget: $10,000 and not one penny over. After all, $10k is actually quite a bit of money for a party…right?
We’re frugal by nature, but the urge is even stronger now because we’ll be paying for the majority of the wedding ourselves. Our loving families will help us out with as much as they can, but we certainly don’t expect them to dish out serious cash for the wedding, either. And let’s face it: asking for money is tough and very un-fun. We would rather buy generic from the grocery store and avoid Starbucks for a while, ya dig?
Anybody else out there doing a $10k wedding? If not, I know you’re working with some kind of budget. Is it tough? Are you stressing? Have you turned into a penny-pinching ’zilla?
We had a 10k budget, and ended up spending close to 16k. I honestly have no idea where the added expenses came from, but I’m guessing it was all those last minute things I hadn’t thought of until the month before the wedding!
We’re doing our wedding within a $10,000 budget. We’re actually getting married next weekend. 100 guests, beautiful venues, great food, and awesome music. I don’t see a reason to spend more than that. We actually did it pretty easily. I can see, however, that in a bigger city, it would be difficult.
@CarMar: gahhh, this is our big fear! The little things sure add up…
We’re right around 10K too! Luckily we’re in an area where we can have a really nice wedding for that price. I can only imagine how tough a 10K budget is in a city!
we had a 10k budget also. Boy was it hard to stick to.. We ended up spending a little over 10k but not much!
you go, jam! i’m excited to see the ideas and details you have for your $10k wedding. 
our little wedding started with a low, mid and high budget. we saved enough for the high end but were aiming for the low end! and as of now, we’re ending up in the middle
We’re trying to do a $5k budget! so far it’s going ok, but it is so, so SO much more work to try to do things on a budget than just picking a place and signing off on it. Good luck to all the other budget brides!
@Minutiae: We’re getting married in small-town Illinois, so we’re hoping everything will work out…there is NO way we could stay sane & do a $10k bash in the city 
Good luck!
We’re actually aiming for a 5K budget! I’m not too stressed about it, but I went into it knowing I’d miss out on a lot of the extras that come with a hefty fee (Photobooths, Super 8mm video, Jimmy Choo, letterpress anyone??) haha.
Luckily, with a big enough backyard and a love of tacos/beers.. we’re off to a good start
I’m excited to see what you have in store for your fabulous day!
We are rocking the $10K budget too. We might make it. I mean, depending on what you consider as being part of the budget.
Initially I wanted to stay within $10k but once we included our rings and the honeymoon, it went over that. We’re also doing a Sunday afternoon with a tea/lunch type reception so that we could have it at a much nicer venue than the same price for a less-nice dinner on a Saturday night. I originally wanted a brunch wedding anyway, so we’re happy with that solution. It was by far the easiest way to cut the budget. We saved around $5-7k on that alone!
We’re doing ours for around this much. We’re getting creative… brunch for dinner and things like this are going to help us save a lot of money. We’re lucky we have a lot of help from family but I’m looking at 10k as a challenge and hoping to come out on top!
I started with a realistic budget, but when everyone started pitching in I kinda got carried away with everything thinking I could afford it because of the help. Now, I’m not even sure I would have been able to pay off the original budget without the help. Simple things have been much more expensive (planning a venue of $500 turned into one of $1,600) and other stuff have been way cheaper than planned (the $1000 dress turned into $150). My budget has pretty much gone crazy with adding and eliminating. At this point I’m clueless, but still think I’m on track. Luckily if I go over budget, my mom will loan me the rest. I’m crossing my fingers hoping I won’t have to go on a real loan to cover everything else.
Our budget is $10-12,000. ~70 guests. We’re holding it at my mom’s house, a friend is making the invitations for only the cost of materials, a family friend is shooting it for a song, another friend is officiating, no dj/band, no bridal party, free (heirloom) wedding ring for me. Still, it’s amazing how fast other things add up! The biggest costs will be the catering/rentals (local, organic, yum - $6000, including food, service, cake, tables, chairs, linens, plates, glasses, flatware) and my dress ($1000).
We have a budget of $10k but I doubt we will be under it. Ironically, I would have no problem with a laid back, small wedding at a public park with just desserts or whatever for under $5k, but the FI wants ALL of our friends and family there and is determined to have a big party.
Our priorities include venue (budgeted $1k, ended up costing $3k), food (omg, still working on this), and photographer (looking like the ones we like will end up being in the $3-4k range). I just sent FI out for black Friday while I was working to get a good deal on rings and he came back with $600 rings! That was not the deal I was thinking of. We only budgeted $150 for rings! We are going to do a registry for the honeymoon and thank goodness his parents are willing to pay for the alcohol and rehearsal dinner!
I don’t care what people say, $10k is hard to work with if you don’t have a host of friendors to help you out!
I am having a $10k wedding. Luckily, I leave in a smaller town in Tennessee. Unfortunately, I have expensive taste. My fiance and I are only having around 75 ppl at our wedding. This is the only way we could afford it. I also got a wedding planner who has actually saved us a lot of money. $10k is doable. you just have to pay attention to the little things.
@thisisrachelle: I didn’t know you were supposed to include the honeymoon in the number! Yikes. If that’s the case, I imagine ours will be a thousand or two higher, although we haven’t actually decided if/when we’re having one yet.
@vscheidt891: I’m a small town, TN bee, too, and I have a 5k budget. We can do it!
@milner: Woohoo, congrats on your wedding next weekend! Hope everything is perfect : )
@figment @DoxieDoll: Planning is tough enough on a $10k budget, I can’t imagine how much harder it would be for $5k…VERY impressive. Although DoxieDoll, I’m incredibly jealous of your backyard/tacos/beer combo, talk about a bomb dig fiesta ; )
@Encore: You sneaky little thing, I try to pull that line ALL the time…doesn’t usually work though, lol.
@helenberrycrunch: That’s the attitude! I’m so inspired by other budgeted brides : )
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Mrs. Jam, Chicago Age and Occupation: 25, Writer/Associate Wedding Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Structural Engineer Engagement Date: December 23, 2009 Wedding Date: June 2011 Venue: Hunter’s Ridge, Princeton, IL About Me: I’m a penny-pinching cat lady getting ready to marry the frugal dog lover of my dreams. Our ideal Saturday morning includes rummaging around people’s junk at garage and estate sales followed by an afternoon date to our favorite café, where we only eat sandwiches that include the word “salad.” We actually love it so much, it’s sort of our unofficial wedding theme: Look at our delicious finds, eat homemade ham salad, and celebrate our love…barndance style. When we’re not obsessing over our love-fest shindig, we’re planning themed parties for our best friends and jamming to '90s music.
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