Weddingbee Blog

I can’t really give an accurate idea of what our wedding cost. A lot of BIG aspects were donated to us-the food, the alcohol, the officiating, the flowers, the favours. Our families played a huge part in making our wedding affordable for us, and as a result, I don’t know the monetary value of a big chunk of our day. I would suspect, though, that at least few thousand dollars can be added to the grand total I give you.

I can, however, share what WE spent. Mr. Dragon and I didn’t set a budget to stay within; rather, we started putting money away every month into a fund we could draw on for wedding spending. Here’s how it all broke down (bearing in mind that some of the costs are rough estimates).

Attire, including rings— $1901.06

This includes all of my clothes and accessories, Mr. Dragon’s clothes and accessories, the flower girl dresses, and shirts for the groomsmen. All of my expenses, from garter to dress alterations, totaled $771.74. Mr. Dragon’s were way less expensive at $285.69.

Gifts— $744.40

We bought gifts for the wedding party, reader, our officiant, the people who helped with our music and announcements, all of our parents, and BIL/Chef Chris. It might seem like a larger chunk of money, but if you split it up per person it’s reasonable. This, of course, doesn’t include gifts for each other.

Vendors— $675

Isn’t that a tiny amount for vendors?! It’s because our friendors handled so much. The only people who were actually paid were our engagement photo photographer and Rozy, our wedding photographer.

Rentals— $730

Also a low number—that’s because Mom Dragon paid for 10% of the tent/chairs/table rental, because she put down the deposit for us, and she also paid for the linens. We only had a handful of tables and a relatively small tent, so it wasn’t a terribly costly endeavor to begin with.

Decor and Supplies— $506.41

I balked at this number when I saw it, but then I dug a little deeper and realized that I really put EVERYTHING into this category, from scissors to glue sticks to yarn. A lot of it is stuff I continue to use (like my paper trimmer!) and a lot of it is leftover (lots of paper, lots of yarn, LOTS of felt). I think this category is also artificially inflated because, living in the middle of nowhere, I had to have a lot of stuff shipped to us, so I paid, for example, $45 for ribbon because $15 of it was just shipping costs.

Paper Products— $315.36

I paid a lot for paper, because of those pesky shipping costs! I didn’t include printer ink in here because we use our printer all the time, but I did run through two full cartridges during our planning period.

The save the dates cost $74.60. The programs were $30.38. The invitations cost $166.47, and the other miscellaneous items (menu signs, photo cards, etc.) added up to $43.91.

Logistical Expenses— $300

We had to buy our marriage license, which was $100. We also decided to take our passport application and photo fees out of the wedding fund, so that was another $200.

Party Supplies— $237.96

This includes all of our bathroom basket supplies, paper cups, plates and cutlery, a juice dispenser, straws, and mason jars. The bulk of the cost is the plates and cups (pesky shipping again! and we barely used them). We did not pay for any of the alcohol, so that was a huge cost savings for us.

So, overall…the grand total for what we spent on our wedding is $5410.19.

On one hand that seems like a lot-we’re at the stage now where we’re thinking about down payments, and I wish we had almost $5500 around to put toward a house! On the other hand, it’s a pretty small chunk of cash compared to some weddings I’ve heard of. And, it’s right on par with what we thought we might spend.

The interesting thing, to me, is that saving for the wedding taught us that we’re capable of saving! That $5000 came about in a year, which means we’re capable of putting the same amount of money toward a house in the same time span.

It also drives home how much our families and friends helped out!

Did you spend more or less than you thought you would, when it came down to the final wedding budget numbers?

[This is it for my wedding recaps! I do have a few reviews/extra info to share, though, so I’m not done hangin’ around yet. ]

Did you miss a recap?

• Our journey begins with a bit of reflection on our wedding.
• We road tripped down Highway 11 to Brockville.
• Sadness came before our joy when we found out a family member passed away.
• We rehearsed, ate pizza, baked a cake, and hot tubbed!
• The girls got up bright and early for a hair appointment.
• We put on our makeup and did our nails while everyone else took care of wedding prep.
• I became a (nervous) bride, and with dress, accessories and makeup on…waited.
• Mr. Dragon shares his side of the story.
• Both of the Dragons were jittery, but we managed to get the wedding started.
• But…where was Mr. Dragon going?!
• Everyone made it up the aisle, and it was time for the ceremony.
• We sealed our vows with a kiss.
• Inside the house, we signed our license, and took a few relaxing breaths!
• After a rocky start, we breezed through family photos.
• Most of our wedding party photos were candids, because we wanted everyone to be able to eat.
• We dug in to delicious BBQ food and sweet treats.
• Speech! Speech! Speech!
• Mr. Dragon and I did the high school shuffle, then we danced with our parents.
• The party began for real, on the dance floor and elsewhere.
• All the single ladies and dudes made their grabs for the bouquet and garter.
• Growing sleepy, we said goodbye to our guests.
• I showed off our decor details.
• The spotlight then went on our swanky duds!
• We made up a wedding hashtag that some of our guests used.
• I compared inspiration to reality.