Real Budgets
Feature Launched: July 3, 2007
About: Real wedding budgets submitted by former brides.
Real Budgets: Brooke and Richard
June 9th, 2008 @ 11:13 am by Real Budgets
Brooke and Richard – March 29, 2008
Location – San Marcos, Tx
Initial Budget - $13,000
Guests – 120
Planning Time – 13 months
Ceremony & Reception – My parents’ home in San Marcos, TX. 60 acres of ranch land, equipped with 13 cattle, so not quite a rustic cattle ranch, but not your average backyard wedding either. Obviously this was a free venue, but we did have to add on a lot of the rentals that are usually included in some venue packages. The best thing is that San Marcos is it’s smack dab in the middle of San Antonio and Austin, so we were able to use the best vendors out of both cities.
Read more…
Robyn’s $14,000 Real Wedding Budget
December 4th, 2007 @ 3:20 pm by Real Budgets
We haven’t featured a real budget in awhile, so we’re happy to rejuvenate this feature! Today we bring you Robyn’s small town lodge wedding. She cut costs by having family members contribute services, skipping favors, and having a Sunday wedding. This way Robyn was able to pull together a lovely, warm affair for 70 guests for under $15,000.
We’re always looking for real reader budgets because they’re so helpful to brides! If you’d like to contribute, please go here for more information. Thanks!
Date: September 2, 2007
City: small town 70 miles north of Seattle, WA
Budget: ~$14,000
# of Guests: 70
$25,000 Real Wedding Budgets
July 26th, 2007 @ 1:12 pm by Real Budgets
Today we’re featuring three budgets in the $25k range. Each of the brides is taking advantage of the talents of friends to save costs on invitations, videography, etc., giving them room to splurge in other areas.
DJ and Anon are both having day-of coordinators, for example. And SA and her fiance hired a brass quintet from the nearest symphony! You can see some shots of her wedding below.
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Submitted By: DJ
City: Washington, DC
Budget: $30,000
# of guests: 100
Ceremony Site Fees: $1200
Reception Site Fees: $0. Having it at a restaurant, so there’s no site fee - just a food and beverage minimum.
Caterer/Food/Drink: $11,000 ($110/pp)
Service Charge/Gratuities: $3500. This includes all gratuities and all includes tax on the food and drink. Read more…
$20,000 Real Wedding Budgets
July 18th, 2007 @ 1:31 pm by Real Budgets
Today’s Real Wedding Budgets all fall around $22,000.
- VC had 155 guests at her Los Angeles wedding. She DIY’ed flowers, her father acted as videographer, and she spent a mere $70 on makeup. Having budgeted in these areas, she was able to splurge on a $4k+ dress, and also spend a generous amount on gifts for her wedding party.
- BS is planning a wedding of 100-125 guests in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. She’s saving money by skipping favors and having family and friends act as officiant, musicians, and day-of coordinator.
- NC’s wedding of 72 guests in LA was set in a beautiful gothic Catholic church. She and her husband budgeted fair amounts of money for their flowers, stationery, and photography/videography. In turn, they saved on music expenses by having their restaurant reception site play classical music through their satellite system! You can see photos of her wedding below.
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$10-$12,000 Real Wedding Budgets
July 17th, 2007 @ 10:57 am by Real Budgets
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.
$30-35,000 Real Wedding Budgets
July 12th, 2007 @ 9:30 am by Real Budgets
Today we’re jumping up a few budget brackets to bring you three different weddings in the $30 -$35K range, including one illustrated with photos!
- AL and her fiance are planning a Renaissance-themed wedding for 150 guests in Long Island, New York. They’re splurging on entertainment (including a band, professional trumpeteers to announce them, and Renaissance dancers), but found ways to budget elsewhere, such as an all-inclusive photography/videography package for $3500, and makeup done by mom!
- AA’s Houston wedding had some great details, like a string trio for the ceremony music, and catering by Marble Slab Creamery. They saved on decorations and favors by designing their own flower centerpieces and having photo favors which were included in the cost of her photography package.
- And finally, AS’s lakeside wedding in Milwaukee was celebrated by 320 guests (honed down from 500!). The event was personalized with details such as high-top tables for the bar area, and adjoining hotel rooms for her and her bridesmaids the night before. She made budgetary compromises in some areas (candlelight instead of professional lighting, prime rib instead of filet mignon), and spent money elsewhere (rented linens, Brewers tickets for the dads!). You can see pictures of her wedding below. Read more…
$5000 Real Wedding Budgets
July 5th, 2007 @ 3:40 pm by Real Budgets
Because we’re turning this into a regular feature, we’ve added a link under the Guest Blogs page for you to submit your Real Budgets at any time. Do you like our shiny new icon? 
Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be featuring several different types of weddings (city, rural, destination etc.) within different budget ranges ($5,000, $10,000 etc.). We’ve already received many submissions so we don’t know if we’ll be able to post them all, but please continue to send in your budgets as we’d like to showcase as wide a variety as possible.
Today we bring you three different $5000 budget weddings that are great examples of how to stretch a smaller budget.
- SK had a 40 person wedding at a restaurant in Manhattan. Restaurants can be surprisingly affordable venues that often offer lower per person prices than many caterers or wedding venues. And because they’re already equipped with tables, chairs, linens, and china, you don’t have to worry about paying for rentals.
The Cost of ‘Priceless’
July 3rd, 2007 @ 3:09 pm by Real Budgets
(A guest post on budget from former bride KM)
Isn’t the most special day of your life “priceless”? Well yes…and no. The reality is that there are costs involved. Most people don’t plan weddings for a living, so how does one even begin to figure out how much to spend? Hopefully the monetary details of one 2006 wedding can help provide some perspective.
