My photographer e-mailed me today asking if she could submit my wedding to a wedding blog since I took care of all the planning and while answering some questions I thought to share it with you all. Many guests left the wedding
thinking we had spent $30-$40k ! when in reality our budget was only $15k! our planning period was only 9 months and we paid everything cash! no credit!
This is the way we did it:
BUDGET $15,000
GUESTS: 120
My DH and I paid for our wedding, we got very little help considering all he costs that are involved. We managed to save by
having vendors that allowed us to pay closer to the wedding date or on the same day. Our venue required only a $1,000 deposit and the rest to be paid 10 days before, this was perfect since we did not have to come up with the money right away!
As soon as we got engaged we opened a joint account and started to put money in there everytime we both got a paycheck...it was
exciting to see how the numbers would increase every two weeks :)
Breakdown:
CEREMONY FEE: $300.00 we paid $0.00 Sponsored by groom’s uncle as a gift
CEREMONY STRING TRIO & CHOIR:
$500.00 we paid $250.00 my maid of honor offered to pay half as a wedding gift!
RECEPTION VENUE: $9,415 (including
tax and service fee) appetizers during cocktail hr, sit down dinner, soft drinks, alcohol & cake
LINENS & PILLAR RENTALS: $300.00
LIGHTING: $3,500.00 we paid
$0.00 GIFT from one of our groom's man who happens to work at a lighting event company.
GOWN & ACCESSORIES: $1,500
(Includes alterations) my dress alone was $1,300 but I got a discount because the sample dress happened to fit me perfectly! I only needed to to the hem and spot cleaning!
RINGS: $0.00
Sponsored by groom’s parents
GROOM’S SUIT: $550 (he did
not want to rent it!-I said ok since black suits always come in handy for any other event)
VIDEOGRAPHY: $450.00 We hit the
jackpot with this one! I found him on craigslist as he was offering a deal to the first three brides that replied to the ad...he is an experienced photographer getting experience in cinematography video. When we met with him he had already done a few
shoots and he showed them to us..inside my mind I sad "JACKPOT!" and we closed the deal!
PHOTOGRAPHY: $800.00 for 8 hrs!
great deal! i loved my photographs and my photographer allowed us to just get the CD with edited images so we could print them at our own time..this is great because prints add up to the cost.
DJ/MC: $450.00 Another amazing
deal! I found James (DJ) on gigsmaster..this guy has years of experience as a DJ/MC but he's starting his own company so he was also running a special. This guy was the best vendor a came accross! extremely proffesional and he ran the whole event! I
didn't need a day of coordinator! my guests loved his personality and the music he played! I got amazing comments from him from guests!
FLOWERS: $850.00 yes! yes! yes! 12
beautiful centerpieces and the whole bridal party for this much! the flower shop did not look fancy at all but their work is AMAZING! I could not believe it when I got quoted! OC brides message me if you want the info. of this shop!
DIY PHOTOBOOTH WALL: $60.00 this
was for the cost of materials. guests loooved it!
DIY FAVORS: $350.00 cost of
materials and godiva chocolates.
MISCELLANEOUS COSTS FOR DYI PROJECTS: $250.00-$300.00
