Our $10k Wedding

When my now husband and I were planning our wedding in the summer of 2019, we decided on a budget of $10,000.

I’m sure some people will read that and think there is no way you can plan a decent wedding for anything less than $25,000.

But we did!

I still get comments on how it was a lovely wedding.

We were at a point in our lives where we were still building our business and working to get out of debt, so we made the decision that we were not going to take on any more debt to have a wedding.

Nor could I fathom spending anything more than that on just one day! Even that $10,000 number was pushing it for me! (I honestly would have been happy with a potluck in my backyard!)

So, how did we do it?

First, we talked about what was most important for us. Then we decided roughly how we want to divvy up the $10,000:

$3,000 – venue

$2,000 – DJ and photographer

$1,500 – bar tab

$2,500 – food

$1,000-2,000 – everything else – dress and alterations, suit, flowers, decorations etc.

Yes, I know that adds up to $11,000 but that gave us a little wiggle room

And our final number was just over $10,300, so my budget nerd was pretty darn happy!

Once we had those numbers laid out, it was easy to say no to a venue that cost $6,000. It simply didn’t fit into our budget.

We were in fact able to find a beautiful venue $3,000. (Bonus – tables and chairs were included in that price!)

Try looking at some lesser-known places.

Or get creative and think outside the box.

Where could you have a wedding that isn’t traditionally thought of as a top wedding venue? (One of our ideas was to have the reception at a bowling alley!) The popular, well-known locations tend to err on the pricier side.

For our photographer and DJ, we found a local couple who do weddings as their side job, so they cost a bit less than a full-time operation.

You may notice I don’t have a separate dress budget on the list. That’s because there was no way I was going to pay even $500 for a dress that I was going to wear for just one day! (My budget soul couldn’t handle that!)

I didn’t want anything extravagant or fancy because that’s not me. I ended up finding a dress on the clearance rack for $50!! (It was actually a bridesmaid’s dress that was a slight cream color! No one could tell the difference!) The alterations ended up costing more than the dress!!

But it was perfect and fit me and my style.

You would have to know I’d include purple in my dress in some way!!

It is possible to plan a beautiful wedding on a budget. And it’s completely ok to plan a wedding on a budget as well!

Decide what your budget is and stick to it. There’s nothing like a budget to start the creative thinking of ‘how can I spend as little as possible on this?’ (This is a great tip, even if you aren’t planning a wedding!)

Plus – I ended up selling a lot of my decorations after the wedding, so I even made back some of my costs.

Win-win if you ask me!