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I ran across our wedding budget yesterday, so thought I’d share how we managed to have a beautiful wedding & reception with our family and friends on just over $3000. Our wedding was nearly 5 years ago, but the concepts of how we did it are still valid.

First, here is the breakdown of our spending:

Cake $0 (yes, the one pictured above.)
Cake server set $36.94
Dress $150
Alterations & dry cleaning $120 (no idea why this was so high)
Shoes $19.67
Tuxes $102
Ceremony & reception location fee $800 (included service, table linens, antique china place settings, little charms on the napkins, coffee, tea, water, setup, take down, & cleanup).
Officiant fee $200
Flowers $159.34 (20 dozen roses, plus rose petals, ribbon & floral supplies)
Nails done $19.04
Musician $200 (single violinist)
Photographer $700
Food & champagne $188.02
Invitations $169.40
Postage $24
Flower girl dress & basket $45.16
Decorations and centerpieces $81.20 (mosquito netting canopy, chocolate topiary, glasses to use as vases, miniature white pumpkins, bird cage, vines for arch)

Total: $3014.77

Not included in those numbers:
Wedding rings
Honeymoon (we didn’t take one)

And our thought process:

The first thing we did in setting our wedding budget was to prioritize what was most important to us. Our number one priority was having our family & friends there, followed by having a good photographer. So those were the parts that we dedicated the largest portions of our budget to. Then we figured out the maximum amount we could afford.

Next, we got creative. It helped that we had both been married before, and that I was a wedding photographer at the time. We knew what we didn’t want, we knew what people just didn’t pay that much attention to in reality, and knew what we did want. So we focused on getting the things we wanted at the best possible prices.

In other words, we bargained, traded, and did things unconventionally.

We had a late-morning garden wedding followed by lunch, all at the same location. Our wedding was also small, with a total of 35 people. Those three things right there resulted in huge savings.

We got our cake (which was delicious) at no charge, in exchange for shooting some photos for the baker’s portfolio. (More typical ways to save on wedding cakes would be to have a small “standard wedding” cake and a sheet cake for the rest of the guests, or to get your cake from a grocery store.)

We got our photographer at what we could afford after some deal-making and by limiting the time to two hours. (The photo above is one I shot. The actual photographer’s photos are beautiful, but I don’t have permission to publish them.) Conventional ways to save money on a photographer would be to use a student or someone just getting started, but personally I wouldn’t do that. It’s too risky IMO, especially if photos are important to you. Shooting a wedding is a lot harder and a lot more work than it looks like.

We saved a huge amount on food because I was mildly insane and uh…prepared the food myself. (Only downside to that was that I could have saved the $20 it cost me to get my nails done, since I had to redo them myself after all the food prep.) I’m a very laid back person and I ENJOY coming up with foods for parties, so it’s not as nuts as it probably sounds. Plus the people at the location took care of setting it up, serving it, and cleaning up. We just had to haul it there. (A more normal way to save on food would have been to have a buffet, choose more inexpensive foods, etc.)

We ordered our flowers from Costco, which was probably one of my favorite things that we did. They were super helpful, getting exactly what I wanted, telling me how to care for them, etc. It was one of my favorite things though because 20 dozen roses smell fabulous! Our house was like a garden before the wedding. Plus it was easy to make my bouquet. I had no bridesmaids (my son stood up for me) so the only other flowers to put together were bouts & centerpieces.

I got my dress from a resale shop, and they gave me a discount as well (because I asked.) My friend got me my veil.

Our musician for the ceremony & reception was relatively inexpensive because it was very short notice. (I forgot about a musician until like 3 days before the wedding — oops!) All’s well that end’s well. (Did I mention I’m laid back?)

Our location was relatively inexpensive too, because it was a new spot. We were their first wedding, and after a little bit of bargaining they gave us a deal. They were super nice and went above & beyond with lots of unexpected little touches. (As a side note, we could have done the ceremony location even cheaper, because I also reserved the local campus chapel as a backup for $35. But we still would have had to find a reception location, so we thought a place where we could have both at once would be best.)

The takeaways:
The main takeaways are to be unconventional, willing to do work yourself, and bargain. Hints for bargaining: Really try to understand the other party as well and what they might need or want. Don’t expect the world; be reasonable, and be sure the other party gets something great from the deal too so that you both walk away happy. (Don’t just expect people to give you a big percentage off for no reason. Give them a reason that benefits them.) Being easygoing and friendly helps too.

Also, don’t spend months on wedding web sites oooing and aaahing over all the latest trends. We deliberately put our wedding & reception together in 6 weeks. I know myself: the longer I have to plan something, the more expensive it gets.

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