In honour of my recent wedding and Michelle's upcoming one, I'd like to spend some time talking about wedding budgets and my wedding budget. Sure, it's not the most glamorous part of the big day. It's not something you can gush about to your friends.
In fact, a wedding budget is probably barely mentioned at all by most people. That said, if you don't want to start out life as a newlywed with a ton of debt, it's very important to have a budget.
Side note: Here are some of my past wedding posts in case you are interested:
- My Wedding Pictures
- How Much Did Our Wedding Cost? – $22,230
- I Got Married!
- The rest of my wedding related posts can be found here.
Do Your Research Before You Set A Wedding Budget
Did you know that the average wedding costs $26,000 (some even say higher!, see this article)? When I first heard that wedding budget number, I was shocked. That's almost the same amount that I owed in student loans after my undergraduate degree. That could be used as a down-payment on a house, or to buy a car outright!
Clearly, weddings can be expensive. The venue, the dress, the food, it all adds up, and quickly. Before setting a firm budget for your wedding, do a little preliminary research on the going rate for various aspects of the wedding in your area.
Costs can vary widely, so the more you know, the easier it'll be to come up with a reasonable number. My budget ended up being around $4,500. Check out how I saved money on a lot of the costs here.
Figure Out a Savings Schedule For Your Wedding Budget
Once you have a ball park figure of how much it's roughly going to cost to have the wedding you want, you need to figure out where that money is going to come from.
Many people receive donations from family members to help cover the costs, which can be a huge help. Many times though, the engaged couple will have to cover at least a portion of the expenses.
For my wedding, my fiance and I were very fortunate with some help from family members, and a rather large tax return. As a result we only had to cover about $2,000 of the costs ourselves. I made a savings schedule that got us there in about a year's time, and we barely felt the pinch on our budget.
If you've figured out how much you need to save, and it just doesn't seem doable in your time frame and projected expenses, don't turn to credit! There are tons of ways to save money on weddings while still enjoying a beautiful event with friends and family. All it takes is a little creativity.
Remember There's No Prize for the “Best” Wedding When Setting Your Wedding Budget
Possibly the worst part about setting a wedding budget is remembering that you don't have to have the nicest wedding of the summer, or the cheapest. There's no prize for DIYing every last detail and having an uber cheap wedding, so if that's not what you want to do, and you can afford it – don't do it!
In the same vein, if there are things that you simply don't care about (for me it was things like invitations and many of the traditional events) there's no reason not to go the cheaper route or eliminate it all together, especially if you are having problems getting your dreams to match your financial reality.
Weddings can be a touchy subject because they are so easy to compare. They are all basically the same, but each couple's choices reflect who they are, which makes it easy to feel like you must conform (and spend more money while you're at it).
At the end of the day, you are the one footing the bill, so set a budget you're comfortable with, and pick and choose what's important to you.
I spent $4,500 on my wedding, how much did you spend on yours? What was your wedding budget?
Subscribe to get the free Master Your Money course!
Join the free email course and finally learn how to manage your money better, pay off debt, save more money, and reach financial freedom. Get our newsletter and get access to the freebie:
Thomas says
July 18, 2013 at 5:44 amI cant see spending 25k or more on a wedding especially when there are so many more things in life that I want to accomplish that the money could go towards. I understand its a very special day but lets remember it is one day. Thats a lot of money and unless I am financial secured its too much. I can see spending 4.5k but we spent a little less. We went to the court house and had a small reception. In the end I got what truly mattered, my beautiful wifey.
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:16 amI totally agree. Around here, that’s a sizeable down payment on a house. There’s no way that I would want to drop that much cash on a wedding, it’s just not worth it to me.
Holly@ClubThrifty says
July 18, 2013 at 6:12 amWe spent less than $3,000. We basically eloped and had two big receptions (our families are in two different part of the country). I bought my dress for $200 off the rack and I actually bought my invitations and unity candle at a garage sale! lol
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:17 amNice! That’s a great way to save some cash. The week before our wedding elopement was looking pretty appealing.
DC @ Young Adult Money says
July 18, 2013 at 6:23 amI think the biggest thing is deciding what you care about. My wife wanted our wedding to be a celebration/one big party so we cared much more about the DJ, venue, and being able to invite a lot of people. It definitely turned out the way we hoped! We spent about $20k when it was all said and done.
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:18 amI totally agree! There was lots of little traditions and stuff that we didn’t even do because we didn’t care about them. The important stuff to us was mostly the food and the drinks. We wanted to make sure everyone had a lovely time.
GamingYourFinances says
July 18, 2013 at 6:48 amOurs ended up costing a little over $13,000. By no means was it inexpensive. We did try and keep it simple and avoided some of the extras that our guests might not notice anyway. We did 1hr of photography instead of a full day, we had pizza at midnight rather than a late night buffet, that was $200 vs $1300! In the end everyone is there for you and to celebrate this great day!
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:19 amThere are definitely tons of ways to cut corners that most guests won’t even notice.
Jaclyn says
July 18, 2013 at 7:24 amWe spent a whopping $18,000ish on our wedding which we completely cash flowed by saving for about 9 months. Of course, this was back before we had a mortgage and could afford to save that much at one time…. oh if I could go back and do things differently!
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:20 amAt least you paid for it in cash, which is awesome!
Michelle says
July 18, 2013 at 7:28 amWe’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and now we are hoping to spend less than $10,000. We are going to try and do a lot more things ourselves so that we can save money!
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:21 amI think you are on the right track with the venue, having it at someone’s house is a huge way to save money.
Daisy @ Prairie Eco Thrifter says
July 18, 2013 at 7:39 amWe plan to spend around $7500 on ours when we tie the knot. My parents are contributing some money, but we’re on our own for most of it. It’s still a TON of money.
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:30 am$7,500 seems like a very doable amount. When we first got engaged, my husband and I set a budget of $7,000. Fortunately we were able to cut costs in so many places that we only ended up spending $4,500.
Pauline says
July 18, 2013 at 7:40 amI think if I get married it will be about that cheap. My sister had a $20,000 wedding and it was really nice but I can’t justify that much money for just a day. Having a few loved ones around is all I need.
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:30 amI agree, $20,000 on one day (that goes by really fast!) is too much for me to stomach.
John S @ Frugal Rules says
July 18, 2013 at 7:53 amThankfully my father-in-law had money set aside already to cover for our wedding. He had $10,000 set aside and it was great knowing what we had to deal with as it made decision making much easier.
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:31 amThat’s awesome of your father in law!
Sam Gill @ Digital Spikes says
July 18, 2013 at 7:58 amGood to see you managed it pretty well with $4.5k , I will keep it in my mind and it is good inspiration . Will let my GF read the same. Thanks for sharing
Matt Becker says
July 18, 2013 at 8:06 amI think the important thing is to set a budget BEFORE you start planning everything. If you can really afford a $20,000 wedding, you should be able to decide that by looking at your finances, not by checking to see how much things cost. Let your financial situation dictate the things you include in the wedding, not the other way around.
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:34 amI definitely agree that your budget should be dictated by your financial situation, but by checking out how much things cost, it’ll give you a better idea of what kind of wedding you can afford to have. I think that picking a number out of the air and then forcing your wedding budget to fit that might result in disappointment. Especially since most people have a significant amount of time to save for a wedding, they can probably adjust their budget to save either a lot or a little, depending on how much they want to spend.
Alexa says
July 18, 2013 at 8:45 amLike Holly, me and my ex husband basically eloped. We spent no money. I think a wedding day is different to everyone. Some people need to have the day about them and have a huge celebration while others are just happy to be marrying the person they love and that’s enough for them. I think both options are perfectly fine, whatever makes the person happy!
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:35 amI agree! Different people like different sorts of celebrations.
Cat says
July 18, 2013 at 8:49 amMine was between 10-11 grand. We went slightly over budget, but still had the money to cover it. My Dad really wanted an open bar. 🙂
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:36 amThat’s good! We didn’t go over budget, but I still had an extra $1,000 set aside just in case we ended up needing it. Fortunately we didn’t, and I was able to put that cash towards my debt.
Brian @ Luke1428 says
July 18, 2013 at 9:35 amSo according to statistics, with two daughters, I’m looking at 52k for two weddings? Yikes! I don’t think so! We will be skewing that number lower. Of course, I say that now. My emotions might get in the way when that day actual comes. 🙂
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
July 20, 2013 at 9:37 amThere are tons of ways to get that figure down! Most kids usually pay for a portion of their own wedding these days anyway, so I doubt you’ll have to foot the whole bill, although I’m sure they would be very happy if you did!
Morgaine says
July 18, 2013 at 10:07 amWe spent about $13K all in mostly the venue with food and booze added. I did DIY a lot of items (invites, programs, bouquets, centrepieces, etc) and some helped with the costs, some didn’t. I love that you got a lot of items for free and a lot of help from family, that’s awesome. The one really good thing for us is that we saved the entire amount ourselves (it took just over 2 years) but meant all the money we “made” at the wedding went towards our honeymoon so we didn’t go into debt for that either 🙂
Adam @ Debts & Dollars says
July 18, 2013 at 10:12 amWe spent around $4,300.00 dollars on our wedding. I refused to go anywhere above $5,000 and we were still able to have a catered service, a nice banquet hall, and cover several other misc expenses. Instead of doing an open bar we bought several bottles of champagne and had that served instead. A friend of mine is a DJ so he hooked us up. Another friend was a wedding planner so she took on that role and a pastor did the service for us slightly over $100 bucks. My wife got her dress from China and then had it fitted once it arrived and we saved a few grand doing that alone. It’s all about networking and using every available resource you have. We got a ton of compliments on how nice everything was and we weren’t broke because of it.
Drop that Debt says
July 18, 2013 at 10:29 am4.5K is pretty great! I don’t want much. Small crowd, nice, minimal decorations, etc. BUT the dress is the one thing I’m worried about finding for cheap. I have a very particular dream dress I’ve wanted for a few years and it’s designer but many years old.. that being said if I could find another one that I loved for cheap I would gladly get that instead.
Oh wait… I guess I need to get engaged first? haha
Angella says
July 18, 2013 at 10:50 amIf I could go back, I would have done things much differently, but our wedding was almost $32,000. You don’t realize how much it is when you’re paying for things here and there for a year. When I totaled all my expenses I almost had a heart attack. Live and learn I suppose. It was a blast, but I definitely could have done it cheaper!!
Snarkfinance says
July 18, 2013 at 11:02 amI am on track to completing my wedding for around $5K, which I am very happy with. Its a seriouse “do it yourself” wedding, but I like that. It is a good reflection of my fiance and I, rather than a pumped up affair that has nothing to do with how we live or who we are.
Justin @ The Family Finances says
July 18, 2013 at 11:53 amOur wedding came in right at $10,000. That was the amount my wife’s father was giving us, so we made sure we stayed under budget. For us, it was pretty easy. We spent on what we felt was important (food at the reception and a really good cake), and cut back on other things. We also knew an amateur photographer and an amateur videographer and saved a ton by using them rather than professionals. And the photos and video were absolutely awesome, too!
Jw_UmbrellaTreasury says
July 18, 2013 at 12:16 pmYep, great tips! I agree with all of these. I wrote a similar post s few weeks ago on how we set our wedding budget. In the spirit of full disclosure, we spent a pretty penny on our wedding. Could we have done it for less? Yes, absolutely. But we don’t feel like we wasted money. We spent in areas that were important to us and don’t regret how much we spent. We also made certain that our wedding budget would not derail our other financial goals.
I especially like your point about their being no prize for the “best” wedding. This can be so hard to remember when planning a wedding, especially with the popularity of sites like Style Me Pretty. But you know what? I’ve been to $7,000 weddings and $70,000 weddings. From a guest’s perspective, they were equally lovely.
Sean @ One Smart Dollar says
July 18, 2013 at 1:12 pmI can’t believe the average wedding costs so much. We had a really nice wedding and ours was $10,000 less than that number.
Tara says
July 18, 2013 at 1:19 pmBooze is a major reason why weddings can be so pricey. If you don’t want a full open bar at your wedding and you don’t need the reception in a fancy place, you can save a ton.
We were quoted at $120 plus tax and gratuity for so many reception sites in my area. If we’re looking at having 120 people (max), that’s a lot of money.
We were able to find a place that was $80 with tax and gratuity that wasn’t as fancy as a country club (it’s large outdoor white tent on a public golf course) but it’s a huge money savings. And although I’m disappointed in some of my friends not being able to attend, it’s better for the budget if you don’t get your max amount of people attending so having less folks there does have a silver lining.
I think with all the costs: reception, cake, dj, photobooth, photographer, wedding dress, wedding party gifts, table settings, wedding favors, and miscellaneous expenses, our total will probably come to around $15,000.
Lisa E. @ Lisa Vs. The Loans says
July 18, 2013 at 3:23 pmI hope to spend half the average at MOST! $10-13K. We can’t avoid a large party, but that doesn’t mean it has to be expensive! DIY will be my bestie 🙂
Peter says
July 18, 2013 at 3:29 pmWe spend 30K on my wedding, little over average I guess according to this post, but I was doing very well financially in year 2007, so I guess it was okay. However, I regret spending that much for a wedding. I’ve attended lot smaller weddings after and it was so much more romantic and special. $4500 is just perfect.
Marissa @ FinanceTriggers says
August 4, 2013 at 9:02 am30K? Wow. That’s a lot of money. I’m sure it was the wedding of the year. Ha!
Mr. Utopia says
July 18, 2013 at 6:07 pmA tidbit of advice:
Your wedding is your day. It’s your party. Guests come to celebrate you and your newlywed. So, don’t worry at all about how little you might be spending. If there are any concerns that certain guests might be judging or comparing, then perhaps they shouldn’t be guests to begin with!
My wife and I ended up spending about $13k or so, but we live in a high cost area so relatively speaking it was a more modest wedding. We got married and spent that money right in the middle of an aggressive plan to pay off over $140k in debt too (which we did in less than 3 years)! Looking back I’m not even sure how we squeezed in $13k for the wedding.
femmefrugality says
July 18, 2013 at 11:20 pmWe’re paying for our own…planning on keeping it in the $3-4 k range not including the honeymoon. We’ve got a long way to go lol.
Alex @ Searching for Happy says
July 19, 2013 at 11:16 pmWe spent about the same on our wedding, and that included a lot of our honeymoon too!
Marissa @ Thirty Six Months says
July 21, 2013 at 3:16 amHi Jordann,
Great tips! But you know what, personally, I think that weddings (although they are considered one of the most special/celebrated occasions in life) don’t have to be that expensive. What is important is that your loved ones (family and friends) are there to witness and celebrate with you the most important day of your lives as a couple. Cheers!
Free Money Minute says
July 21, 2013 at 1:23 pmThe average wedding cost always amazes me. Does anyone ever take a step back to put this ONE DAY into perspective? I know it is important, but it is worth your financial future and possibly the next decade of payments?
Demaish @ Borrowed Cents says
July 22, 2013 at 11:36 amWe spent less than $2000 but it was a very small wedding party.
Vany says
November 13, 2016 at 2:29 pmI am currently planning my wedding and it’s such a headache. We’re looking at close to 40k right now (sounds crazy I know) and I’d like to figure out ways to bring the cost down and still have the wedding of my dreams. Do you guys have any other advice to save on wedding related cost?