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How Much Did Our Wedding Cost? – $22,230

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 95 Comments

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How Much Did Our Wedding Cost? - $22,230Hello! Our wedding took place on June 7, 2014. It was a great day, but I am glad it is over.

Towards the end, there were just so many wedding expenses and I was spending so much time planning just one day. I am happy that we planned an ahmaaaaazzzziinnnngg wedding, but I’m glad that I can just think about the memories now 🙂

Right before the wedding, I had some expensive wedding regret. I know that we are technically below the average amount that is spent on a wedding (the average is around $26,000), but I still thought I would be way below where we were.

Don’t get me wrong though, we LOVED our wedding. It was the best day ever for us, and many people told us we had the best wedding that they had ever attended. That’s a win for me! The day did go by extremely fast though, I wish I had more time for it.

Oh yeah, I’m still waiting on the professional pictures, so there will probably still be a few more wedding posts to come. I can’t wait until I get those! I will be doing a full review on the different vendors we used, products that we loved, how we DIYed the wedding flowers, expenses we wish we would have skipped, and more. If you have anything that you would like me to cover in the future, please let me know.

Today’s post will be just about our BUDGET!

Back in January of 2013, we created a budget of something around $10,000 to $15,000 for our wedding. The very top limit that we set for ourselves was $20,000. We knew that we didn’t want to get up to that amount since we had to pay for every expense of our wedding, and that’s a lot of money.

I didn’t want to drown in wedding expenses, and I also wanted to spend amount that wouldn’t be ridiculous to share with you guys. I am a PF blogger and I didn’t want to be ashamed!

 

First, how much did we receive from bartering? – $7,000

We received around $7,000 in product and services for our wedding from bartering (yes, I know about IRS and bartering). I reached out to many wedding service businesses in the St. Louis area and many product-related businesses around the United States about arranging a barter.

I wasn’t pushy. I sent out a simple email to various businesses. It was easy and I figured that the only thing that could happen would be that a person would say “no.”

Rejection didn’t bother me. Plenty of people said no and plenty of people said yes.

For the most part, my services mainly revolved around helping businesses start a blog, helping them with grow their current blog, or teaching them about social media. It was easy for me since I am blogging all the time and I’m always on social media.

Read How To Save Money By Bartering Services.

 

Wedding rentals – $2,400

We budgeted a higher amount originally for our wedding rentals, but I found different ways to save a little bit of money, and we also shifted money in different directions.

For example, we built a “wedding barn” on the property, which meant that we didn’t need as big of a tent as we originally budgeted for.

We rented 375 chairs, around 30 tables for guests, food, gifts, etc., linens for everything, a 20×40 tent to go next to the wedding barn, a dance floor, and a few other things.

 

10390555_727343707304782_3557053094954433165_nWedding Barn – $1,000

We had our wedding on Wes’s family’s property. We donated $1,000 to go towards a wedding barn that the family has been wanting since we were going to have our wedding there. It was sort of like our venue fee for letting us use the land.

We also spent a lot of time on the property before the wedding (a few times a week), and Wes and his uncle built the barn.

They did a great job! My job in the whole thing was to supply them with water so that they could continue working 🙂

I did pick up a shovel and help them dig holes for the logs every now and then though!

 

Food – $2,500

We got a great deal on the food at our wedding because the owner of the place coincidentally was related to Wes.

We also bought a ton of bakery items that ended up costing almost $500. We had pies, multiple wedding cakes, cannolis, brownies, cookies, macarons, and more. Oh yeah, we had a candy table as well!

Before you think “Oh your food was so cheap!” Keep in mind that you need to factor in the cost of rentals, alcohol, the barn, bathrooms, and everything else because all of that is normally included in the price per person at a wedding venue. Outdoor weddings are expensive because everything is paid for separately and you have to cover pretty much everything.

 

Drinks – $2,000

In the beginning, our idea was to supply our own alcohol and hire a bartender to just serve the drinks. However, we found it really hard to do that, and I really just didn’t want to think about the bar during my wedding (such as if the drinks got warm, the bartender sucked, we ran out of drinks, or something else).

Instead, I searched around and found an awesome company who just bartends at private events like weddings. They supplied all the alcohol, cups, ice, bartending table, and more.

They handled everything and it was very affordable.

 

Wedding attire – $3,600

My wedding dress was around $1,615. I bought my dress from a place called White Traditions Bridal in the St. Louis area. It was an awesome and super cute place. If you are from the STL area, I definitely recommend that you shop for your dress from here.

Alterations were $140 for a bustle, bra inserted, and having it taken in just half an inch. It was supposed to be $160 but I had a small change that ended up lowering the price.

My shoes were $50 and can be worn again.

My jewelry was $75 for a necklace and earrings.

My veil was $40. Bought it off of Etsy and I loved it.

Hair and makeup are a little expensive at $1,100. I paid for my bridesmaids hair and makeup as a part of their gift.

For Wes, we went to Men’s Wearhouse and we had enough groomsmen so that he could get his for free. We also put money towards each of their tuxes as a gift from us so that the rental fee wasn’t so high for them. Then, we also paid for two tuxes for two of his men as well to help them out.

 

Photography – $3,800

I found an awesome photographer and her fee was around $2,000.

We also paid for engagement photos which were around $400.

Then we also had a photo booth and the fee for that was around $1,400. The photo booth pictures were a HIT. Check out some of the pictures here.

 

Paper – $1,300

We had save the dates, invitations, RSVPs, and wedding programs to pay for. Sad thing is that we completely forgot to have the wedding programs handed out because of the bad weather (everything was flying everywhere!). So, now we have a ton of wedding programs still in the original plastic packaging haha.

We haven’t bought our thank you cards yet, but that is on our to-do list for this week.

 

 

Miscellaneous – $5,630

We had a lot of other expenses too. These included:

  • We had a DJ. – $800
  • I bought robes for myself and my bridesmaids for when we are getting ready. These were also gifts for them and many of them have said that they have been wearing them a lot, which is great. – $150
  • Bug spray since everything was outdoors – $30
  • Lighting for the whole property so that people don’t trip – $200
  • Decor for centerpieces – $300
  • We wholesaled flowers and DIYed them – $700
  • Day of Wedding Coordinator – $850
  • Bathrooms – $800. We needed outdoor bathrooms as well (these were wedding ones that could flush and had a sink. There were also candles and flowers in them) because you never want over 200 people using one septic system.
  • Rehearsal Dinner – $400
  • Other gifts for our bridal party – $500.
  • Champagne flutes – $50
  • Garter – $25
  • We used a family member as our officiant and gave him a $100 gift.
  • Sparklers and lanterns for guests – $200
  • Guest book – Free. My friend made an awesome one. Thanks Adrienne!
  • Canvas pictures of us for our guest book table – $200
  • Hanger for my wedding dress that says “Mrs. Gardner” – $25
  • Custom wedding cake topper and serving set– $300

 

Altogether, everything totaled $22,230, before bartering.

So, after the $7,000 in barters, our total wedding cost was $15,230.

 

How much was your wedding?

Was there anything you regretted paying for or wished you spent money on?

 

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  2. Nicola says

    The biggest cost at our wedding was the food to feed everyone! As we had a traditional wedding breakfast in the afternoon and then a buffet in the evening, it added up to quite a lot! However, we had an amazing day with our family and friends so it was worth it 🙂

    Reply

  3. Elisabeth says

    Oh boy. Well….we were married in 2000. I’m not sure how it all compares. I know that there were weddings happening that cost much more than ours, and couples planning less expensive ones. I’d do about the entire thing differently if I were to do it again. But, immediately after? I wouldn’t have changed a thing. I can’t remember how much our wedding cost! I know it seemed like a fortune to us- we were married quite young and had only gotten “real” jobs.

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Don’t get me wrong, I definitely loved our wedding! There were certain HUGE things that went wrong though – there was a tornado in the area, it rained HARD up until the minute before my outdoor ceremony started, around 30 just didn’t show up, the photographer was about 2 hours late, and more. It all put a damper on my day, but it was a great one 🙂

      Reply

  4. Kemkem says

    You looked absolutely beautiful! Congratulations on both the wedding, and keeping the costs down. Way to go! I wish you many many happy years of married life. Our wedding was super cheap..$125! We just went to one of those marriage places in L.A. And we went right back to work afterwards..lol!

    Reply

  5. Mrs. Pop @ Planting Our Pennies says

    Since we eloped it was ridiculously inexpensive to get married… and I always recommend it to other couples. =)

    Don’t forget that the IRS requires income taxes to be paid on the value of bartered goods and services…

    Reply

  6. FI Pilgrim says

    It sounds like you got a lot for what you paid, that’s great! Our wedding was just a bit cheaper at $3k, but that was the budget my in-laws gave us. We still found a great place and love the memories, and a ton of people from my church jumped in to help (the DJ, all the food, the pastor, the musicians, and the videographer were all volunteers, which made it even more special).

    Reply

  7. John @ Wise Dollar says

    I think you did great, overall, especially with the bartering and things like that. It’s interesting to compare what we spent against what you did in certain areas as some were basically the same and others were way over or under. That said, we were at like $13k, I believe. The one thing that we went overboard on, well my mother in law did, was crazy expensive party favors. We could’ve easily saved a few thousand by cutting those, but I wasn’t going to tell my future mother in law not to get what she wanted. 😉 Like Mrs. Pop said, don’t forget the IRS likes their part of the bartering.

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Our party favors were the candy table and photobooth, and those were expensive as well – probably $2,000 altogether. They were the hits of the party though and I am so glad I spent the money on it.

      And yes, I know, I talked about the IRS part already 🙂

      Reply

  8. MomofTwoPreciousGirls says

    Any chance you can incorporate your programs into “Thank Yous”? Seems sad to have spent the money and people didn’t see them!

    Reply

  10. Petrish @ Debt Free Martini says

    Congrats….you look so beautiful. There are times when you have to accept the bill and in this case I think its well worth it. Wish you many years of happiness.

    Reply

  11. Joshua @ CNAFinance.com says

    I’m not married yet, but Ana and I are in the process of saving. That’s funny, our budget is $10,000…maybe we’ll go to 15k, but I don’t think we can do much more than that…I love the bartering idea, I’ll have to take advantage of that one!

    Reply

  12. Kara Bissonnette says

    I think we spent about $10,000 on our wedding, but that was 9 years ago. The sit down meal was the most expensive and it wasn’t that great, so sometimes I wish we had just served tons of different hearty appetizers instead.
    I’m impressed by your bartering!

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Yeah, that’s exactly what we were afraid of. So many wedding venues have bland food, and we didn’t want that. Instead, we went with a BBQ place that is one of the best in STL (and STL is the BBQ King in the USA), so we knew we weren’t going wrong.

      Reply

  14. Rachel says

    This is super helpful. I like seeing how much each thing cost and if it’s below/above average, etc. When my day comes, I will be looking to you for some help! 🙂

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Thanks Rachel! That’s why I wanted to publish the exact amount that we spent from our wedding – not many people do it and I know it would have been super helpful if I could have found something similar.

      Reply

  16. Aldo R says

    I’m not married yet, but we’ve discussed that we don’t want a big wedding. We’re thinking of something under $10,000. We’ll see it this holds true.

    Reply

  17. Alicia @ Financial Diffraction says

    You look so great Michelle! Many Congrats to the both of you. 🙂

    $22k is a really “good” price for a wedding – I struggle to say that because it’s a huge chunk of money, but the way weddings go, it’s pretty frugal! The cost of a wedding is the reason why we aren’t married yet. I hate the idea of dropping that kind of money.

    Reply

  18. Rachel says

    Our wedding came in around the 12K mark, largely due to me making the programs, flowers, my veil and decorations and we DIYed the invitations and programs. We also borrowed a few items, which is a great route to go for those looking to save on wedding things.

    I love that you guys put money towards the tuxes for the groomsmen. They can be really expensive to rent and not all couples think about that when picking out the tuxes. My husband and I were in a wedding and paid $200 each for our outfits… but I got to keep mine and he had to return his before noon the next day! Crazy.

    I can’t wait to see more pictures from your wedding it sounds like it was beautiful!

    Reply

  20. Daniel says

    Weddings are so expensive! I don’t think your cost was that bad for the number of guests you had though and the outdoor rentals. The wedding barn looks really nice too. How big was your wedding party?

    Reply

  21. Anne says

    I cringe when I think of how much money we spent on our wedding years ago (much more than you, Michelle). We live in a high cost of living area and both come from ethnic backgrounds that lend themselves to extravagance (not that either of these are good excuses for poor choices). And while we were left with absolutely amazing memories of our wedding, that kind of mentality is exactly why we’re working on paying off debt and changing our habits.

    Reply

      • Anne says

        I don’t mind sharing at all (that’s the point of these communities after all :)), but we’re talking 8 years ago so I don’t quite remember the exact amount. If I had to take a guess I am thinking we spent at least $60K, which pretty much makes me wanna puke lol! We did manage to save up enough money to pay for the wedding ourselves without putting ourselves into debt. BUT starting off our marriage with that whole mentality of keeping up with the Joneses definitely did! Plus looking back, that money obviously could have been used in a lot of more useful manners (emergency fund, down payment on a house, investing, etc.) We’re on our road to recovery though!

        Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      I’m not sure why you think I should feel guilty. They can freely say no. The companies who said no, I still used them, and I specifically told each person that there was no need to say yes because I was going to use them either way. Every single person that I bartered with said that they were looking for help with their blog and social media, and that they all thought that it was a perfect fit because they needed me and I needed them.

      Reply

      • Amanda Batchelor says

        I think what she probably meant was, didn’t you feel bad reaching out to small businesses who struggle to get the income coming in that from the sounds of it you don’t have an issue for it coming in. Hopefully you kept to your end of the bartering deal, I’m sure you have though being that you are technically a business person as they are as well.

        Reply

        • Michelle S. says

          Hey Amanda! Yes, I kept up my end and I completed my services before they began theirs. I should also say that I didn’t get many items for completely free (I did get a few $10 or $20 items for free) – most of the items or services were just a percentage off in exchange for my services.

          I’m sorry if this article came across the wrong way. I don’t think I did anything wrong, and I’m sorry if others see it that way.

          Reply

  23. E.M. says

    It sounds like you got a great deal on everything! I love the idea of a wedding barn, it looks so nice. Saving for a wedding is a bit beyond reach for us right now, which is why we’re okay with taking our time on it. I’d love to be able to keep everything to $5k, as we wouldn’t have too many guests. I agree with the other commenter that said to use the programs in the thank you letters if you can – it’s like a little keepsake.

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Thanks! We took our time with getting married as well. Nothing wrong with that. For us, marriage is just a piece of paper and nothing changed anyways.

      Reply

  25. The Wallet Doctor says

    It sounds like you did a great job with your budget! Its encouraging to hear that you had so much success with bartering. I think that’s a fair trade for most businesses, and it looks like it certainly helped you manage your end of the finances for your special day. Congrats on tying the knot!

    Reply

  26. Lisa E. @ Lisa vs. the Loans says

    I love that you bartered $7,000.00 worth of goods/services! I would love to see either a tutorial on how you did your flowers or if you could share any tutorials you used for DIY floral arrangements/bouquets. My friend spent A TON of money on her flowers and I really don’t want to follow in her footsteps 😛

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Yes, I will definitely try! I didn’t take many photos of the process, so I will have to try to figure something out. It was SUPER easy though, and well worth it. It was also a lot of fun. My friends and I all did it together and we all had a blast.

      Reply

  28. Amanda says

    Since we’re in the very early stages of planning our wedding, I love reading other people’s budgets! There are a few things that I’ll need to keep in mind – like bug spray if we do have it outdoors (brilliant!).

    Everything looks beautiful. I’m so glad you enjoyed your day!

    Reply

  29. Brenda @SuperMoney says

    Great post, and thanks for breaking it down. It was interesting to see how different costs stacked up–the big barn was similar in cost to the paper, and so on.

    For how big my wedding was (250ppl), I really kept it cheap! I think our grand total was somewhere around $5,000. This included attire, venues, catering, flowers, paper products, decor, gifts, the rehearsal, photography, music… All of the main things. I didn’t exactly barter my way to such an affordable wedding, but I did have some help.

    I relied heavily on my church and community. At the time, I lived in a small town (pop ~7K?) and went to a tight-knit church that, at the time, had a bunch of back-to-back weddings. I don’t have the full breakdown, but here’s an idea of how the costs were distributed: Attire: $1000 (chaching!) Venues (200) Flowers (100) Paper (100) Gifts (200) Music (100) Catering (200) + food was separate, bought at GFS (I planned the menu myself). Pretty much everything was about 100-200 each, not counting my dress. The use of our church is always free, but you can gift the church and pastor. I had a student from a local art school photograph the wedding for only the cost of film, and I bought bulk flowers on wholesale (and seasonal flowers from the grocery store) and my in-laws made the bouquets and pins as a gift. I had a winter themed wedding, and because it was winter, all I needed was a trip to JoAnns and Walmart to decorate the reception hall–which already came with lights, tables, chairs, and a full kitchen for the caterers with the flat-fee. I also borrowed things from some of my other friend’s weddings–tablecloths, vases, leftover plates and that sturdy plastic ware, food platters and bowls…

    Let’s just say, I was lucky to be married in such a small town! ~ Brenda from SuperMoney.com

    Reply

  30. debt debs says

    You did really well with your wedding costs and with the bartering, it is fantastic! You guys look so cute in the wedding pic. Can’t wait to see more! Great RECAP!

    Reply

  31. Melissa says

    Michelle, that’s incredible! I love your wedding posts so much. I’m bookmarking this for my future wedding! 🙂

    Reply

  33. Kim says

    Bartering rocks! Congrats on everything. You obviously can afford everything and had it all planned out extremely well. I can’t wait to see more pictures.

    Reply

  34. Fanny @ Living Richly on a Budget says

    Congrats on getting married!!! We spent about the same amount on our wedding and it was beautiful. Guests also said it was one of the best weddings they’ve been to. Plus, we had a chocolate fountain. We spent the money on certain things like chair covers, chocolate fountain, but were able to find deals in other areas. As a former wedding videographer, I had relationships with vendors like the DJ and photographer so I saved there. I find it interesting that we spent around the same amount even though we live in different states. Great post!

    Reply

  36. Laurie @thefrugalfarmer says

    Well worth every penny, Michelle!! And you guys are in a great financial situation, so no apologies. This was your day, and you did it up right. We cut costs in certain areas and wish we wouldn’t have. Those less-than-perfect areas of our wedding still bug me to this day, and I wish we would’ve spent the cash to get it done right.

    Reply

  37. DC @ Young Adult Money says

    Your photos came out great! We spent about the same as you on our wedding. My wife and I are one of those couples who will say it was worth every penny. It’s a day we won’t ever forget and it definitely was the best day of both of our lives.

    We did save money here and there, but also weren’t afraid to splurge. We really dislike weddings that don’t have enough food or desserts so we found a great caterer and bought a big appetizer cheese/cracker/etc. tray for before the meal. Additionally we had cheesecake for dessert and paid about $800ish for it. It was worth every expense even though we ended up with quite a bit extra!

    One thing that we’ve noticed over the past 2 1/2 years since our wedding is that there are many people who weren’t there who we wish we had invited. Some of it was just that they weren’t a huge part of our lives, but are now. But you can’t go back so we don’t dwell on that, just something that we’ve both noticed and been more aware of recently.

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      I know what you mean DC – we had a TON of food at our wedding. We didn’t want our guests to be hungry, as I’ve been to weddings before where there wasn’t any food and the bride and groom never even told anyone. I remember showing up hungry and then there was no food so I felt sick the rest of the night from not eating anything! And it was an all day wedding so it was very odd.

      Reply

  38. Daisy @ Prairie Eco Thrifter says

    You’re married! Congratulations! That’s so exciting. I’ll be married in 4 weeks, and it’s a crazy time right now. Our wedding will end up being about half of yours (if not a bit less) but we have a small wedding – only about 80 guests, so per person, it’s probably on par. Can’t wait to hear more about it!

    Reply

  41. Andrew says

    I know what you mean when you said you’re glad it’s over! It’s a wonderful day, but so stressful sometimes with the planning and stuff! Congrats…now enjoy married life! Our wedding was around the same budget and we did also try to haggle a bit.

    Reply

  42. Raquel@Practical Cents says

    Nice job on the bartering. We spent about $10,000 for a group of 60. This also included our honeymoon as well. We wanted to have a small wedding and only our closest family and friends were invited. This allowed us to have plenty of food, great music and drinks on a budget we could afford.

    Reply

  44. KK @ Student Debt Survivor says

    Looks like a beautiful day. You guys are such a handsome couple. I think you did really well to keep your costs down. You had a good size wedding and did a lot to help out others who were a part of the wedding party which is awesome. I’ve been in several weddings were the brides just expected us to pay for everything they wanted (certain hair and makeup styles, dresses, nails etc.) and it was expensive!

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Thank you! And yes, I don’t really agree with weddings where the bridal couple doesn’t pay for ANYTHING. At least something needs to be budgeted in.

      Reply

  46. Elle says

    We spent about 15,000$, but it was a small brunch (open bar) reception, on a Saturday in hot August Virginia Beach weather. It was on the oceanfront, so it was all worth it. I love our wedding pictures, even though they are not as nice as yours 😉 My spending regrets are flowers + videographer. I wish we had chosen a better videographer or asked a relative to do it for us. We spent 1,500$ for a service that wasn’t that great. I was able to cut down on expenses by DIY wedding invitations, programs, place cards, etc. It cost us probably <50$. No regrets there — most people just throw it away anyways. I still think they were pretty decent (thanks to my skills!).

    Overall, we were within our budget and i'm really proud 🙂

    Reply

  47. Ashley says

    We are in about the same place with our wedding and estimated costs for our October wedding coming up this year. Did you do drapery? I’d love to know where you got it from if so!

    Reply

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