Wedding Budgets?

Question

Just curious, of those of you who've been married, what was your wedding budget? Did you spend more than you budgeted? Less?

Most expensive part of your wedding?
Least?

Answer 1

My wedding is in a week. we budgeted for $5000 and have spent almost $8000. The most expensive was the hall, which included alchohol. Do alot of research and planning, and never make a decision without thinking it over. Decide what is most important to you - an expensive dress? good food? Fancy sit down dinner? and spend the money on those things, and settle for less on others.

Answer 2

I am sure hoping that none of the people who posted before me are getting married in Manhattan cause my budget to begin with is WAY over these. My biggest expense will be the reception hall & food which is about 15-20k, we are also budgeting for 300 people! My dress alone is 6k and we are spluring on the honeymoon. It really depends on 1) how many people you are having 2) LOCATION (everything is more expensive in NY) 3) What kind of formality you are going for (i.e. an eveing ultra-formal gala or a morning tea)
If anything we have made sure to budget more than we plan to spend, just so there are no surprises. In all, our budget is 75k.

Answer 3

Our wedding was almost 5 years ago, but I remember most of the costs. Our initial budget was $6000. But after I was promoted, we had more disposable income so it was increased to $8000.

We eventually ended up spending more than we anticipated since the photography package we selected was much more than we initially wanted to spend and we added videography which was not initially apart of our budget. We also had the unexpected expense of paying for two tuxedo rentals and one bridesmaids dress (including alterations) for some members of our wedding party. So in the end, we spent approximately $10,000 ($2000 over budget) for our wedding (80 guests). We spent an additional $3000 for our honeymoon.

Catering was the most expensive part of our wedding ($3000). Outside of my our our officiant (my brother performed our ceremony for free), the least expensive part of our wedding was the thank you cards we purchased to hold the gratuity for some of our vendors ($25), the gratuity for our musician who was a family friend ($50), and the cost to have our wedding programs professionally printed ($90-100).

Fortunately, my parents paid for my bridal gown, invitations, half the cost of the catering, and half the cost of the balance for the photography so we only ended up paying for about $7000 ourselves (close to our original budget and under our revised budget).

I don't think there is anything wrong with planning a wedding that may require more of a financial cost if it is something the couple can comfortably afford as long as they remember that preparation for their marriage is always the top priority.

Answer 4

Our wedding budget was 5,000 or less. The most expensive part, probably hiring the limo to take us to our hotel. We were going to a church that was more like a church "family" cause we had been going there for so long. Let's see, had a friend make my wedding attire, the groom wore a three piece suit. The Matron of Honor, Best Man, and the man who gave me away, all wore regular suits. Had the friend who made my attire, she also did the flowers, including a toss bouquet. I went to Costco to get three sheet cakes, and Safeway for a small squarew "top" cake for the center cake, and some others in the church idd up finger foods, and punch. There was a member of his family that did the pics, and did a very good job. Hope that helps answer your question. Take care.

Answer 5

Well, it took a lot of saving, but we stayed pretty much in our budget. The most expensive part of the wedding is always the food; we had almost 200 guests.

Answer 6

Our budget was $15,000. That's including the wedding and the honeymoon (not including my ring). We have stayed on budget. The most expensive thing is the honeymoon.That's almost half of the costs! We are splurging on the honeymoon. The location we picked provides the catering and cake so the most expensive thing I would say is the flowers.

Answer 7

Hi Searching, I'm searcher, lol

Granted I got married in 1989, but we spent less than $3,000.
My mom made my dress.
My bridesmaids had someone make their dresses
We were members of our church and the minister did not charge for his services.
We used the basement for our reception and saved several hundred dollars.

However, I did check on prices on various items.
The most expensive item
The food for the reception
Then the cost of the photographer
Then the cost for the reception location
The wedding gown can range between $250 to $25000 depending on the type of dress.

Take it from me, it may be fun to plan and dream of a big wedding, but make sure you are also planning for the marriage itself. Some brides get so caught up in the wedding that they forget that the marriage is ultimately more important (and hopefully lasts longer than paying off the bills).

Answer 8

I just got married in January. Our budget was $12K but we spent more like $16K. Most expensive part was definitely the food and alcohol for the reception.

Answer 9

of course, this is one time when size does really do matter. we had a small ceremony and did it in town so that we had many places for friend's and relatives to stay. we had two different invitations. one was for those that were invited to the ceremony and the reception, and the other for those that were invited only to the reception. we explained that it was due to the limited seating and that it was very difficult for us to have to make the decision on who comes to the ceremony and who doesn't, but we threw ourselves at their feet over it. Justice of the Peace, is for obvious reasons, less expensive than renting a church and a priest. the most expensive part of our wedding was the food. we had it catered, but we also wrote in he invites that people could bring things if they wanted to......and they did!!!! we also bought a lot of things to grill. rented a tent for the outdoors and set everything up out there for that. i was very opposed to having a "traditional" wedding. we wore comfortable clothes that we could dance in, had no place cards (makes people mingle more), and chose music that included everybody.....ABBA and Big Band seems to work the best for that!! we also bought disposable cameras and integrated them into the table decorations. people snap the pics, it breaks the ice, you pay less for a photographer, and you spend maybe $50 for the cameras, and another $50 for the developing and you get to see how others saw your wedding!! my point is, if you break from tradition, a bit, you wind up saving a ton of cash. my parent's offered us $10,000 for the whole thing........i wound up giving them almost $6,000 back!!!

Answer 10

For me the wedding wasn't important. I just couldn't wait to be married to my husband. That's all I ever cared about. My wedding probably cost maybe $2000 total. My dress was $75 dollars, and I told my one bridesmaid just to wear something nice. Everything was really simple, and so nothing was very expensive.