Blew the budget out of the water!

We're in the same boat! We started at 10k to be "realistic". Even getting married on a Friday and a lot of DIY, we almost doubled it. But like you, we're lucky that we can afford to do so. It's hard planning a wedding on a budget! Kudos to the couples who are able to set and stick to a low budget and still have their dream weddings!

Thank you for sharing! If you don't mind, would you be willing to share your top 3 most expensive things from your wedding? You don't have to put the actual cost of you done want to, but I'm just curious what the most expensive part of the wedding were. I'm still in the early planning stages but am just about 9 months out from our date so planning will be happening fairly quickly. I'm trying to be vigilant and careful with our spediture but I want to know what areas to really be mindful of.

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Were to getting married on a Sunday. It cut costs for some but raised cost for others like our hair and make up. Either way, if I could do it over I would try to save some cash somewhere lol.

Well, at least you aren't having the wedding in Chicago. $19K is the cost of the reception from what I have been seeing. Aiyiyi what a headache.

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I don't mind at all.

The ceremony venue is 1100 which is half price since I, getting married on a Sunday.

The reception which is cocktail style so were only serving appetizers (and lots of them). It makes for a cool type of event but its pricey. It cost us around 6k and we have open bar too. Luckily its only for 3 hours.

Our photographer, floral, party bus, etc. cost us around 1k each.

I suggest researching your area very well and compare prices. I made my original budget on what I thought it should cost instead of what it actually costs.

Sounds familiar. Our budget doubled (the final number did include our mini-moon which we didn't count in our original budget). Some things we just didn't account for early on: paying 2 nights hotel for our friend's amazing help, travel/food costs for DW. But our two biggest surprise budget-breakers:

* DIY decor (budgeted $1K total for DW + local reception. We spent over $3K!)

* Entertainment (budgeted $1500. We spent $5K)

Tips: If you're doing DIY decor, you may want to keep a running total in Excel. $5-$10 items/supplies add up fast! For entertainment, find out tech rentals/requirements before you book a DJ or band. My hubby decided we needed TWO live performance groups and then told me we needed $1K in rentals/tech. WHAT?! I lost it. But no kids, no debt, paid off extra wedding items in a few months, so all-in-all I'd do it all over again!

View Quoted Comment Thank you for sharing! I really appreciate it.

We had a budget of 20 grand going in, currently sitting at 27 with 2 months to go!

We are spending around 4K for the ceremony and reception venue combined and 1200 for DJ and photographer combined also... we are pinching every penny because we have children and regular bills along with trying to buy a house. We have 25 more days left!! Exited!!🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

Agree with everyone...just keeps adding up and I just started and found a great deal on a dress ($400-$500). My fiancé is funny - he thinks we can simultaneously save for our first home and have me buy a new car.....silly silly! But we are early in the process and I feel we are doing okay!

Researching ahead is an important part of making the budget - along with being firm in what you are able/willing to spend. We were pretty realistic from the get go and had ideas about costs at the beginning. So we were able to make plans accordingly and stick within our budget. We got exactly what we wanted by finding options within what we were willing to pay for them.

Yep. So many last minute things. Tips. Stuff you didnt even think about.

I’m still 9 months out and have done over half of my budget in real costs- not just estimates. We wanted to just spend 5k, but we are up to 7k and will be cutting it off at 10k if it comes to that. The most expensive things so far are food, my dress, and the videographer. I splurged on my dress so that’s my fault but it was perfect so it’s mine now.
We are both 22 and paying for it ourselves so if it goes above 10k it’s not paid for. The only major things to factor in now are actual tent rentals, and flowers/decor. Almost done with all the big stuff!

Yeah, if you really want to stick to a budget, that has to be a priority--and if what you can afford and want is more than that, it's no shame not to make it a priority.

For us, it was a necessity, because we really couldn't afford more. But the way we did it was to start with the things most important to us, knowing that the lower priority items just might not happen.

Lmao we’re getting married in two weeks. Started at 10k, I stopped adding at some point, but it’s pribabky close to 20k and I SWORE I’d never spend that much on a wedding. So much changes in a year...

View Quoted Comment Yesssss we’re spending $5k in the last month alone on things I didn’t budget for. Paper for the programs. Steaming my dress that wrinkled in the bag on a hanger in the closet (🤷‍♀️). Gifts and tips. Small accessories, last minute necessities. It’s a pain.

I am feeling this right now! I’m in the early stages of planning but my venue ate up 75% of our original budget (at least it includes food, alcohol, cake, and some decor). I warned my FH that we are going over our $20k budget but promised I would keep it as close to that # as possible. I made some very rough estimates of what to spend on all the remaining categories and that will put us at just under $27k. Gulp....I don’t think he will like that. Even worse is I am researching photographers today and they are soooo expensive in San Diego 😭. I don’t think I’m going to be able to stick with my revised photography budget. 😬 We can afford it but my FH just gets sticker shock at the thought of spending so much money on a wedding. Wish me luck as planning continues!

We said we wanted to keep it around 10k. Will end up being closer to 12k, which does not include the honeymoon.

We are 21 days out and coming in almost $2k under budget on a $12k budget. To be fair my parents and my fiance's parents and a friend of mine gave us money we weren't planning on so that's where the difference came in, but without it we still would've been okay. I think the key is to research and over estimate everything up front, then when you come in under budget on something you have wiggle room for the things you thought would be less. I budgeted WAY less for makeup than it was, but luckily I had budgeted high on other things so it evened out.

Same, we started with $10k, increased to $15k, then $20k, and we're gonna end up at about $23k. This includes rings, attire, and gifts for BP and each other.