I'm one week into married life and decided to tally up all of my wedding expenses. I didn't really set a budget; we just knew that we didn't want to spend too much and that we wanted a very small wedding. We ended up with 21 guests, all family; no bridal party. We got married in our backyard and then, after group photos and bride/groom photos, we all went to a local restaurant where we hosted our reception (just dinner, no dancing) in the banquet room. Our priorities were to keep it pretty simple, but make sure our guests were wined and dined well.
BUDGET:
The Necessities
$500 - officiant
$500 - photographer for 3 hours (she is a friend of a colleague and I think gave me a reduced rate)
$435 - rental for 30x30 tent, chairs (30), tables (2), and linens (2 tablecloths)
$75 - marriage license
$140 - my wedding band
$65 - his wedding band
$40 - invitations (vistaprint)
Food, Drinks & Other Refreshments/Drink Accessories
$158 - wine, prosecco and cheap champagne, and a bottle of vodka
$120 ?? - beer (my husband paid for this and I'm not sure exactly how much 4 cases of beer cost)
$150 - Hosting materials such as two 2-gallon drink dispensers, two carafes and plastic champagne “glasses” for my mimosa bar, clear plastic cups, a small/medium sized tin tub to hold juice/champagne bottles for the mimosa bar, a huge tub to fill with ice for the beer)
$100 - day-of necessities for having a wedding at your house, like extra tissues, toilet paper, hand towels, ice and lunch food
$1880 - Reception (shrimp and bruschetta hor d'oeuvres; salad; appetizer; choice of filet mignon, crab cakes, or chicken marsala; dessert; beverages, alcoholic or otherwise)
Style/Makeup
$420 - hair and makeup (this includes treating three other girls to get their hair done and tips)
$120 - wedding dress and alterations (not a traditional wedding dress - a white cocktail dress from Macy’s and minimal alterations)
$20 - veil (Amazon)
$40 - sandals
Decorations, Flowers & Accessories
$12 - alternative guest book (a wooden cutout of our home state)
$6 - alternative card box (a small wooden crate)
$3 - spray paint for the guest book and card box in our wedding colors
$25 - faux calla lily boutonnieres (3)
$160 - fresh flowers and vases (including bridal bouquet)
$200 - planters, soil, fertilizer and annuals (I put together 10 medium or large planters and five small planters as decorations for my backyard that I can enjoy throughout the summer!)
~$80 - materials for my “altar” - two trellises, tulle, a flower garland, and faux ivy
~$70 - various decorations (photo frames, tissue paper pom poms, ribbon, a faux calla lily bouquet I ended up not using, place cards, markers for my guestbook, “in memoriam”-type sign and frame)
TOTAL : $5,510
My husband also bought new shoes and a new tie, but I don't know how much he spent (probably around $150) and they're both items he'll continue to use.
I was hoping to only spend $4,000-$5,000, but on the plus side of going over that, I've been able to enjoy my fresh flowers for a week, and my outdoor planters (annuals) will last all summer and are looking absolutely gorgeous. Some of my decorations (like a first day, yes day, best day print/frame and my “guest book”) will be hung up in our bedroom, while we still have lots of leftover toilet paper, tissues, towels and lunch food, not to mention a decent amount of beer and leftover wine/champagne. We also are using our two trellises from our "altar" on the side of our house to actually grow plants. We’ll be able to use some of the other entertaining items like the drink dispensers, carafes, and tin tubs for other parties (and we also have some leftover disposable champagne glasses and cups). I also have leftover tulle and am hoping to find uses for the faux ivy and flower garland. I’ll continue wear my sandals, and I’m also thinking about doing some more alterations to my wedding dress and/or repurposing it (like dying it beige so it's not so bridal-looking), since it’s just a cocktail dress.
I’m struggling with some bitterness because the weather the day of my wedding was truly awful, and one week later, it’s been a lovely, lovely June day - the type of day I thought I could safely get in early June. I guess it was just bad timing. Because the weather was so terrible (on and off rain, overcast the entire day with 90% chance of storms in the hours leading up to, during and after my outdoor ceremony, and EXTREME humidity), I wasn’t even able to fully execute my vision for how our tent was decorated and how our tables were set up. I had wanted a designated drinks table with water/lemonade, a mimosa bar, and other wines, but it was so nasty out that I just kept everything inside my house. And the humidity cause my blowout to go limp within 30 or so minutes of getting back to my house - it didn't even last for the ceremony, let along the photos. Neither of those two things are a big deal, but what I feel the worst about is that everyone had to suffer through the terrible humidity, since it was something that everyone couldn't help but notice/be affected by.
Sorry for such a long post. I've felt weird about the whole experience, since the wedding ceremony/reception portion of it was truly joyful and I'm so happy to be married, but the stress and feeling bad over the weather really overshadowed the first half of the day. Bottom line, I'm mostly happy with the final budget, had a great wedding experience once I knew it wasn't going to rain/storm during my ceremony and photos, loved the food/dinner service at the reception, and overall had a lovely time with our families on our wedding day.
