Budgets for vendors?

The average prices vary depending on what area you live in. I would start with your overall budget first, then go from there. There are lots of different budget articles online for what percentage of your total budget should go towards each category. We're spending about the same amount for the venue, photographer, and caterer while our DJ is about a third of the cost of those vendors. We also opted for no florist, just artificial flowers!

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I'm from New York, but looking for a New Jersey venue--I will make sure to add this to my original post! Thank you for this information, I will search for these articles. Artificial flowers are an amazing idea, I didn't think of this! ...thanks again

I live on Long Island, but I’m getting married in the Hudson Valley:
- Venue: $8,000 plus insurance plus $2,000 refundable security deposit (which makes no sense to me if we’re paying for event insurance, but whatever)
- Photographer: $3,500 (10 hours, 2 shooters, engagement session incl., and $400 credit to wedding album)
- Catering: $7,750 (9 hrs - bbq buffet, open bar, cheesecake wedding cake with dessert table of minis, coffee/tea service)
- Coordinator: $2,000 (it’s month-of on our contract, but she’s been helping with everything since we signed)
- DJ: $2,600 (4-10:30 pm dj-ing, mc-ing, lighting package plus photo booth)

View Quoted Comment For artificial flowers, I recommend Something Borrowed Blooms! It’s an online service where you rent high end artificial florals for your wedding. You can choose to purchase your bridal bouquet too, if keeping that is something that’s important to you!

For me, i looked at a bunch of vendor prices and figured out the average from there, that way i could be realistic with what i would set for myself.

I didn't know the cost of anything wedding related when I started, so I just started researching. In fact, I wasn't even sure we could afford a wedding until I began researching costs. I looked at venues, photographers, caterers, DJs, etc. After researching costs, and going over our finances, I figured out how much we could save each month, to put aside for the wedding. Then multiplied that number by the number of months I had to save (based on when we wanted to get married). That number became our rough "budget" for the wedding. It's working out pretty well so far.

I realized early on that venue/catering/beverage was going to be our most expensive cost, but it was flexible, based on the number of guests. So, at some point, we wanted to cut costs, and the first thing we did was cut the guest list. That made our number much more manageable.

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Thank you so much for all of this helpful information!! I definitely will look into Something Borrowed Blooms.. thanks again

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I will do the same! Thanks for the tip

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Excellent tips!! Thank you so much for this information. I will do the same

Hello and congrats!
I live in the Lehigh Valley which isn’t far from NJ/NY so my prices may help a little, though it may be slightly more expensive where you live. I do have a little bit higher end taste so maybe it’ll be right on target 😂
Venue: around $28,000-$30,000+...this includes ceremony, cocktail hour (alcohol and food), reception (alcohol and food), cake and I am paying extra for chairs
Photographer: $4,000...this includes engagement session, bridal session (I opted for her to come to my bridal shower instead), and the full day of the ceremony, with a second photographer
Band: a little less than $5,000...this includes ceremony music, cocktail hour music, and music during the full reception
Hair and Makeup: $2,000...this includes trials, day of hair and makeup for me, 5 bridesmaids, 2 moms and hair of 1 grandmother and tip!
Videographer: $1,000...this was the one thing I didn’t splurge on because my fiancé and I were both unsure we wanted it so I got the very base package
Photo booth: $1,000

I have yet to book the florist or purchase my dress. Hope this helps!

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Hi Kelsey! Oh my goodness this is all extremely helpful! Thank you so much for sharing!!

There are a number of websites that will give you a pie chart as to what percentage of your budget should be spent on what and then no matter where you live or where you’re planning, you can start with your total budget and plan from there. And of course if flowers are more important you can move money over there and take it from something else. It’s actually a pretty helpful tool

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Excellent! I will make sure to search for this website. Thank you so much for your helpful tip