Wedding budget $10,000 or less

Our original budget was $10,000, but we eventually bumped it to $12k-ish. It wasn't feasible for the type of wedding we wanted with the location we have and with how many guests we have.

Our venue isn't that badly priced, but with that, photographer (an amazing one at only $1400), and food and drinks for 130ish guests, our whole budget was almost eaten up immediately. We still needed flowers and decor too. Idk if this will help you, but here is a quick breakdown of what our bigger things cost:

Venue: $2,000 ($1,000 cheaper bc we chose Friday instead of Saturday)

Photographer: $1400

Caterer: $5800 (including horderves, buffet, open beer/wine, & all linens)

Lighting/drapery/decor: $1325 (and we got a bunch of stuff thrown in for free)

Officiant: $250

Invitations/Signage: $100 (We ordered printable designs on Etsy and my aunt is printing)

DJ: Free (FH's step dad)

Cake: FH is making

Flowers: $200 (we are buying from Sam's and my Grandmother is arranging)

MiniMoon: $700 (we are having a few-day stay at a cabin in Ga since our wedding is in the fall it will be perfect, then taking our main tropical honeymoon later the next spring.)

We tried to cut our guest list, and are still hoping we can get it down to around 100 (is that wrong to say?) There are some things we obviously didn't need like ceiling lighting, but you get the idea. I searched and searched for deals on every single thing we have and these were the absolute best deals for quality AND price in our area (I literally searched for months for each and every vendor).

I have been in love with Etsy this whole process, so look on there for stuff, but also don't be afraid to ask for deals from your vendors. Like I said, our lighting/decor vendor included a bunch of free stuff. We are getting drapery and lighting from her for a huge space, plus ceremony space decoration. She offered to include 16 free LED uplights and I asked her to include a gobo for the dance floor and she agreed to do a customized one for us. We didn't need a gobo, but it's nice to have one for free

As far as BM gifts and other fun things like that I am paying out of pocket for that, so I didn't include it in our main budget since that is FH AND my money. Those will be paid for strictly by me.

Sorry I don't have better news lol.

Our budget is under $10,000 hopefully here in Michigan. We have 150 guests. We found a venue that was very reasonably priced. We did see a lot of venues that were absolutely gorgeous but the reception itself would have easly taken care of $10,000 and I just can not stomach the thought of spending that much. I got my save the dates for $10 and I do not plan on spending more than $150 for the invites. We are not doing wedding favors and very little flowers. We are having a small cake for us to cut and then larger sheet cakes in the back. I am doing whatever I can on my own. It is going to be awesome!

@Jenn I was just going to say that I feel like my wedding will reflect us more. Having a strict budget weeds out the stuff that everyone else assumes you need at your wedding.

Our budget is 10K we are paying for it our selves and expecting about 150 guests. We are doing alot of DIY. My family all cooks delicious food so they are cooking, we aren't having the GM wear tuxes or suits just White button shirt with black slacks (they are all buying those) all my BM's are buying their own dresses. FH isnt wearing a tux he's wearing what the GM is wearing but will have a vest that my aunt is making. A lot of the bridal party jewelry will be hand made. We picked a venue that had little to no cost. My aunt is our photographer (she's a pro) We are going to do mock decorations to see the cost because sometimes DIY is more expensive then just actually buying them. Hope this helps!!

It's definitely doable. We are getting married in Chicago and prices here are pretty high. But we've been able to put together a 150 person wedding for a budget of $15. It would have been $10 but my parents and his parents surprised us and chipped in the rest so we were able to add some bells and whistles and extra guests. My best advice, look at off peak dates/days/times. We knew we wanted July but agreed to Sunday wedding instead of Friday and got our venue with full open bar and catering for 50% off. Saved the entire budget. No exaggeration. I also research Venues like it was my job, forever, until I found one I loved that was the best deal because I knew that was going to be the biggest impact on our budget. So I guess that's my other advice, take extra time to find deals on the big ticket items because the more money you save there, the bigger the impact. Good luck!!!!

Our budget is 15K for 150 - That includes the wedding bands but not our honeymoon. Some of our vendors are people we know so we are grateful that we won't be paying full price for many things like the cake, DJ, flowers and officiant.

I am not into DIY because first of all I am not a crafty person at all and to be honest i don't want the pressure and/or the stress. I would say ask around, you never know...you may find people that don't advertise their work but can help you. That's how I found my photographer. She does have FB page but its mostly word of mouth - She doesn't even have a website and neither does my baker.

Oh and don't hire vendors you meet at wedding expos....their prices are ridiculous!!

Our budget is 10K for about 100 guests in New York. (At this point it will probably be between 75-100) It hasn't been easy but it looks like we are going to make it. (honeymoon and rings not included)

Our venue was amazingly priced and beautiful. We are getting married on a Saturday early afternoon which cut costs. The venue also provides the linens and the plates so i didnt need to rent anything. The cake, open bar, food and cocktail hour was all included. Here, it turned out cheaper than going to different vendors. They also take care of the place cards and menues so I didnt have to worry about that.

Also the ceremony and reception are in the same place so we didnt need to spend extra money on limos.

I am DIYing all our centerpieces. The dollartree and consumer crafts have been a god send. As far as flowers go I'm making origami flowers for the bouquets. I am also doing paper flowers for the boutineers and corsages. Also, Michaels does have great deals so i paid only 41 dollars for all our STDs.

It's not the easiest thing but coupons are a bride's best friend. Oh and lots and lots of time. Good luck!!!!

Our budget is 4k, 65 guests in West Michigan area.

-Saving by having our ceremony and reception at a park on THURSDAY, which cut the cost by $200 just for the all day rental, and we are renting the venue the night before for set up of the reception and possibly doing our rehearsal dinner there as well.

-Didn't buy a "wedding" dress, it's considered a "special occasion" dress.

-Photographer is a college friend/family friend, trusted, has done weddings before and she's only charging $450 for everything (including engagement)

-FH has been a cook for 15 years so we're making our own food, keeping it simple buffet style and Polish style, thinking kielbasa and sauerkraut

-Only doing a 4.5 hour reception (cuts down on hours for the DJ-no ceremony DJ, plan on using an ipod docking station)

-Having a small wedding party (MOH & 2 BMs)

-Re-using a suit from a past wedding

-Doing my own make-up and nails--as well as my BMs nails

-Keeping our decorations simple for the reception, rustic themed, and the enclosed shelter area at the park that we are using is very rustic, using picnic tables provided instead of renting tables and chairs (renting chairs for the wedding)

My expectations aren't over the moon, I just wanted something nice, quiet and intimate for us, not too much family so that makes it easy.

Our budget is around $10k (I think it will be more like $11.5), for 80 guests in B.C. We originally decided venue/food and photography were our priorities so we splurged there. Where we saved was DJ (I negotiated a really good price, originally we were not going to have one but we added it), we're just doing a small cake for us to cut and serving regular dessert (that's included in the price), I made origami paper bouquets, made the card box, centerpieces, table numbers, invitations... I've pretty much only bought my dress and have made everything else. Also a lot of stuff I re-purposed, our card box is an old ammo crate I painted, centerpieces include tree rounds from our yard, greenery I'm getting from around the venue (they encouraged this). The stuff I had to buy I either got from the dollar store or with coupons. Our entire decor, flowers, centerpieces and invitations have maybe cost $500. Luckily I'm crafty and we're having a woodsy west coast themed wedding so the decor is cheaper.

Don't hire a high end caterer. We are hiring a popular caterer (Pollards Chicken) for no more than $3900 (3 cocktail hour foods, two entrees, 7 sides, and teas, waters, lemonade) for 150 people. Out of all the weddings I have been to, I don't remember what I ate. Just make sure your caterer is good and popular. Pollards Chicken in my area caters a lot of special events...picnics and such. So we know everyone loves their BBQ and fried chicken. No need to get fancy.

I'm having my wedding near Dallas, Texas and have a 10,000 budget and have really lucked out

I have 165 guests

$4800 Hilton gave me their event center space for free as long as I used their chef @30$ a head

(church was free since I'm a member)

$2000 Capping the bar

$1000 photographer and videography and engagement photo package

$600 DJ and uplighting

$125 bucks simple fondant 3 tier cake and cupcakes from sam's club

$200 tux

$600 my dress form Alfred Angelo was 40% off of 1000

$100 wedding band for him (e-ring came with wedding band and paid for)

$400 honey moon cruise in december booked (wedding is 10-31-15) but I don't graduate until mid- december so were going on honeymoon after I get done with my master's degree

$175 is left over for decorations which I'm getting from Aliexpress.com super cheap

wedding attendant gifts we didn't put in the budget, been buying them as we go along, and other decorations we don't mind paying out of pocket for because venue came with basic centerpieces and linens

Our Budget is $8k for 75 people, we found an all inclusive venue that handles everything, except flowers, those i got on Etsy, JsWeddingFlowers for $198

We had about 140 invited, 110 came. We had a beach ceremony for a couple hundred dollars for the permit and rented a public hall for $800, which we decorated ourselves. We were able to bring in our own alcohol, used their tables and chairs which weren't pretty but we didn't care. Had a lunch time reception so we didn't hire a DJ, just used an iTunes playlist. I bought my flowers from the grocery store and assembled them myself the night before with the help of my mom and aunt. We self-catered but easily could have hired a caterer and stayed under $10k. My dress was only $180. While I know my wedding isn't for everyone (we wanted super low-key), a nice wedding for under $10k is doable. After all was said and done we were around $5500.

Wow thanks everyone, you all have been very helpful. I am getting married near Chicago, IL. I am amazed and at the deals some of you have received. Unfortunately I don't know very many people here (i moved near Chicago about a year ago) I am originally from Oklahoma so everything here is so expensive to this small town girl.

we are having our wedding on a Friday which is much cheaper

We are buy bulk flowers from Sams, my fmil can arrange bouquets & centerpieces

Small cutting cake then sheet cakes in the back

our families love to drink and dance so alcohol and a dj are a must

I have definitely been using coupons as much as possible

I am pretty crafty but i have noticed that some diy are more expensive and more of a hassle then actually purchasing the product.

I do feel a little more confident now that I've seen some of your budgets broken down.

We are looking at $10k for ~115-120 in a very expensive area. So far we are under budget, but we will probably end up spending closer to $11k. We prioritized and picked 2-3 things that were important to spend the most money on and not spend as much on the things that weren't as important to us. We are also forgoing a lot of the expensive details- lots of ceremony decor, chair covers, lots of signs, programs, etc. We will be using fake flowers and keeping our wedding party on the small side. We are also postponing the big honeymoon and either doing a mini moon or a stay-cation moon right after the wedding.