Where are my fellow low budget brides ($10k or under)?

So we didn’t really start out with a budget which many frowned upon... but we knew what was too much and what was fine. We are only spending 10k on honeymoon and wedding... if you talk strictly wedding (including rings, dress, photography, videographer, flowers, and all that.. jazz) no more than 4K really probably closer to 3K. We gave lots of wiggle room though. It’s a DW and SOOOO much cheaper...

We orginally talked about $5000. Like you we aren't getting married for 2 years. Unfortunately I'm probably going to have to have my dress custom made and that is going to probably increase the budget. My dress is a major part of our theme. We are doing a single tier cake and cupcakes. I'm making the bouquets and we are not doing flower centerpieces. We are hoping to have a beach ceremony( standing room only) and the reception close by. We are still in the early stages of planning though.

Our budget personally is almost like 200$ a month. I have been chronically sick and on disability since I was 19. I don’t get anything compared to the cost of living and things like my medical marijuana isn’t covered by health insurance but keeps me away from pain pills so my husbands provides the money. We don’t not speak with his family except his brother so we have no financial help from them and my mom has been a single mother since I was 14. Given all that, my mom and grandpa are helping pay for the venue which was about 6 grand but included ceremony, cocktail and reception with floral centerpieces included, linens are included, top shelf open bar, catering, drinks, set up clean up.... all that stuff and with about 75-80 people. That really wasn’t that bad! My mom and grandpa helped us put the deposit down for the florist for the wedding party bouquets and bouts and extra flowers for our sweet heart table, she’s helped with the DJ who is covering all 6 hours for a grand. And she put the down despot for the photography and cinematography which we happened to get an amazing deal. 2700 for 10 hours of photo and video, I get all photos on a usb, two sets of DVDs of the wedding, a preview trailer with a song of our choice and 2 albums with pictures ( most places wanted about 4000 for all that and a friend used the one I’m using). So by the grace of my mom and her dad, they have been a huge help in helping us but I have also really looked around and asked around and compared things to see what was potentially a great deal like the photography and cinematography or what was more then I thought “okay” to ask my family to spend. I have been giving her 100-200$ a month towards things and besides my dress, I’m covering wedding favors, the guestbook, and all that reception and ceremony stuff you need. I’m also covering my hair and make up and probably trials as well as the wedding party gifts. I’m getting married October 30th 2020 so it definitely gives me time to keep saving but we have managed to stay around 10-14 grand depending on the final choices of things with all of that included in the estimate budget and I always budget up in case.

I also got 6 free hotel rooms with my venue, one which is a honeymoon suite and the remainder of rooms can be booked at a discount

Our budget is $5k -$7k. I’m pushing for $5k though!

Thanks for posting this! It’s good to know there are so many of us out there.

1. What is your budget? Is it strict or flexible?

Our budget has been flexible, although I had $5000 in the back of my head. It looks like we’ll come in at about $6500, and that includes wedding insurance (because I’m paranoid) and gifts for the wedding party, family, and those helping us out.

2. Why did you choose that budget?

We’re paying for this ourselves—it will be the second marriage for both of us. It’s just not worth it to spend more!

3. What are you doing to save money on wedding expenses?

**Our venue for both ceremony and reception is my church, so it is only $450 to rent it for 8 hours.
**We invited 53 people, so our guest list is small. We only have a matron of honor and best man for the wedding party.
**I found a great photographer on Thumbtack for $500. 8 hours of coverage! She’s just starting out in wedding photography, but she’s very talented! Our engagement pictures (included in the $500!) are beautiful. I didn’t have much of a wedding the first time around, and I really want nice photos that I can treasure.
**We used credit card reward points and gift cards to buy many wedding items from Amazon.
**I got my dress from an Asian company. The grand total, including alterations, is $600. More than I wanted to spend, but much lower than the average! My shoes were $40. I’m not using makeup, just having my hair styled. I’m not wearing a veil. I found a great hair clip on Etsy for less than $20. My fiancé already has a suit. No tux needed, it’s an afternoon wedding.
**Our decorations are very simple and all DIY. We’ll be setting up and breaking everything down ourselves.
**Our officiant is free because she’s my church’s minister. And our pianist and soloist are friends of mine, so they are free too.
**We’re spending a lot on food and drinks (probably about $4000, yikes), but that will be the main focus of the reception. And it will be so delicious, based on the tasting!! So it’s worth the money. We’re only having beer and wine, no liquor. The cake is $195–that’s part of the $4000–including the stand rental, and we’re picking it up from the bakery to save on delivery costs. We’re also making homemade cookies.
**We bought tablecloths, chair covers (to hide the ugly folding chairs), and linen napkins for a total of $160. Much cheaper than renting!
**We will not have a videographer or DJ (no dancing). We’ll play music from a Spotify playlist.
**Flowers will be $175 total.

There’s more I could share, but that’s a good overview! Best wishes to you and everyone with keeping under budget!!

My wedding budget is definitely as close to free as possible. definitely under 1k. That means using a gazebo in a public state park (it's used for ceremonies for thousands of dollars with the banquet hall right behind it but its actually in a state park). We are going on an off peak month and an off peak day like Sunday to guarantee we will have it. Otherwise it's a couple hundred to rent it from the city. All cities have gorgeous places like these. Then we are using my apartment complexes club house for the reception. My fiance works here so its free and guaranteed. I'm making my own cake. family is making food and drinks, growing my own bouquet and making my own decor if I cant find it for super cheap on sites like wish. Bought my dress by posting a want ad on craigslist locally. bought a barely used 1300 dollar allure bridals 8800 gown for 60 dollars. my second choice would have been still white or preowned wed for a dress under a couple hundred and we found a tux for 99 dollars. Our rings are used because like cars they Lose at least half their value after walking out of a retail location. I'm going to have a professional photographer though. Because the pictures to pass down to the next generations is what's most important to me. Other than that it's just a day to celebrate our love and family. 20 of our closest family and friends and us is all we need to do that. I wish we had thousands to spend but we just dont. That doesn't mean I don't deserve to feel like a princess. I just have to get creative with it. In the end it's not the show you put on with that pretty packaging that matters. Its the marriage inside it.

I originally thought I could totally plan a wedding for under $5k, but quickly realized that would be pretty much impossible. Now I'm aiming for $8k. We know people who make wonderful cakes, so we have the wedding and groom's cakes handled. The venue will be at a 30% discount because I used to work on the property where it's located and it's already quite affordable. We're planning to use the restaurant we had our first date at for the food and it won't cost very much. Other than my own bouquet, I don't want any other flowers. I'm probably doing electronic save-the-dates to save money there too.

Where I'm struggling is photography, because I used to be very into photography and am picky about the quality. I also really like some dresses that are $1-2k, but I can't bear to spend that much which limits my options and kinda makes me disappointed, honestly. Currently hoping to find something nice under $600. Also, my family alone is around 60 people, which obviously impacts cost. Most of them live in Mexico and I can probably count on a solid 20-25 of them not being able to make it, but that influences how much food and alcohol we have to provide. I also am torn on whether to have a DJ or not. I think it would make for a fun, dancing celebration, but the cost just worries us, so we may be aiming for more of a nice dinner vibe with music playing. But then I worry that it might not be fun for guests.

Basically, I want to be money conscious because I am currently in grad school and not able to contribute financially till next summer and also because I think everything wedding related is just too expensive, but feel the limitations of being on a budget.

1. What is your budget? Is it strict or flexible?

Budget is very low and strict.

2. Why did you choose that budget?

Chose it bc I'm in debt for student loans and I'm paying for grad school out of pocket.

3. What are you doing to save money on wedding expenses?

Having as few guests as possible. Having an outdoor only ceremony in a public area for free.