How to Plan a Wedding on a Budget

I’ve a love-hate relationship with Pinterest relating to planning an occasion. I really like the way it can assist me preserve concepts organized and provides me inspiration. I hate the way it can throw me heart-first into the comparability recreation. (A recreation nobody wins.)

Should you’ve scrolled by means of whereas planning your marriage ceremony, or checked out any magazines or anybody else’s social media throughout marriage ceremony season, perhaps what I’m speaking about.

However right here’s the deal. On the subject of your marriage ceremony, I would like you to make it about you, your future partner and your funds! Not another person’s Pinterest board, photoshopped advertisements or Instagram feed!

And relating to planning a marriage on a funds, hear this loud and clear: You can make your marriage ceremony probably the most memorable and particular days of your life—with out making funds on it for years to return. Let’s learn the way!

Learn how to Plan a Wedding ceremony on a Price range

1. Work out your marriage ceremony funds. Should you’re planning a marriage on a funds, first you’ll want, effectively . . . a wedding budget. Meaning you must determine how a lot you must spend so you may plan tips on how to spend it. Be at liberty to make use of the EveryDollar Wedding Budget Template that will help you with this half! 
2. Choose your most vital marriage ceremony objects. You’ll discover our template has a spot to put in writing down your prime three nonnegotiables. These are the three most vital issues you need to spend cash on in your marriage ceremony. You’ll need to speak—as a pair—and nail these down. Be sure these three issues get lined earlier than the stuff you don’t care as a lot about!
3. Plan tips on how to spend your marriage ceremony funds. As soon as what you’ve started working with, and what’s most vital, you can begin planning your marriage ceremony on a funds! That is the place you write down how a lot you intend to spend on every marriage ceremony vendor and merchandise.
4. Spend your marriage ceremony funds (and never a penny extra). Now, it’s the actually enjoyable half: You get to start out reserving distributors and paying for objects you want for the large day.

Use intelligent tricks to save money on all the wedding costs as you go, keep in mind what’s vital (and what isn’t), and decide to staying in your funds—even when that $6,000 Beatles cowl band could be the best factor ever however you’ve solely received $1,500 for music at your reception. Should you can’t transfer the cash from one space of the marriage funds to cowl the band—you may’t afford it. As an alternative, ebook a DJ and ask them to play loads of Beatles songs.

Okay, these are your steps for tips on how to plan a marriage on a funds. Now, let’s have a look at the numbers.

Common Wedding ceremony Prices

Right here’s a fast rundown of some nationwide averages on some widespread wedding costs. I used these numbers and did additional analysis on-line to provide you with the instance marriage ceremony budgets within the subsequent part.

First off, the typical marriage ceremony complete as of late is $30,000 for the ceremony and reception.¹ Listed below are some averages on particular person distributors and objects:

Many sources are from The Knot.² Any numbers with an asterisk are from WeddingWire, U.S. Marriage Legal guidelines, or a combo of WeddingWire and The Knot.^3,4

Now, let’s see these pattern weddings on a funds!

Wedding ceremony on a $500 Price range

Fact be informed, you may have a marriage for simply the price of a wedding license. Within the county in Tennessee the place I stay, that’s $40 for a pair who took premarital counseling.⁵ (As when you wanted one other good cause to go to premarital counseling!)

However most individuals spend at the least some cash on the celebrating. To begin our instance budgets, let’s have a look at how a pair may plan an affordable marriage ceremony in the event that they’ve received simply $500 for his or her massive day.

Cake: $55 for sheet truffles; $50 for plates, napkins and forks

Drinks: $15 for punch elements; $10 for cups

Flowers, lighting and décor: $25 for a bouquet for the bride

Groom’s apparel: a swimsuit he already owns

Marriage license: $40

Officiant: $25 reward card

Pictures: $100 for a scholar photographer

Stationery: $30

Venue: free (yard, your church, a park)

Wedding ceremony bands: $30 his-and-her silicone marriage ceremony bands

Wedding ceremony gown: $120

I received a number of of the numbers above from Costco (hiya, well-priced and attractive sheet truffles!) and located marriage ceremony bands on Amazon. I additionally noticed a number of dreamy clothes on ModCloth (which was operating a 35% off sale once I was on their website) that meet this couple’s $120 gown funds with out sacrificing fashion!

They will print and mail their invites to a choose few individuals who will cherish them ceaselessly. In any other case, they will save money by doing on-line invitations. This isn’t “low cost” within the dangerous sense of the phrase. It’s intelligent.

For hair and make-up, they will name in a favor to a pal, and so they can ask an uncle to document the marriage on his iPhone free of charge. This marriage ceremony on a $500 funds will probably be a candy, easy sharing of vows (and dessert) in entrance of household and associates.

Wedding ceremony on a $2,000 Price range

Cake: $55 for sheet truffles; $50 for plates, napkins and forks

Drinks: $300 for bottles of wine, cups and water

Flowers, lighting and décor: $100 for synthetic bouquets

Groom’s apparel: $100 for a swimsuit

Marriage license: $40

Music: $60 for a speaker rental

Officiant: $25 reward card

Pictures: $500

Stationery: $200

Venue: $100

Wedding ceremony bands: $350

Wedding ceremony gown: $120

You’ll discover a number of of those numbers are just like the $500 marriage ceremony funds. However this instance couple wished to toast the day with wine, so that they received some Winking Owl from Aldi (and cake from Costco). Such an economical method to have fun a marriage on a funds!

They selected pretty synthetic bouquets from Amazon for the entire bridal celebration. They used their church for the ceremony and reception (for less than a $100 cleansing charge) and rented a speaker to run their very own reception playlist by means of. Collectively, it’s nonetheless manner cheaper than renting a dear venue.

I discovered a deal on-line for 120 invites and envelopes for simply $125. The couple may purchase stamps to ship these out however then request individuals RSVP by textual content or on-line solely (as an alternative of sending a separate RSVP card with one other stamped envelope). 

Additionally, heads up for you thrifty marriage ceremony ring consumers: If you need one thing easy, Costco gives high quality wedding bands in yellow gold, white gold, platinum or tantalum. You could possibly at all times improve in a couple of years for a significant anniversary reward.

Wedding ceremony on a $6,000 Price range

Drinks: $350 for espresso, juice, water and cups

Flowers, lighting and décor: $200 for easy, recent bouquets for the bride and bridesmaids

Meals: $260 for a brunch bar with assorted pastries and fruit (plus plates and napkins)

Groom’s apparel: $100 for a swimsuit

Marriage license: $40

Music: $1,500 for a DJ

Officiant: $50 reward card

Pictures: $2,600

Stationery: $200

Venue: free on the couple’s church

Videography: $150 for a school scholar to movie and edit the ceremony solely

Wedding ceremony bands: $350

Wedding ceremony gown: $200

This couple is skipping the cake custom and heading to Sam’s Membership for fruit trays and mini pastries, getting these to-go espresso packing containers (creamer and cups included) from Entire Meals, and shopping for easy however elegant marriage ceremony bands and bouquets at Costco. They’re additionally shopping for the groom’s swimsuit on-line and the bride’s gown at David’s Bridal. (That place has tons of beautiful clothes for underneath $200.)

You’ll be able to most likely see the couple values images and having a dance celebration with an expert DJ, since each of these numbers are greater. However that’s the purpose of planning a marriage on a funds—you set your cash the place you need to spend it.

Wedding ceremony on a $15,000 Price range

Cake: $510

Drinks: $2,300

Flowers, lighting and décor: $200 for easy synthetic bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres

Meals: $1,500 for a meals truck

Groom’s apparel: $100 for a swimsuit

Hair and make-up: $100 for the bride

Marriage license: $40

Music: $1,500 for a DJ

Officiant: $50 reward card

Pictures: $2,600

Stationery: $200

Venue: $5,000

Wedding ceremony bands: $400

Wedding ceremony gown: $500

You’ll be able to most likely inform this couple values the celebration side of the reception: They’re spending the nationwide common on cake and drinks, getting a enjoyable meals truck (which I noticed can go for round $12 an individual right here within the Nashville space), and utilizing that DJ to get individuals dancing.

In addition they need to ebook a venue, although not the priciest one, so that they’re most likely driving away from the town. They usually desire a tremendous professional photographer to seize these once-in-a-lifetime recollections.

However the invites are coming from a reduction on-line retailer like Ann’s Bridal Bargains, and Amazon is the go-to spot for easy synthetic flowers for the bridal celebration and groomsmen.

Wedding ceremony on a $30,000 Price range

Drinks: $2,300

Flowers, lighting and décor: $3,900

Meals: $7,500

Groom’s apparel: $290

Hair and make-up: $250

Marriage license: $40

Officiant: $70 reward card

Pictures: $1,000

Stationery: $560

Venue: $11,200

Wedding ceremony bands: $990

Wedding ceremony gown: $1,900

This couple’s marriage ceremony day values are consuming effectively and searching good. They’re discovering a less expensive photographer than the nationwide common, they’re plugging their very own playlist into the venue’s sound system for the dancing portion of their reception, and so they don’t care concerning the cake custom (so that they’re skipping it utterly).

However that’s as a result of their nonnegotiables are the venue (which they need decked out in flowers and décor), their apparel (together with hair and make-up), and the meals and drinks. Today, catering prices come to about $75 a visitor—and the typical visitor listing contains 117 individuals.⁶ However this couple received their visitor listing all the way down to 100 to save lots of on meals whereas nonetheless getting the full-catered expertise they need.

By speaking by means of what was most vital, and what didn’t matter in any respect, they have been in a position to cowl some big-ticket marriage ceremony prices with out busting their $30,000 funds.

A Stunning Wedding ceremony on a Price range Is Doable!

Don’t overlook: Your marriage ceremony is about you and your associate and your marriage. And that may final for much longer than at some point of celebration. By the entire marriage ceremony planning hoopla, keep in mind to not lose sight of what really issues.

Spending a ton of cash in your marriage ceremony day gained’t show your love for each other—and it can go away you with an empty checking account. By no means go into debt or take out a loan for your wedding you’ll be paying off months or years after your massive day. It’s not price having that weight strapped round you and your partner as you step into your new life collectively.

It’s utterly attainable to throw a budget-friendly marriage ceremony that’s lovely, fashionable and inexpensive. And it begins with having a marriage funds and a private month-to-month funds so that you might be the one accountable for the way you spend your cash. (By the best way, EveryDollar’s the budgeting app my household makes use of each month. And you can begin your free account with them proper now.)

Congrats in your future! Cheers to the beautiful, debt-free, budget-friendly marriage ceremony of your goals—and cheers to an extended life of affection collectively.