

They used their church for the ceremony and reception (for only a $100 cleaning fee) and rented a speaker to run their own reception playlist through. They decided on lovely artificial bouquets from Amazon for the whole bridal party. Such a cost-effective way to celebrate a wedding on a budget! But this example couple wanted to toast the day with wine, so they got some Winking Owl from Aldi (and cake from Costco). You’ll notice several of these numbers are similar to the $500 wedding budget. This wedding on a $500 budget will be a sweet, simple sharing of vows (and dessert) in front of family and friends.ĭrinks: $300 for bottles of wine, cups and waterįlowers, lighting and décor: $100 for artificial bouquets It’s clever.įor hair and makeup, they can call in a favor to a friend, and they can ask an uncle to record the wedding on his iPhone for free.

This isn’t “cheap” in the bad sense of the word. Otherwise, they can save cash by doing online invites. They can print and mail their invitations to a select few people who will cherish them forever. I also saw several dreamy dresses on ModCloth (which was running a 35% off sale when I was on their site) that meet this couple’s $120 dress budget without sacrificing style! I got several of the numbers above from Costco (hello, well-priced and tasty sheet cakes!) and found wedding bands on Amazon. Wedding bands: $30 his-and-her silicone wedding bands
DIY BUDGET PLANNER FREE
Venue: free (backyard, your church, a park) Photography: $100 for a student photographer To start our example budgets, let’s look at how a couple could plan a cheap wedding if they’ve got just $500 for their big day.Ĭake: $55 for sheet cakes $50 for plates, napkins and forksĭrinks: $15 for punch ingredients $10 for cupsįlowers, lighting and décor: $25 for a bouquet for the bride Create yours today with EveryDollar.īut most people spend at least some money on the celebrating. Now, let’s see those sample weddings on a budget!Įvery savings goal starts with a budget. Marriage Laws, or a combo of WeddingWire and The Knot. 2 Any numbers with an asterisk are from WeddingWire, U.S. 1 Here are some averages on individual vendors and items: I used these numbers and did extra research online to come up with the example wedding budgets in the next section.įirst off, the average wedding total these days is $30,000 for the ceremony and reception. Here’s a quick rundown of some national averages on some common wedding costs.
DIY BUDGET PLANNER HOW TO
Okay, those are your steps for how to plan a wedding on a budget. Instead, book a DJ and ask them to play plenty of Beatles songs. If you can’t move the money from one area of the wedding budget to cover the band-you can’t afford it. Use clever tips to save money on all the wedding costs as you go, remember what’s important (and what isn’t), and commit to staying in your budget-even when that $6,000 Beatles cover band would be the coolest thing ever but you’ve only got $1,500 for music at your reception.

Now, it’s the really fun part: You get to start booking vendors and paying for items you need for the big day.
