What makes it a budget wedding in your eyes?

kvruns

I find the thread on the $10,000 wedding to be interesting since most seem to agree that $10,000 isn't really a "budget wedding" but at the same time depending on size and location it could actually be a budget-friendly wedding. Or on the flip side someone might spend "only" $5,000 but it was just for 10-15 people so is it really a budget wedding. Another consideration is seeing someone post about a budget wedding but then mentions all of the things they didn't have to pay for because a friend or family member covered it so I think that skews the picture.

Did you have a budget wedding? What makes you consider it to be a budget wedding - total price, price per person, etc? What did you do to keep the budget down and stay within your means? What was your big splurge?

Edit: spelling

kvruns

My answer:

I considered us to have had a budget wedding. Total cost for everything was $7,500 for 65 people (invited a total of 82 but the ones who didn't come were older relatives we doubted would be able to make it). To me it seemed like it was a budget wedding although when I look at it from a per person cost maybe it wasn't in some others' eyes.

Our only splurge was the venue itself, ceremony + reception at a beautiful garden and the total spend there was $3,500, food not included, (had hoped to keep it under $3,000 but that would have been for about 50 people based on their pricing). A similar venue was almost double this price so it was good, plus we picked our own caterer so it came out a wash from choosing a banquet type venue with higher catering costs.

For the venue being basically half the budget we were frugal on everything else. My dress was from preownedweddingdresses.com ($75 plus shipping), photographer was purchased during a fb special, DJ I said can you do XX and he could while others were nearly double. Cupcakes we actually purchased Groupons for a place we'd been to before (so we knew they were good) and saved about 60% over retail and other shops.

aliwis000

I think this is one of those things that is pretty hard to nail down. From a total budget standpoint it is impossible. If both people getting married want a very small wedding and invite less than 10 people then 10k is a huge budget to work with.

Per person cost could be a bit easier to compare against but even then you are going to hit walls like geographic location. Plus what do you consider in that number? Food and drink only? Or does the entire wedding budget get totaled up and divided by number of guests (aka does the dress and flowers become included?)

My FI and I are currently on target to spend many times over the "budget" number and I would challenge anyone who says we are not having a budget wedding. We have a budget and we are doing our best to stick to it. We both are blessed with good jobs and are not spending what we "could" on the wedding but trying to strike a balance of budget and 'niceness' for our 225 guests.

I honestly view pretty much any wedding that is not limitless on money to be a budget wedding. Maybe that budget is 5k, maybe it is 100k. On either one of these you could spend more than the budget, there is always something else somebody will be willing to sell you. Now the 100k wedding, depending on their taste/wants might not feel very restrictive. Operating within it might be easy/easier than the 5k budget but if the couple wants to fly everyone of their 500 person guest list to Italy then they might have a problem.

As far as people getting services for free that is a whole different thing. I think that could happen in any wedding at any price point. Maybe the couple with the unlimited budget is good friends with some amazing photographer and that person offers to shoot the wedding as their gift of something. They might end up with a 10k photo package for free or something crazy depending on where they live. The point being just because you got a service for free does not make your wedding a budget wedding.

Maggie0829

I think what is considered a "budget wedding" will differ from person to person.  The area I got married in the average that is spent is about $25K+, so if someone said they were having an $8K wedding in the same area I would consider that a budget wedding (of course taking into consideration the size of the guest list because if $8K was to host 20 people that is no longer really budget compared to $8K hosting 130 people).

And on the flip side if someone said they had a $100K budget I would consider that lavish, but in other parts of the country that may be the norm.

I think defining "budget wedding" is hard because everyone has a budget but I think when you start having to seriously compromise or change things around (and I am talking about nixing a lunch reception to a cake a punch reception, not changing out orchids for roses) to meet your budget that is when you are having a "budget wedding" in my eyes.

DarthV8r

a budget wedding is having to sacrifice something you would like to  stay in budget for your wedding. I would like to have 80 people at my wedding , however due to our budget I can only invite 20.  I would like candelabras for centerpieces but to stay in budget I'm choosing hydrangeas.

lildropofsunshine

I think it depends on what the norm/average is where you are, and if it's significantly under that, I could consider it a budget wedding.

lyndausvi

Maggie0829 said:

I think what is considered a "budget wedding" will differ from person to person.  The area I got married in the average that is spent is about $25K+, so if someone said they were having an $8K wedding in the same area I would consider that a budget wedding (of course taking into consideration the size of the guest list because if $8K was to host 20 people that is no longer really budget compared to $8K hosting 130 people).

And on the flip side if someone said they had a $100K budget I would consider that lavish, but in other parts of the country that may be the norm.

I think defining "budget wedding" is hard because everyone has a budget but I think when you start having to seriously compromise or change things around (and I am talking about nixing a lunch reception to a cake a punch reception, not changing out orchids for roses) to meet your budget that is when you are having a "budget wedding" in my eyes.

yep.   

It's kind-of like I know it when I see it type thing.  Or on here when I read the situation. 

julieanne912

I also agree that it depends on location.  I live outside of Denver, and I feel like I'm having a budget wedding, but I'm spending around $18,000, so I'm sure to many people that seems like a lot.  If I was still in Chicago, $18k would definitely be a budget wedding.  But, people in my area seem to be able to do it for $10k by saving money on venue, doing it on a non-Saturday, finding a cheap dress, etc.

mrscomposer

For me it kind of boils down to:
1) Not paying any attention to cost and getting everything you want
2) Shopping around for prices and choosing what fits with your budget
3) Only getting the cheapest option 

So you could break 1/2/3 down to luxury/budget/economy, I guess.

We spent about 11K on our wedding, and had 220 guests.  I would assume that would be about normal for our area/family.  I would consider us to be in the 2nd category, who had an eye on the budget - we nixed one caterer for another who was $4pp cheaper, went with a new photographer for significantly less than an experienced one... but we got exactly what we wanted.

primafaba15

Our budget was about $10,000 (but I think we came in under due to declines), so again depending on your area that might or might not be "budget." We did have some help, without which our wedding would have been cheaper but unable to sufficiently host family coming from out of town (afternoon cake-and-punch would not have cut it for them). I don't know what people pay typically in our area but I do know that we had some trouble finding a venue that didn't have $10K or higher as the minimum for food and drink, so there was that. 

I guess I feel like we had a "budget" wedding because we were pretty much in the realm of second or third choice for most of our vendors due to cost, we couldn't invite everyone we wanted, and we constantly found ourselves saying "would be nice, but we can't" to a lot of the stuff our friends/the wedding industry seem to expect like fancy invitations, photo booths, dance floor lighting, floral arrangements on tables, favors, honeymoon, full bar as opposed to wine and beer, candy bar, etc. 

luckya23

I think that I had a "budget" wedding even though I never actually set a budget and am not sure exactly how much it cost.  I think it was around $12-13,000.  We had a 50% decline rate though - we invited 170 and were under our 100 person minimum (thank god!).  I just tried to spend as little as possible on most things.

CharmedPam

What @luckya23 said.  I'm considered "budget".  I didn't get the venue I wanted because of the price and yes, I'm trying to spend as little as I can on everything.

CMGragain

It is a budget wedding when the parents of the bride are paying (their choice), and the FOB squeals like a stuck pig every time he writes a check.  Yeah, we had words about daughter's wedding.  He lost.  Wedding for 135 people = $1300 in the Washington, DC area.  Now that it's over, DH is proud of the wedding.

Jen4948

It's situational, but I would say a "budget" wedding is one where cost-consciousness is factored into the plans with an eye towards saving whoever's paying money, getting things marked down or free of cost, and things like flowers, decorations, music, etc. are hand-produced, obtained at lower than normal prices, or forgone.

emmiejayne

CMGragain said:

It is a budget wedding when the parents of the bride are paying (their choice), and the FOB squeals like a stuck pig every time he writes a check.  Yeah, we had words about daughter's wedding.  He lost.  Wedding for 135 people = $1300 in the Washington, DC area.  Now that it's over, DH is proud of the wedding.

Holy crapola, how did you do that?!

CMGragain

This is an old thread, but I will respond anyway.

Daughter had a church wedding.  No fee because it was the groom's church, and he and his family were very active members.  We just paid for janitorial services.  Late morning ceremony. $300 for harpist.  Minimal flowers.  Minimal professional photography and no video.
Breaklfast (brunch) reception at nearby (gorgeous) country club.  $900 room fee, $35 pp for food (beautiful buffet), and taxes, tips, and waiters fees.  It came to about $7,000 to $8,000.  Bar was limited to bloody marys and mimosas, or sodas.  We paid that per consumption.  Their prices have changed a bit, but not much.  No DJ.  Used IPOD with sound system owned by friend.  Minimal centerpieces.
https://www.norbeckcc.com/Dining-Banquets.aspx

Daughter's dress and veil:  $735 from Pearl's Place, and $65 on line for veil.
Invitations from Vistaprint.
No limo.  No frills.  Lovely, relaxed wedding, and my snobby in-laws were impressed.

justsie

CMGragain said:

This is an old thread, but I will respond anyway.

Daughter had a church wedding.  No fee because it was the groom's church, and he and his family were very active members.  We just paid for janitorial services.  Late morning ceremony. $300 for harpist.  Minimal flowers.  Minimal professional photography and no video.
Breaklfast (brunch) reception at nearby (gorgeous) country club.  $900 room fee, $35 pp for food (beautiful buffet), and taxes, tips, and waiters fees.  It came to about $7,000 to $8,000.  Bar was limited to bloody marys and mimosas, or sodas.  We paid that per consumption.  Their prices have changed a bit, but not much.  No DJ.  Used IPOD with sound system owned by friend.  Minimal centerpieces.
https://www.norbeckcc.com/Dining-Banquets.aspx

Daughter's dress and veil:  $735 from Pearl's Place, and $65 on line for veil.
Invitations from Vistaprint.
No limo.  No frills.  Lovely, relaxed wedding, and my snobby in-laws were impressed.

Did you mean $13000 for the event then?

CMGragain

Oops!  Yes.

dalm0m

All weddings have some sort of budget attached to them.  Most couples have a finite amount of money to spend even if somebody's expenditure is larger than another's.  

I think its a misnomer to interchange budget with cost conscious or inexpensive. 

Personally although I had what many would consider a large budget, I busted my tail to keep costs under control & managed to have the cost of my wedding be 22% under budget.  I bought a dress on sale; I shopped around for everything.  My veil was $12.  That's not a typo.  I had it on a Sunday.  I bargained & haggled for everything. 

CMGragain

This is an older thread to be resurrecting.
I get it that you are trying to save money, but you have ordered your dresses from a Chinese knockoff website.  The photo that is so lovely is stolen from the original designer's website.  This is not the dress that you will receive.  Just looking at their website, the materials alone for those dresses cost more than their sale price.  If it looks to good to be true, then it probably is.

"We are Dressworld Co., Limited, the address of our company is: UNIT 530 BLK 9,5/F HONG KONG SCIENCE PARK SHATIN NT.
"DressWorld Co. Limited was incorporated on 2013-10-15. This company is now Dissolved, their business is recorded as Private company limited by shares. "

I so hope that you aren't disappointed, but you need a back up plan if your dresses turn out to be awful.
If you had consulted us before ordering, we would have discouraged you.  I have my fingers crossed for you.  Good luck.

kimmiinthemitten

I'm pretty sure Knottiest #'s is a rep for this company.  Every single post of theirs is promoting these knock off sites, but not in an obvious "I'm a vendor" kind of way.

KatWAG

@knotriley can we close this?

KnotRiley

Thanks @KatWAG ! Closing the thread now