FI and I budgeted $15,000 for our wedding. We invited 225, and 150ish are showing up. I suppose we'll find out for sure on Saturday. However, we didn't include the cost of the honeymoon in there or the cost of my dress because I already had it. If we had included those, it would be closer to $20,000.
Not everything cost exactly what I thought it would. DJ was more expensive, but we spent less on the photographer. Linens were more expensive, but we spent less on the caterer. Decorations and invites were more expensive, but we spent less on the cake. If I went over budget in one area, I tried to pull the money from another area. We did a pretty good job staying on budget, but we tried to do the least expensive we could in most areas. We splurged a little on catering because we had so few people rsvp yes, and it still ended up costing us less than the original quote.
Ours was around $20K. That includes everything but the honeymoon, which we didn't go on but are hoping to early next year. We had just under 200 people. We ended up going over by just a bit because we went with a live band, but it was totally worth it.
We have probably the smalles budget and # of people. We are doing ours for $5k for 40 people not including honeymoon or rings. We are doing a private ceremony in our home with our parents, grandparents, and brothers. Think chiavari chairs, candles in the fireplace, & flowers draping the mantle. Super happy our dog will be able to be there.
Then a cocktail reception downtown Minneapolis in a loft rental for 40 people. Our priorities were the people and food. The loft lets us bring our own alcohol. We didn't want people that we are not close there to celebrate with us. A number of relatives were cut out.
Re: Budgets?
Not everything cost exactly what I thought it would. DJ was more expensive, but we spent less on the photographer. Linens were more expensive, but we spent less on the caterer. Decorations and invites were more expensive, but we spent less on the cake. If I went over budget in one area, I tried to pull the money from another area. We did a pretty good job staying on budget, but we tried to do the least expensive we could in most areas. We splurged a little on catering because we had so few people rsvp yes, and it still ended up costing us less than the original quote.
So In Love
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Then a cocktail reception downtown Minneapolis in a loft rental for 40 people. Our priorities were the people and food. The loft lets us bring our own alcohol. We didn't want people that we are not close there to celebrate with us. A number of relatives were cut out.