How We Kept Our Wedding Budget Under $2000
According to several studies the average cost of a wedding in the United States is a whopping $28,800! That size of wedding budget for Robert and I was not only unrealistic, but also not a wise amount to spend on our simple ceremony.
Our wedding day was important to us and we wanted it to be both special and memorable; however, we did not want to spend a lot of money on it that we could better spend on our house, our children, and our future. We wanted a marriage, not the blow out social event of the year.
We set our wedding budget at an unbelievable low number… and we were able to have a ceremony that was beautiful and received many compliments. Our wedding budget was $2000 and I am proud to announce that we did not go over that amount!!!
I will share with you our budget breakdown in this post and in subsequent posts I will detail how we were able to stay within our very narrow means in the categories of my wedding dress, our rings, our wedding flowers, our music, our party, and our reception. You may be surprised how far your money will stretch when you use it creatively.
♦ My Dress: $100
♦ Our Rings: $500
♦ Our Cake: $50
♦ Minister: $225
♦ Kids Clothes: $100
♦ Reception and Fireworks: $400
♦ Wedding License: $40
♦ Flowers: $30
♦ Music: $25
♦ Hair: $50
♦ Shoes: $50
♦ Clothes items: $200
♦ Jewlery: $80
♦ Sand Jar: $50
♦ Misc. Needs: $100
The real shocker is how far we came in under our stingy budget… We spent $1675.00 a whole $325 under budget. I was so pleased that we saved money and did not have to sacrifice the quality of the ceremony.
You probably notice that there are a few things that are missing from this budget… let me explain a few of the obvious ones.
You will notice we did not budget for a photographer or videographer, we are blessed that my Stepfather is a newspaper man with a great deal of photography experience. He took pictures at the ceremony for us, and saved us the hassle and cost of having to hire a professional wedding photographer.
In this day and age of digital photography you can turn any snapshot into a great picture by cropping, editing, and changing the coloring. I was able to take the CD of pictures and make them all the way that I would want them and order the number that I would want. If you have a friend or family member who is a shutterbug… consider using them to help capture your wedding and save your budget.
Another big one that you will notice is missing is our honeymoon… with three small children we decided to postpone ours. As I said in previous posts, we are planning a big one year Anniversary trip and we feel like that is the perfect fit for us and our lives. That is not he case for every couple though… most would not want to sacrifice the honeymoon, but keep in mind that you can hunt for some great travel deals on the net by booking off season or on shorter notice.
Stay tuned to find out more about how we kept our beautiful wedding on a budget with simple, creative ways.
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