Having a budget wedding for $5000 or less?

Question

What was your wedding budget? Do you mind sharing your budget breakdown if you had a wedding for $5000 or less?

Please no "we eloped for $100" because that doesn't help me with my budget, but the suggestion is still appreciated! (Just not now, I'm trying to figure stuff out)

Answer 1

I did mine for about $8,000 but maybe the break-down will help you out.

- Photography: $1800

- Location: $800

- Catering: $1300 (heavy appetizers)

- Cakes: $600

- Flowers: $900

- Dress and accessories: $600

- Piano player: $200

- Minister: $250

Other stuff I didn't categorize but I know I ended up around $8,000.

I was willing to pay so much for photography because to me that's the most lasting part of the day--getting it all on film.  I was able to borrow a veil, petticoat and jewelry from a friend who had gotten married recently.  The church let me use tablecloths and trellises and other various decorations.

We only had heavy appetizers at the reception and had the wedding at 2 so no one expected a full meal.  We had around 100 guests.

You can definitely have a lovely wedding for $5,000.  Just decide what is most important to you and don't worry too much about what other people think.  I can't tell you how much time I wasted trying to think of ways to decorate the fellowship hall at church just to realize that I didn't really care and that none of the guests would really notice anyway!

Answer 2

Well, my budget is 5,000.

I spent 1,600 on my photographer--- and people I spent THAT much, because 1) it includes A LOT with it and 2) I'll have the pictures forever & I want them to be great.

I spent 600 on both reception & ceremony locations.

I'm spending about 500 on food, I'm only do hor'dourves.

The centerpieces are pretty cheap--100 dollars! I'm making them myself! And they are wonderful, I've got deals!

My dress budget is $600.

My cake budget is $400--for both grooms & regular. I have a person who can make the grooms cake if needed.

All my bouquets for me, my bridesmaids, and the bouts for the guys, I'm giving that a budget of $400---I am overestimating (I'm only doing real flowers for me)

.

.the invitations I'm making (it'll probably cost $100 for the paper& printing)

That gives me $700 left over. So it'll be used on whatever. I'm sure things might cost a little more, so  I gave a little wriggle room.

Good luck! And YES you can do it! I AM!

Answer 3

My brother had a "budget wedding".  The wedding dress was ordered from this lady in the Philippines for only $100.  The wedding party (best man, maid of honor, bridesmaids, etc.) paid for their own dress.  They had over 200 people in the guest list but they held the reception in the backyard with family members pitching in to help prepare the food and such.  It was sooo much fun preparing!  We had cousins we haven't seen in ages spend the entire day prepping the place up.  It was like the party started at 6AM and just went on until midnight that night... The cake was the biggest food expense - 3 cakes connected by curving staircases and waterfalls.  It was awesome.  No wedding planner, no formal place-settings (all buffet style), but they did hire a DJ who did the introductions and the "traditional" dances.  See, the thing is, my brother was more concerned about everybody having fun than following a stiff "programme".  So, it was treated like his regular birthday party!  (It was his birthday the next day).  The bride's brother is a photographer, so they only paid for the film and prints.  They hired a video person though.  They ordered their give-aways from the Philippines - cost 4 dollars or so for the gifts to the wedding party.  We handmade some potpourri sachets for all the guests.  I think, all-in-all, he spent way under $5,000.  He had enough money left over to put a down-payment on a house!  But, it sure took a lot of preparation and an awesome family (actually, two!) to pull it off!

My sister did the regular way - reception at the marriott, wedding rehearsals, dinners, expensive dresses... and I tell ya, I had more fun at my brothers.  Even my sister admits my brother's was more fun.  And they didn't get a house until years and years later.

Answer 4

my budget was $1,000. But you can do alot with $5,000.

First you want to figure out how many people you wish to invite. This is a HUGE factor in your costs.

IF your a DIY kind of person.

Invitations: You can get a Michaels, Target, and Wal-mart.

Attire: Shop online, and look at stores in your area that are having huge discounts.

I can't think of anything else right now.. good luck to you. :)

Answer 5

The thing that helped us most is that we 1) had an informal wedding (not "eloping" - just informal), and 2) had lots of friends who pitched in to help. Our minister was a friend, our photographer was a friend, our videographer was a friend, our musicians were friends. So this saved a ton of money right there. I'm not saying that you'd want to put your photography into your aunt Jean's hands, but if you know someone (a professional or a very good amateur) who wouldn't mind doing you a favor it might be worth looking into.

Also, you could figure out what you can "cut out" of the wedding and still be happy with it. I chose not to have flowers - they are expensive, and get thrown away anyhow. Also, we didn't have favors. I don't really have a "budget breakdown" for you, being that the whole affair was so informal; the most expensive thing probably ended up being the BBQ-style "reception" we had a week later, and ended up inviting about 30 people to. But the whole thing probably cost us under $1,000.

Answer 6

My budget is more than 5000, but we saved a lot doing a lot ourselves. The place you're gonna spend the most is on the food. Look around for places that are all-inclusive. My caterer has our cake included. We decided no sodas just to do punch and lemonade. We printed out own invitations which saved us $700. We went online to oriental trading company for our favors, guest book and pen, unity candle, flower basket, ring pillow and much more. That saved us A LOT! also for pix my friend put disposable cameras at every table instead of hiring a photographer. But if you want a photographer check with your local college for students majoring in it. They can do the job for cheap as well as gain experience. And for center pieces and decorations, skip the flowers and go with balloons in your colors. Flowers would have cost us 1400 for centerpieces, we got ballons instead for 200! Key is to explore all your options and look for non-traditional ones.

Answer 7

We spent around $8,000 on our wedding.  Total costs depend dramatically on 2 things: number of guests, and your location (region of the country).  We had about 60 guests and are in SoCal.  Having a small number of guests cuts down costs dramatically, but living in SoCal drives them back up.  Here were our big costs:

Photog: $1100 (just got dvd of pics, we will print our own pics later)

DJ: $750 (mic for ceremony, then music for cocktail hour and reception)

Reception/ceremony: $4,500 (we got married at the restaurant we had the reception at - it's the place we met at - so this cost included ceremony set-up, cocktail hour food and open bar for cocktail hour, full dinner, and wedding cake)

My outfit: $300 (includes dress, crinoline, shoes, veil, garter, etc.)

Flowers: $275 (archpiece and centerpiece for head table were made by florist, then got 100 roses and my mom and i made the bouquets, bouts, and centerpieces with those ourselves the night before the wedding)

Minister: $200

The remainder was spent on other things like invitations (bought supplies at Michaels and made our own), place cards, guestbook, candles, etc. - all the little stuff that adds up.

Here's where I got my dress - came out great!

http://stores.ebay.com/gianinarbridal

Hope that helps!

Answer 8

Well, I don't even know if I can be helpful since we are being creative and resourceful with our wedding budget, but:

1. Invites, RSVP cards, envelopes, all misc. printing - free (I work at a printing company)

2. DJ - $100 for equipment rental from a rental company, a family friend who is good in front of crowds will be responsible for playing the music and getting people into dancing  

3. Ceremony location $300 and officiant-Free since we're asking his uncle to do the ceremony

4. Dinner after ceremony (doing a small ceremony a different day than the reception then taking our 20 guests to dinner after) - $1500

4. Reception location - free, it's at his parent's house

5. Reception dinner - $1500 (doing a backyard picnic and making a lot of food ourselves)

6. Photographer - cost of printing prints (we're planning $500 for a fantastic amount), I do some TFP modeling and have made friends with a photog that will do this for his meal

7. $1,000 for reception favors and decorations including table clothes

8. Cake - free, a family friend who's a baker is going to take care of this as our gift

9. dress - free, I'm wearing my grandmother's

Answer 9

We did ours for about $10,000.

~Site was most expensive-$3,000 but it included officiant, dj, location, centerpieces, employees...Lunch was $25 a person

**If you have a daytime or friday/sunday, it will probably be cheaper! We saved 500 for having it during the day than at night.

~cake-$135(walmart bakery, still delicious!)

~dress-$140(jc penny prom section, bridesmaids got theirs also)

~decorations-less than $100(fake flowers are the way to go!)

~boquet-$100(beautiful, and bridesmaids got fake $2 already made from Michaels, no one knew they were fake!!)

~transport after weding-FREE(we used husbands classic car, ask a friend to loan theirs maybe?)

~favors-$30 for EVERYTHING!(We had a candy buffet.. Everyone got a decorative bag and got to pick out little candy pieces)

~photography-$200(craigslist.com, we found a hobbyest who did an excellent job even though she wasn't "professional")

~Invitations-$40(do it yourself at home, walmart has kits in the wedding aisle)

Good luck and Congrads!!! :)

Answer 10

I think we spent about eight thousand dollars, not including my rings.  

Answer 11

Congratulations!

My fiance' and I are having a unique, elegant, and beautiful English Garden wedding for $5,000. We plan on roughly 200 guests, and a 15 person wedding party.

Sit down with your fiance', and create a wedding vision--what do you see, hear, taste, feel, and smell?

After that create a budget that would suit that vision (i.e. the $5,000 you are considering), and a savings plan to suit the budget. You MUST have a budget set before buying so much as a roll of ribbon, and STICK TO IT.

After the budget is set, a savings plan needs to be made. Each of you should figure out how much you make every month, subtract your expenses, and see what's left. From there decide on an amount to save. With such a short time frame, savings will be crucial.

Set up a notebook with dividers for Ceremony, Reception, Music, Traditions, Guest List, Attendants, Attire, Venues/Vendors, Biling/Receipts, etc to keep yourself organized.

Set up an account with The Knot (it will save your sanity, I promise!)

Choose a color palate. I went to a local paint shop, and chose my colors from their paint chips =]

Start booking venues and vendors about one year in advance. The time may need to be longer or shorter depending on the area in which you live.

Start researching dress styles and cuts you like.

I found these books to be extremely helpful:

Wedding Planning for Dummies (a Christmas gift from my parents, haha).

Priceless Weddings for Under $5,000

The Knot's Guide to Wedding Planning

I used them in conjunction with these websites (I couldn't give direct links due to Y/A's new limit on links, sorry!):

www.theknot.com

www.offbeatbride.com

www.marthastewart.com

www.weddingbee.com

www.diybride.com

www.etsy.com

www.thingsremembered.com

www.exclusivelyweddings.com

Here's my list of budget tricks:

There are so many ways to cut the costs of weddings, you just need to decide on three things that are paramount to the day, and compromise on the rest. For example, photography, ceremony venue, and reception venue were the three where we put the most money.

Ceremony: Have an early ceremony (around 2 o'clock).

*Your guests will have already have eaten lunch, and won't be expecting a huge meal. You then can serve light food such as finger food and desert. This is the only way that my fiance' could manage to feed our 185-200 guests without going way over our budget.

Wedding dress: I found a beautiful gown at http://www.groupusa.com/ for a little more than $300 (my splurge). They have beautiful gowns by wonderful designers from affordable to extravagant.

*Try places like GroupUSA and even eBay for knockout deals.

I just found this eBay store http://myworld.ebay.com/gianinarbridal

One dress is $39! Brand new. Add $89 in foreign S&H, and you still have a great deal.

Bridal Jewelry: I found my crystal necklace and earrings at an antique shop for $6, and my Crystal Collections headband from Wal-Mart for $12. Originally I had been looking at genuine jewelry from big name stores, but decided to scrimp here to save money for the wedding gifts my fiance' and I plan to get each other.

*Don't forget retail stores like Wal-Mart and Target. My headpiece, earrings, and necklace came to a total of $18.

Wedding location: I had four choices, a lovely place on the property of a family friend, the beautiful garden of a local inn, a church that has a SMALL fee and goes well with my wedding style, or on the mountain where my grandparents' grew up, married, and live.

*Look for unconventional venues; they'll be cheaper or even free. I opted for the for the garden for my English Garden theme.

Reception Site: I have two options here, one of which is the brand new mansion-style library in our town. It would cost only $199 ($100 refundable damage deposit, and $40 for a library worker to stay on site). The other would be our local arts building of the town center. They have several large and beautiful rooms and are roughly the same amount as the library.

*The same rule for venues applies here.

Caterer: My fiance' and I are spending between $300-$400 on food trays, desert, cupcake tower, and a candy buffet for our large number of guests. A chef friend will be preparing two dishes as well.

*Friends and family can really cut down on wedding expenses!

Cake: A friend of my fiance' and I is a baker, and would only charge us the price of the ingredients for our cupcakes.

*If you don't have anyone who can provide this. Go for a two or three tier cake, and then have sheet cakes to cut for the bulk of the guests. That way you end up saving several hundred dollars. You can also have a two-tier cake, serving that only to wedding party, parents, and grandparents and serve guests with a cupcake tower.

I'm simply having a three tier cupcake tower and forgoing the cake.

Flowers: I am making my own bouquets. Flowers for a 30-stem wedding bouquet, toss bouqet, six 20-stem bridesmaid bouquets, arrangements, and 18 centerpieces (five flowers a vase would only run $288 before shipping costs from http://www.theflowerexchange.com. I am having a family friend do the arrangements for a fraction of the cost.

*Do as much as you can on your own! Http://www.theknot.com has videos and step-by-steps on how to make your own bouquets and arrangements. UPDATE: the cost will go down since I am having a bridal bouquet made by Princess Lasertron, and the bridesmaids will carry six ribbon-tied gerbera daisies.

Favors: Forget them! Most of the guests toss those expensive trinkets, anyway.

*Instead I am making a candy buffet--something even my smallest guests would enjoy. You need a small table, glass vases shapes and sizes, candy from a bulk store like Sam's (in your wedding colors, if you like), scoops, and little bags or favor boxes. Mine will come to about $50-$60.

Children: Do you want children at your wedding, but want the adults to enjoy the reception worry free?

*If so, enlist a teenage niece, cousin, or friend. They may help as a wedding present, or simply be happy with $50 or so. They can keep the children happy and occupied with toys or color books in another room. Alternatively have the kid's table covered in a paper table cloth with crayons at each place setting.

Invitations: You can purchase nice paper, envelopes, and an emblem, and an ink cartridge and make your own for about $50. OR you could go to http:///www.invitationsbydawn.com.

She has great deals and some of them come to a total as little as $100.

*Instead of $250-$350! Do what you can on your own, or look for budget-conscience resources like the one above.

I am making my own invitations using beautiful, old postcards from the early 1900s. One-of-a-kind, over a century old, and inexpensive at a total of $90, if not less.

DJ: My fiance's brother is a DJ, and will save us $975 by doing the reception as a wedding gift.

*If you don't have someone like this, consider cutting the cost by having premade CDs of the music you want, and have someone man the player.

Attendant Gifts: Try places like http://www.exclusivelyweddings.com

*I found my 7 attendants gifts for $35, because they were having a sale on freshwater pearl and silver bracelets =] I am making them each gifts to suit their personalities as well.

Centerpieces: Something simple. If you're having a fall wedding, vases filled with slender branches painted gold or silver is beautiful and inexpensive, and branches of berries can be added for winter. Spring or summer, simple vases with a few flowers.

*I found short, square vases and am putting five gerbera daisies in each. Total cost for 19 tables is $99, and they look gorgeous!

If you ever need anything, let me know =] I love to help!

Answer 12

My budget is $20,000 - which is not in the same range as yours, but my breakdown is very cost-conscious.  Ive got alot of DIY stuff to save $$$ and perhaps my guest count is much higher than yours and that is why my budget is more.  I'm tracking to come in below budget right now.  Here is the breakdown:

Ceremony $1k (includes license, rental fee, officiant fee & tip, ringbearer pillows, guest book, flower girl baskets).  I think this may be a bit padded and will find out if my rental fee is grossly overstated soon.

Reception $10k (includes budget for 175 guests, buffet dinner - 3 entree choices, cocktail hour with unlimited hors d'ourves, and full open bar for 6 hours).  I am located in Central PA and this sort of price can vary BIG-TIME depending upon your location.  My venue is very cheap for the area at $45 pp + tax & tip.

DJ $975

Flowers $600 (bouquets, boutenierres, corsages ONLY).  Bride, tossing bouquet, 4 bridesmaids, Groom, 4 groomsmen, 2 Dads, 2 Moms, 2 God-mothers, 1 God-father, 3 flower girls, 2 ringbearers, 2 readers, 2 ushers.

Attire $2k (this includes dresses & tuxes for the entire wedding party)

Photography $1,500 (includes engagement photos, wedding photos, and pictures returned on a CD - does not include print costs for photos)

Stationary & Postage $750 (includes, wedding invitations, thank you notes, engagement announcements, save-the-date mailing, purchasing calligraphy kit and pens, and postage for all items that need to be mailed).

Answer 13

that was mine, but we are now like around 6500. But I wanted some extra thing and a more expensive cake. We live in Ohio and we are getting married on 8/8/08. Also we are having around 100 people at the wedding.

my dress= gift, but 675

Food= 1200

Cake= 450

Pictures= 1350

D.J.= 125

favors= 200

Flowers= 750 (we got a 300 discount)

invitations= 150 ( cost co)

Answer 14

We rented a community center in our town - $100 (I think, maybe $200).

We paid for my dress(es - had to buy 2 - long story!), hubby's tux, MofH's dress, and B.M.'s tux - apprx. $500

Minister - $100 (he just asked for a donation)

Invites and Postage - approx. $150

Flowers and other Decorations - $200

Bell Trinkets - $50

Pictures - $100 (we gave a 'gift' to our friend who was the photographer, paid for the film and processing ourselves)

Food - approx. $200 (we did like a sandwich bar and finger foods)

Cake - $200

I don't remember anything else that we had.  It was a very small, simple ceremony and my b/f MofH made a lot of things ourselves.  We also knew a lot of the people who helped us out (cake maker, photographer) so we saved a bunch just by knowing them.  I was thinking we spent around $2,000 and the total here is $1,700, so that's probably pretty close.

Good Luck!  You can certainly have a great wedding for $5,000 or less.