My own wedding has come and gone and I see a lot of couples struggling to know how much stuff is costing. I just wanted to share the breakdown of my wedding day costs (and do a shoutout to our awesome vendors). In October 2023, we spent $20,000 on our wedding for 80 people.
Wedding Budget Breakdown: $20,000 for 80 people
Venue + Food + Drinks: $13,000
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80 people, $90 per head (plated dinner service and cocktail hour)
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We payed the drink tab - $6 per drink
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$1500 site fee (included on-site ceremony)
Flowers and Decor: $1600
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Bushel & Bloom (me!)
- It would have cost me $1600 to "order from myself"
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Bridal bouquet, 6 bridesmaid bouquets, 9 boutonnieres, 10 centerpieces, arch, arch flowers, sweetheart table garland
Videography: $1600 [BEST INVESTMENT!]
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5 hours of coverage, 2 videographers
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Raw footage and audio delivered
- I edited my own highlight video
Bridal Makeup + Trial: $200
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Kaylee Ground
Bridal Hair + Trial: $220
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Mizz Hair
DJ: $800
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We found a cheap DJ but we unfortunately were a bit disappointed with the overall service. Do your research and don't cheap out on your wedding day!
Officiant: $275
Wedding attire: $1000
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Tip Top Tailor: $300 suit + $80 shoes
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Homemade dress: $600 material + $60 shoes
Photography: Gifted by a friend
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Definitely took a risk here, but the photos turned out!
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I value video coverage more, so we allocated our "photo" budget towards videographers instead. And I would not change it for the world.
My biggest tip for brides currently booking vendors: Please do your research, look for reviews and have a video call with your vendors before booking. Beware of fake reviews! We chose a DJ because he had great prices, and even though I had a bad gut feeling because of the strange emails he would send us, I still booked him and he was unfortunately a disappointment for us on the wedding day. But otherwise our vendors were absolutely amazing.
Another tip: If you can budget for it, add in video coverage. Even if it's just someone coming to record raw footage. We saved a lot of money not paying for editing, but we had to specifically request a custom package without the video editing. Having high quality, raw recordings of my ceremony and parent speeches and first dance is priceless!
