Budget Question

Our plan was about 10-12k for our wedding with roughly 50 - 75 people in New York Hudson Valley Area. We're closer to $16k.

Where are you planning from?

I've always heard that the average budget numbers are around $30k

You’re below the national average, which the Knot said was $28k, so I feel like that’s a good indicator! I live in a hugely high cost of living area—average wedding cost for my city is over $40k. But what really matters is doing what you can afford, & budgeting for the wedding in conjunction with your other monetary needs.

$10,000-15,000 is reasonable! We set a budget of $5,000 for our wedding and realized that wasn’t reasonable. To keep in our budget, we’re eloping instead. Obviously, eloping doesn’t fit for everyone but it suites us better!

THANK YOU EVERYONE! This has all been really helpful. I kept seeing these articles of how people got married for $5k and under, and not that it can't be done, but we would need to make a lot more concessions than we want and wouldn't really enjoy the day. Plus the fact that we are paying for everything ourselves really adds up and quickly. Thank you all again for your helpful feedback and helping me understand I haven't completely lost my mind.

5 months to go!!!

We are about 35k . I diy a lot of things like my centerpieces. I am doing the favors, and instead of a photo booth I am bringing in Polaroid cameras and props so guest can take pics .

We ended up out of pocket about 25k but it was worth every penny

I’m in East TN. We started with a $10k budget, but quickly changed it to $15k after we started pricing. We cut our original guest list in half (now at 50) & decided to book a smaller venue & not have dancing (so, no DJ). As of yesterday, we’ve booked all of our major vendors; dress, veil, my wedding ring is purchased. We are at $13k. We still have to purchase alcohol, cake/dessert, some rentals, his attire & ring, decor & signage, invitations, hair stylist (separate from my MUA which is booked), WP gifts, and license. The entire figure also does not include the rehearsal dinner (his parents are paying); the honeymoon; or the beauty appointments that I will be doing to get my hair/nails/skin in good shape for the day since I figured those have long term benefits that go well beyond the wedding (funny how we rationalize things isn’t it? Haha). Needless to say, we will exceed our budget.

We are in St louis, and we are doing $6500 for 100 people. Our original budget was $4000, but we are a month away with only the bar left to pay for, and we are at $5300 spent so far.

Mine and my fiancé’s budget is &35,000. Weddings are really expensive!

I think ours was about 20k in NJ. Had like 60 guests.

Hello our budget is $30,000

Our original budget was 20K - we are getting married in the Hudson Valley, NY in the fall. We will likely end up being more at the 25K mark. We will probably have about 75 people.

Everyone says location really matters - and it does, but I've also found your date is super influential, too! Hudson Valley jacks up their prices and mandatory minimums in the fall. I really wanted this time of year though so we decided with a Sunday wedding instead so that we don't have any minimums. Sometimes you can't be flexible with where you live, but you can be flexible on your date and that helps.

My approach to the wedding was to pick a few things that were important to us (that we valued and were willing to apply monetary value) and skip or skimp on the rest. Our venue was expensive and our photography was expensive. We emphasized the decor of the venue so we did not spend much on decorations. Our caterer included three desserts with the buffet so we did not get a cake. I was fine with a DJ rather than a band for the reception music. I bought my wedding shoes from Amazon for $30 and my jewelry from Macys for $42. I found a fancy dance floor that I thought I wanted, but when the rental company said it was $2,250, I switched to their most basic option for $750.

Wedding costs can balloon in every direction if you let it. Just choose what's important to you and what you must have for your special day. Maybe you want to just spread the word instead of mailing out save the dates. Maybe you want to use a friend's car instead of a limo for getting around. Good luck to you. Remember that's it's your wedding so you don't HAVE to do anything. Don't let others pressure you into upgrading everything. It's just not worth it for a few hours, unless it's worth it to you.

View Quoted Comment Hi, can I ask what venue you chose that was 2500? Is it in NJ? Looking for something affordable

View Quoted Comment Hi jackelyn,


I’m actually in NC and we decided to rent a big house on the lake. Since we’re having a relatively small wedding the house owners are allowing us to have it on the property.

$12k is doable. You might have to think about what you really want for your wedding. Also where you live plays apart in your budget. We budget for about $20. We probably ended spending a little over

Honestly we started with a budget of $20, 000 but quickly realized the visions we had in our head was not realistic to the budget we set. Since my parents are paying for most, we did start to pitch in with the payments and the full booking of our videographer among other smaller totals. But so far we are at about $30,000 with not much left to plan. So budgets do tend to fluctuate depending on what you really want or what is more of a luxury, or at least that's what my Dad says.

Our budget is $30,000-$35,000 but I have a feeling it might go up to around $40,000. This is, typically, how much the average wedding costs where I am from.

We started out at aprx 15k and then went to 20k and now I can honestly say we have spent about 30k because things keep adding up lol

I am in Mass - and doing a smaller affair - probably 50 guests. I am looking to rent space in the public park for the ceremony that is 3 minutes from the hotel we will have the reception in. I originally wanted to stay within 20k - but it looks like we will be closer to 35k (eek!)

That being said - we splurged for a band and are providing the hotel lodgings for 2 nights to our parents and wedding party (also small! 3 girls , 2 boys!) . Those two items alone bumped us up 10k!