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Super April 2019

Micro Destination Wedding + Honeymoon (under $10k) Budget Breakdown

Future Mrs. Polar Bear, on April 22, 2019 at 2:19 PM Posted in Planning 2 2

So I know how helpful it was for me to see budget breakdowns of certain costs. It really helps future brides estimate, so I thought I'd share mine.


BUDGET ESTIMATE: $10,000


ELOPEMENT (or some may call micro destination wedding) - Gatlinburg, TN Smokey Mountains Creekside

*We had 6 total guests including us, but not including our dog/best man. We arrived 4.12.19 left 4.15.19 (2 nights)

Elopement Pkg $620.09 (included officiant, location, and photography)

Bouquet & Boutineer $84.45 (1-800 flowers) + $4.22 (ribbon for bouquet, Michaels)

Wedding Dress $222.71 (Davids Bridal) + Alterations $63.36

My shoes $68.63 (DSW)

Headpiece $26.75 (etsy)

Husbands Clothes $119.33 (macys + he already had shoes)

My haircut $41.00 (not style just trim - REGIS)

My Wedding Hair & Makeup & Nails $FREE (did it myself)

Husbands Wedding Band $105.00 (got a discount because it was the same store we bought my engagement ring at)

My Wedding Band $FREE (came with engagement ring)

TN Cabin $824.18

Marriage License $41.00 (super easy)

Cat Babysitter $40.00 (my niece, ha!)

Venue Deposit Loss $520.00 (prior to us deciding to do something much smaller)

Ring Insurance $25.00 (yearly cost)

TIPS $20.00 (Officiant, photographer will get a tip later after I've seen the final product...sometime next week, tip will probably be around $20.00)

Car gas $114.10 (trip down to TN and back, thankfully my car is good on gas and prices aren't high right now for unleaded)

Food $142.96 (each set of parents paid for one dinner each, so husband and I only had to pay for our travel food, daily food, and one dinner)

Activities $0.00 (no time)

Shopping $78.02

MISC $744.51 (Beauty Products, Best man Bandana, Lingerie, Alcohol, Dog Seat cover for Car, on-hand cash)

TOTAL: $4,908.98


HONEYMOON

*Orlando, FL arrived 4.16.19 left 4.22.19 (5 nights)

Pet sitter $100

Bass Fishing $360.00 (included tip)

Misc. $55.63 (beach towels, husbands belt)

Flight $571.92 (southwest, wanna get away, bought in advance to save on monies)

Hotel $792.48 (got a huge discount like 50% off, and all we had to do was a timeshare sales pitch, it really wasn't bad and totally worth the savings - Lake Buena Vista Resort and Spa)

Discovery Cove $468.92 (AMAZING! Totally worth the money, I bought 4 months in advance to save though)

Universal $274.78 (bought in advance, got spring break discount)

Medieval Times $93.74 (bought in advance, used random coupon code for discount, easy to google)

Food $448.73 (food in suite, than we ate out every meal each day, what saved us some money was discovery cove includes breakfast and lunch in their prices, otherwise we just did really good, and we didn't eat ANY fast food we ate steak and potatoes, etc.)

Mini Golf $25.80

UBER $246.38 (This was WAY cheaper than renting a car, or using taxi, etc.)

Shopping $766 (this includes $212 we spent on getting photos of our dolphin experience from Discovery Cove)

MISC $324.37 (sunglasses, on-hand cash)

TOTAL: $4525.65


FINAL TOTAL: $9,434.63

UNDER BUDGET: $565.37

We received $2,500 in support from one set of parents, otherwise we paid for everything ourselves, $0 in debt, which we are really proud of, and the "support" was a gift from my husbands parents to us, as they had given the same to his other two brothers when they got married. From all the budgeting we did and money we set aside even though we were under budget by $565.37 we actually came home with slightly over $1,400 because I had put extra aside as a buffer zone. Now it will be going towards our house down payment savings plan we started last year. WOOT WOOT!

I wish every new bride good luck. The way I did things may not work for you, but I hope some of my prices help you better estimate for some of the items/things you may be looking into. One thing I did notice was the MISC items were things I didn't plan for because I didn't think I needed them, but guess what...I did. Also, we couldn't have came in under budget and had that "buffer zone" support without serious planning when it came to estimating costs , setting a budget, setting savings goals, and sticking to it. Keep in mind, in our heads we got everything we wanted and more, because we knew I had things covered in the "buffer zone" and "estimates" areas so when it came to shopping and having nice dinners, we just let it all out to ensure we had fun and a blast and didn't have to worry were the money was coming from. It's a huge stress reliever. Having a budget, and knowing where the money is going, is really important. GOOD LUCK! Smiley heart Smiley laugh

P.S. If I hadn't started saving for our wedding prior to us getting engaged (to my husbands relief) we never would have had enough money for it. In my mind if we ended up not getting engaged nor married, at least I had a decent emergency fund when we departed, ha!




2 Comments

Latest activity by Future Mrs. Polar Bear, on April 22, 2019 at 2:36 PM
  • MrsD
    Legend July 2019
    MrsD ·
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    This is awesome, go girl! I'm for sure not showing my dad or fiance this though, they will try to figure out how to trade me for you! Hahaha!

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  • F
    Super April 2019
    Future Mrs. Polar Bear ·
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    Hahaha! What is found in the forums stay in the forums Smiley winking when we want, ha!

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