Pricing for Elopements & Microweddings

We splurged on our two micro-events. For our DW in Napa, we spent about $15K for 15 guests. The venue was 5-star, premium food & wine. For our local reception, we also spent about $15K for 50 guests at a winery. The site fee and dinner costs were a lot less, but we splurged in a live band and Frank Sinatra impersonator.


If budget is a concern, you could consider a brunch wedding or evening wedding where you treat guests to a dinner in a restaurant (maybe a private room). But food may run $50-$100 per person. But at least you wouldn’t need much or any decor, or entertainment. Is that an option?

Ended up spending maybe $5k? We had 15 people (including our officiant, his wife, our photographers, and ourselves). Got married in a park, on a weekday morning at 8 am, and took the guests that wanted to come (about 10 of us because my mom and stepdad had to take my sister and BIL to the airport to catch their flight) to brunch at a local restaurant. $4000 was spent on photography, which included our 2 hour ceremony and portraits day of and then an adventure shoot in Yosemite a month later. I’m guesstimating another $1000 for HMUA for myself, brunch bill, bouquet for me, and donation to officiant’s church. This doesn’t include our clothes or the hotel stay for the adventure shoot.

We did a minimony last year due to covid and had about 18 people. It was very simple: on the beach at a state park, between meal times so we had drinks and cupcakes instead of a full meal. I think we spent less than $300 on the whole thing, including my dress and the marriage license. But we had friends offer to bake cupcakes, take pictures, I got a cheap dress online etc. I think it's definitely up to you and your fiance what you want! You could go all out and spend more like previous posters or you could have something less fancy and cheaper. Both are great options!

We spent $5K for just the two of us! It was a three day getaway on the OR coast… We did our elopement on our five year anniversary and got to relax in a condo facing the beach with our dog!

Check out our recent post about our elopement! We broke everything down as to why we eloped, how much everything cost individually, and some advice along the way. I also added tons of pictures!
https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/pro-bam-5k-oregon-coast-elopement-with-our-pup/121c45fed11b9f7f.html

I’m essentially eloping. We are going to Colorado with immediate family only. It’s costing us less than $1,500 only because it’s destination.

For our microwedding of 35 guests, we probably spent around $4000 maybe? We're also having a big reception this October which isn't included in that costs.

Ours will be around $1000. My dress was $200 online (did my own alterations), no wedding party, FH and our sons' clothes are from Kohls, my parents made the food, photographer was $350, reception is in our backyard and the ceremony is at the beach. 16 people total.

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Pirate & 60s Bride,

Thank you so much for that break down! Sounds like you guys hand an AMAZING time! Budget is sort of a concern, but we definitely have narrowed it down to three options at this time. All are different, but are right at our price range. However, we are also considering on eloping so I know that may put our prices lower. I will also definitely consider the private room idea! I actually really like that.

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Nicole,
That's not bad at all! that's really goo actually. Thank you so much for your response. I love that you went with a different route of getting married at 8am!! It seemed like you guys had such a wonderful time

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It was nice to do it early and without a big production as we were home and ready for a nap by noon. We then went out to dinner later that evening, just the two of us. It was really a mellow day.

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Monica,
Wow!! What a steal for $300! That's amazing! I love everything about your wedding. We honestly wouldn't mind either or. If I lived near a beach I would've so totally done that idea as well! There is a wedding service I wanted to use because they can provide everything that I am looking for, but my fiance is on the fence on their prices :/ So, we shall see.

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Day,
How relaxing! That's awesome! Thank you so much for your response! I will definitely be looking at your break down through the link.

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Madeline,
That's a good deal! Is this also including dress, hair and makeup, tux, bouquet, etc? Regardless, it's still a great deal! Also, what made you decide to elope? I am still in the mix of deciding between eloping or doing a microwedding.

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Yasmine,
That's not bad at all! Also how did you feel about your microwedding?

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Samantha,
That's awesome! Good deals And I love that you did yours in the backyard. We were thinking of doing that as well, but my FH does not like how our backyard looks at the moment. Therefore, we would have to put money into that to make it look nicer. Which we do plan on doing sometime down the road so if we did do that at least it will be done. However, I don't want him rushing and spending so much money on getting that ready so soon :/ That's why I also considered just eloping to take the stress away from everything else lol.

View Quoted Comment It includes it all. My dress is technically a bridesmaid dress but I got in ivory and on sale. I have my sister who’s doing my hair and makeup so I didn’t have to worry about that.


This is my second wedding and for the first one I went all out. I hated it. Lol I don’t like being the center of attention and it was too much for me. I wanted this one to be more intimate for me and we both decided this was best.

View Quoted Comment It was amazing. Thank you! We splurged considering the guest count was low, but we preferred it that way.


If you have a brunch reception, it’ll be less than dinner. But a weekday night wedding might save you money too. Some beautiful venues might have a micro-wedding deal for up to 25 people you may want to ask about.

View Quoted Comment I LOVED it. I tell my husband all the time, if I wore my dress and used our bridal party we wouldn't even be having this upcoming reception 🤷🏾‍♀️

Last year we postponed my wedding to this year but we still wanted to have something small and get married. We spent 3k on my dress, hair & make up, photographer, and food & drinks. I had my friend marry us at a park under a tree, then we took photos, following dinner at a restaurant when restrictions lifted for a very short window in CA. It was a group of 12 of us.

For just he and I and our sons - maybe 3000 (and the majority of that was clothes, flowers, and photography). That's 800 on tuxes and 800 on my dress. Another $500. on photography (weekday savings!). Flowers were $350. Amazon veil - $50, no HMU (Covid), no alterations, some decorations, and food for the four of us. And cake. It really comes down to where you want to do it, what day of the week, and the extras that you choose. We went bear bones, but we'd only been out of lockdown for about 30 days.