How to Plan a
Wedding on a Budget
Overview
In this article, we will go over what is a budget, how to put together a budget, what are the six categories to allocate for a wedding, the considerations of hiring a wedding professional vs doing it yourself, and will conclude with how we planned our wedding for under $3000.
What is a budget?
First of all, a budget is NOT being at or below the average price. It is an estimation of a price of what you think your needs will be. That can and often changes over time.
What is the average price of a wedding?
The average price for a wedding is $35,000 in the U.S. Average price in Ohio is $30,000. That is according to The Knot. Whoa, whoa, I’m going to back up right here. Actually it is a huge range of what is “average”. There is also a huge difference that often does not get factored into the average like a full on DIY weddings or super high-end weddings.
How to put together a wedding budget?
With any of the advice we give, we first and foremost recommend you sticking to your values and priorities as a couple. Here is the start of your values and priorities – are you going to pay for the wedding yourself, are mom and dad (on either or both sides), or a combination? Some couples create a max budget and limit themselves to it and some will see what is more realistic to what they really want and adjust. As a couple, we will minimize things we don’t care about (or just forgo them) and will invest into what we value, even though it might be higher than we expected.
Expectations
To be honest, everything is more expensive than we expect it to be… especially since 2020. We just had our third child and were looking for a family vehicle. Our expectation was $30k ish for something new. Well the starting price was 31k when we had our first child in 2019 and the sticker price for the same model today with a mid level trim is 50k. Obviously, there has to be a change in our expectations… maybe used, maybe a different trim, or maybe that’s the way it is? Maybe there are other creative options as well. That’s one of the big reasons we started Pine and Lace Photography. We wanted to provide a fantastic product and experience at a fraction of the cost using systems and technology to make it possible.
The 6 Categories of Wedding Cost
- Location – ceremony and reception
- Food and Drink – cake, linens, plates, etc
- Attire – dress, shoes, suit, tie, etc
- Aesthetics – hair and makeup, florals, invitations, decor
- Entertainment – DJ, band, photobooth
- Memories and Symbols – photography, videography, rings
How to put the budget into action?
You have two options on the six categories: hire a professional or DIY/crowd source it. Here are the two rules of cost that I grew up with, “It is usually easier to hire it out” and “It’s cheaper to do it yourself, but count on double the cost and triple the time that you estimate.”
Let’s dig into some creative ways to save on costs in each category!
Locations
Some of the most beautiful locations and the biggest bang for your buck is in public parks and facilities. Cleveland has some incredible locations for a wedding ceremony such as Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Metroparks, State Parks, and Cleveland Cultural Gardens and typically about $100-200. Also many public properties and community halls receptions go for $500-1500 which is a steal to host your wedding! Just check on any alcohol restrictions on public lands. Every place has different regulations.
There are also some great venues that offer competitive rates. Look at new venues, lesser known venues, and hotel ballrooms, yes, hotels. We are seeing pricing significantly down over the past several years due to a drop in booking with newer, trendier venues going up (sometimes half or even a third of other venues and catering).
Rent a house or cabin. A great way to have fun and cut costs. Just make sure that weddings are allowed there.
You can also do it in your backyard or in a family/friend’s backyard. Personally, we LOVE backyard weddings! So much personality and story and they can be really beautiful. Remember to factor in restrooms and if you need to bring some in. A pitfall that we often hear is if you have to make “improvements” to the property to make the wedding site viable, 90% of couples or their parents say it would have been cheaper and easier to use a venue. Also, if you plan on playing any loud music, count on someone calling the police and getting a visit. We have never had a problem, but it can dampen the mood. Pro tip, invite all your neighbors or at least give all of them a heads up and state that it is just once for your wedding.
Food and Drink
I can still smell the cooking of those Italian mommas or that Ethiopian wedding (need to get some now, yum)! Sometimes your community will come together and create something awesome or that one friend who wants to be or could be a caterer or that guy down the street who is a smoke master, never hurts to ask 🙂
Food trucks are a hit and sometimes a great price point compared to traditional caterers. BBQ is going to be your biggest bang for your buck for catering, and who doesn’t like BBQ?! We have also seen some specialty pizza companies that cook it right on location. And if you can buy your own alcohol, that will save you a ton. You can also save a bunch on cake by getting sheet cakes at Costco or your local grocery store such as Buehler’s and Acme or getting other desserts or having a cookie table.
Attire
Department stores, like Dillard’s, often have a little bridal section or you can buy online. BHLDN has wedding dresses starting below $200! We have also seen brides get dresses from Amazon and other online retailers/wholesalers. Buy some dresses and ship the ones you don’t like back. Also check out resale FB groups for new or used dresses.
Guys often rent suits to save costs; we are not the biggest fans of that option. In a group of 5 guys, count on at least one guy that got the wrong sized suit, wrong color, or something broken/wrong from the rental place. You can often find a sale on a nice suit for the same or nearly the same price as a rental. Or just go with a simple vest and tie and nice pants and shoes.
Aesthetics
More and more brides are choosing to do their own makeup or having their friend who is amazing do it. The nice thing about this is you have more control over the final product. The MAC Store and other more quality makeup places will help guide you through makeup selection and application for weddings if makeup isn’t your thing. Hair can be a little trickier because it has to hold all day long.
If you want to DIY your florals, there are 3 popular approaches right now. Real, wooden, silk. If you are going the real route, make sure you have a team the day before your wedding get everything put together and have a large enough refrigerator to store them, but not frost them. Costco has some very good prices on stems. If you want to go local and more environmentally kind, local flower farms are a great way to go! Sometimes they even have classes to teach you how to build bouquets and other wedding arrangements. Wooden and silk will typically save you about 70% compared to a florist providing real flowers. Wood flowers are eco friendly, light, and last a long time. We personally like this trend. Silk will look more like real flowers depending on the quality. You can also rent silk florals for a much reduced price. The easiest, cheapest way to go is to rent silk florals from a florist and have them set them up. If you want to DIY your florals, but don’t want to be rushed the day before your wedding, craft wood or silk flowers in the weeks/months before your wedding and just store them.
For invitations, the cheapest, easiest, and most eco-friendly way to go is digital. Text, email, DM your people with a link to your wedding page. If you want to go with something for them to put on their refrigerator, mail a save-the-date/invitation all in one. Costco again has the best pricing for simple invitations.
Ok decor, you can go nuts on or keep it simple. Some venues have free rentals, you can make your own inexpensively or nearly free, or pick some up on the cheap from another bride. We have seen some really creative decoration themes about the couple’s story that took thought, but not expensive. Pictures are easy and people like them.
Entertainment
By far the cheapest way to go is to create a music playlist. We have seen this both work and flop. If you are not doing a big dance party and just background music, totally fine, just have one of your people assigned to the task for setup and any glitches. If you want a kicking party, get a DJ or a band.
There are lots of apps for the iPad for a photobooth. Get a ring light and mount it and you are good to go. Most photobooth are configured something like this just a little more pretty.
Memories
We’ll be biased in this department. These are the things that you will walk away with after your wedding, your memories preserved for you and future generations. Also, get an album and print your photographs.
How we planned our wedding for under $3000
First of all, we came from the wedding industry and are more laid back people who like things more simple. We also did a completely DIY wedding with up to 60 guests
How we planned our wedding with a $3000 budget
Location: We were married on a mountain side in Montana – $50 special use permit. Simple backyard reception: free.
Attire: A dress from Dillards – $200, and yes, it was a great dress. I was even featured in several publications because of the dress. Shoes – $60. His: pants, shirt, shoes, tie (super simple) – $100
Food and Drink: One of my dad’s good friends is an award winning meat smoker and had a BBQ. He did it at cost – $250. My grandma has a B.A. in culinary arts and made us a killer carrot cake: $35. Family the day before put together the remaining dinner parts: $100. Plates, cups, silverware, etc – $60.
Aesthetics: I did my own makeup with the instruction of the MAC store – $50. Hair at a salon – $50. Florals from Costco and my mother-in-law designed them the day before our wedding – $200. Paper invitations and stamps from Costco – $200. Decor was old bottles that were spray painted by my sister and flowers added – $5
Entertainment: We had an 11am wedding with my brother-in-law playing guitar and just had background music during the reception – free
Memories: We essentially photographed our wedding (our associate photographed our ceremony) and family portraits, and we had a specific vision and spent two days in the mountain doing our own portraits (including backpacking to a mountain lake with multiple 1500 foot waterfalls in the background). So pricing based on Pine and Lace Photography’s wedding day coverage and a wedding album – $1450
Grand total: $2760