I've loved browsing the wedding budgets that get posted and had a bit of time on my hands so thought I'd share my own from our wedding this past August!We started out being very budget conscious and thinking 10k was our upper limit, but once we started looking at things in more detail and realizing how much everything cost for the things that were important to us, we increased our budget.We planned a 70 person wedding but our final head count was only 37 people due to the US keeping the land border closed to Canadians. Prices include all taxes and fees, but do not include tips unless otherwise specified.TLDR:Wedding Cost Total : 22,590 + TipsCeremony/Reception venue, horderves, wine, seated dinner, 5h open bar, tip - 6600Dessert - 3408h Photographer + fancy photo book - 32007h DJ/Photobooth - 1300Piper for ceremony music - 250Bride's outfit - 2400. Dress 1400, alterations 625, steaming 75, accessories 300Groom's outfit - 1000. Formal clan kilt and all accessoriesWedding party outfits - 1700. 2x bridesmaids, 2x groomsmenRings - 2200Hair/Makeup for 4/5ppl - 1000Flowers - 820Other Decor - 440Stationary - 410Wedding favors - 140Limo - 550Wedding party gifts - 200License - 40Additional Costs : 8,650Rehearsal Dinner - 750Morning-After Brunch - 900Flights and Covid tests for 3 people that couldn't drive over the border : 25003 rooms at venue for 2-nights : 1000Flights and week long airbnb for family staying a week : 35006-day honeymoon in San Francisco ~3200More detailed breakdown (with pictures!) if you're curious about details.___Venue - 6600This covered the rental of the chapel (500), reception hall (1000), a sit-down dinner (1800?), open bar for 5 hours (1300), champagne toast (110), bottled wine on the tables (340), horderves (600), and taxes/fees/tip (1250).We planned our wedding for 70 people, but due to the US/Canada land border staying closed we ended up with only 37. Our venue was very understanding and let us put together two guest lists, meal plans, and seating charts, as long as we let them know the week of the wedding which one to use. Unfortunately this didn't leave us time to invite a "Plan B" list as the decision about the border closure was being done monthly and the most recently extension was done only a week before the wedding.We also worked closely with their events coordinator who did an amazing job at helping out with the rehearsal and on our wedding day. There was a mandatory tip included in the bill for staff, but we also tipped her extra which isn't included in the above price. She's part of why we did not feel we needed a day-of coordinator.Dessert - 340We decided to go with fancy dessert trays from a local bakery rather than a traditional wedding cake. I would absolutely do it again in a heartbeat!Photographer - 3200We knew we didn't wanted to splurge on a good photographer, and this price included a photographer for 8h and a really nice curated photobook at the end of everything. As an unexpected bonus, we got asked if we'd mind if he brought his wife along as a second photographer. So we got two photographers and roughly twice the expected number of photos (over 1500 pictures) for the same price!DJ/Photobooth - 1300My husband really wanted a DJ, and I'm so glad I agreed to spend the extra here! He knew a guy at work who gave him a discounted price, and the DJ was able to keep guests entertained and the dance floor hopping all night despite our smaller guest count. The photobooth was also a huge hit, as they worked with us to design our own photo template and had a real-time printer along with a great many props (favorite was a chicken head). We got a copy of every photo for a book they provided, and guests got to take a copy home as a memento. We loved seeing them get progressively drunker as the night went on, and what they scribbled for us in the notes section!Piper for Ceremony Music - 250Since we were going with a Scottish theme, we decided to hire a piper to play at our ceremony rather than do traditional ceremony music.Bride Outfit - 2400Dress was 1400 after tax, but alterations were 750. Apparently having a dress with 6 layers meant I got charged 6x to hem it, in addition to taking the straps and sides in, and getting the dress steamed a few days before our wedding. Other accessories were shoes (80), veil (90), hairpiece (80), and earrings (12). I definitely could have gone cheaper on the accessories.Groom's Outfit - 1000My fiance really wanted to wear a formal clan kilt for the wedding, so we spent more than anticipated here. There's a lot of festivals around here too though, so he will definitely have opportunities to re-wear his outfit. Price included clan tartan kilt, fly plaid, prince charlie jacket, (vegan) sporran, wing collar tuxedo shirt, tuxedo studs, bow tie, ghille shoes, wool socks, flashes, kilt pin, and brooch. We had a box labeled "Guy Bling" and I think they had more flashy accessories than the girls did!Wedding Party Outfits **- 1700?**We had 2 groomsmen that we paid to have outfitted in full Scottish regalia because it didn't feel right to ask them to purchase such an expensive outfit for our day. One actually was of Scottish ancestry too, so we made sure to get his own clan outfit (and I believe he reimbursed us afterwards for his). Of my two bridesmaids, I knew one was struggling financially so I offered to pay for her dress and alterations, and then it didn't feel right to not pay for the other one as well. The guys outfits definitely cost more than the girls outfits though.We could have gone cheaper on the outfits, but we purchased most of it in small portions at the time over the months so didn't look too closely at how much we spent until much later. It was a lot of fun though, looking for accessories for both of us.Rings - 2200I'm not sure if rings are usually included in the budget breakdown, but our rings each cost roughly 1100. We didn't want to go cheap for something we hoped to wear the rest of our lives, and had the money for it, so figured why not. There were plenty of cheaper alternatives we liked as well, but the ones we got were definitely our top pick.Hair & Makeup - 1000We paid for hair and makeup for myself, 2 bridesmaids (one didn't want her hair done), my mother, and my grandpa's partner at a salon. Price shown does not include tip.3h Limo - 550We really wanted a limo to take our group of 6 to the various photo locations we had picked out, but everywhere I called had no availability for our weekend! I finally found a place based a few hours away that charged much more than average, and that turned out to be our big wedding fiasco when it showed up late with the roof peeled off and an untrained bus driver at the wheel. Still had a great time though!Flowers - 820We paid a reputable florist about 600 to make 3 bouquets, 2 corsages, 2 boutonnieres, and to do a display on the mantlepiece behind us at the ceremony location that we re-used in our reception hall. We also purchased Costco garlands (100) and loose flowers from the grocery store (40?) to help decorate the reception hall. The grocery store option did not go well, and we ended up scrambling and paying a florist another 80 or so to obtain the missing flowers that were important to us (Thistle, Eucalyptus, and a type of Lavender)Other Decor Items - 440Wooden slices (50), mini lanterns (60), candles(3), fairy lights(12), and mini pinecones (10) for 12 centerpieces (close up of centerpieces). Husband made the wooden block numbers with spare wood and chalkboard paint. Originally planned for 10 tables plus head table, although ended up needing only 5. Personalized wooden card box and Guest Book off Etsy (115). Larger lanterns (30) and candles (20) for head table, tartan table runner (100), large wedding sign (40)Wedding Favors x70 - 140Paper boxes (18), fancy chocolates (80), name tags (15), dietary stickers (25). We had enough for the full guest count even though the border remained closed and we went with our shorter guest list. They were a lot of fun to plan and put together, and people loved them! I liked them so much I made a post on reddit about them if you want more detailsWedding Party Gifts - 200We got higher-quality alcohol for our wedding party and a wooden beer stein mug for our officiant who was a friend that agreed to get licensed to marry us. He refused to let us pay him anything, but him and his wife were among our wedding guests.Stationary - 410Went through Vistaprint - Includes Save-the-Dates (30), Invites (65), RSVP (105), TY Cards (41), return address labels, US Postal Stamps (105), Canadian postal stamps for return RSVPs (25), and shipping to mail us these itemsWedding License - 40Other larger ticket items that I'm not sure if I should count as "wedding" would be:Rehearsal Dinner - 750Was a local pub/restaurant for 17 people since we included family that was from out-of-town.Morning-After Brunch - 900Was a fancy higher-end brunch buffet for 20 people, and I just realized now that I completely missed their "bloody mary/mimosa" room!6-day honeymoon in San Francisco ~3200We hadn't been before and had an amazing time! We originally weren't planning on a honeymoon right away, but when we found out family was leaving earlier than expected we decided to go somewhere for our remaining time off (we both had 2 weeks off around the wedding).Flights and Covid tests for 3 people : 2500What should have been a 20-30 min drive for the groom's mother and 2 groomsmen turned into a ~2h taxi to the nearest international airport, followed by a 6h flight that had a layover in Chicago. And 2 covid tests each. We offered to pay since they were undergoing the inconvenience of an 8h travel day during a pandemic for us. We could drive them back home over the border too after the wedding since Canada had opened up their side, so that was stupid.2-night stay at venue for groomsmen and grooms mother : 1000**2-night stay at venue for us - Free!**My dad paid the bill for this one, but I think it was about 350 or so. We were really upset not to get the honeymoon suite when we booked last year, but it turns out the air conditioning broke in the room for us so they did some creative re-arranging and we ended up with one of the honeymoon suites after all at no extra charge!Flights and week long airbnb for my family : 3500My family lives across the country so we paid for flights for my mother, grandfather, and grandfather's partner since none of them have a lot of money and we didn't want to strain their finances by asking them to pay for this. The AirBnB was large enough to sleep my brothers too who paid for their own airfare and car rental to be here. As an added bonus, they had an absolutely amazing property and let us take some wedding photos on it that turned out awesome!Anyways, sorry for such a long post but it was fun to remember everything as I wrote this up! Hopefully the costs will help others who are planning, and free free to ask questions if you want more info! via /r/weddingplanning https://ift.tt/3aLjW4w
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