Budgeting for weddings is not easy, especially if you don’t know what you want. After all, there are so many different options available to you. You want to make sure that you don’t go over your budget, but at the same time, you need to make sure that your wedding is everything that you’ve always dreamed of. It is important to be able to plan and save for your wedding to make sure you are able to enjoy the special day with your loved ones.
Nowadays, wedding costs are rising quicker than ever before. This means that a lot of people are finding themselves in debt, or even worse, in the red. If you are planning your wedding, but are afraid you won’t be able to afford it, you don’t have to worry! There are a lot of ways to save money on your wedding. In this article, I am going to give you a rundown on how you can find the perfect wedding for less than $10,000.
Wedding Budget Breakdown
A big chunk of money for the wedding will go into activities like wedding venue booking, catering, ceremony fee, wedding photographer, reception, wedding dresses, make-over, etc. Let’s break down these activities and how much each should cost for the optimal budget plan.
Wedding Venue Booking - $2500
Whether you are getting married in a traditional church or a rustic barn, the venue will play an important role in helping you customize your wedding. Best place would be to find affordable “party places” that also provide quality wedding food. If that is not an option, then you can search for local hotels that have enough ground for your guest to walk around. Most of the hotels, provide package deals for weddings or parties. Select the hotel that can provide deals like free DJ, workers, etc.
Catering Service - $1800
Catering is an important part of every wedding and is often the most expensive part of the whole event. This is the part where you can save most of your budget. The cost for the catering depends on the size of the wedding and the food you are planning to serve. Always, make a checklist of your guest and confirm the number. For the backup, try to add some extra plates. After that try to make a checklist of the food items. Just don’t select every expensive item. Try to mix food items that are affordable with expensive ones so that the food menu looks pleasing.
In most cases, wedding venue providers also provide catering services. You can also save some money if you properly manage your venue and catering service. Plan the affordable foods for the starters, heavy food items for the meal, and light dessert. For the drinks, see if you can find any deals in the liquor shop.
Wedding Photographer - $1000
For a wedding photographer, you need to choose someone that has good experience in photography and is more affordable. Most of the photographers take money based on their presence at the wedding. The longer they are more money they will take. Always double-check if they provide some deal for the whole event.
Venue and Reception Decoration - $500
Decoration of the venue and reception should be done with the utmost care and attention. As these are the aspects that guest like to watch. Try to use flowers, fairy lights, lanterns, artistic designs, etc for the decoration. The venue provides by default has some décor items with them and on top of that you can use extra items to make the event more beautiful.
Wedding Dress – $700
For every bride, the wedding dress is the only thing they wait for. But this doesn’t mean it had to be an expensive one. Visit the local shops that provide beautiful-looking wedding dresses at an affordable price. Another option would be to search on e-commerce websites for the perfect wedding dress. Here is a guide on how you can buy affordable wedding dresses online.
For the groom, you can just order your wedding suites online. Wedding suites are very affordable can find one in the range of $100-$200. Here is a list of the most affordable wedding suits for men.
Makeup - $200
Here in the makeup section we are not just talking about the facial makeup or hair styling but also the bridal accessories like wedding shoes and bracelets. You can also check our list of wedding shoes for women to find the best affordable shoes.
Sound Box and DJ - $500
For morning and daytime, you can just entertain people with the manual music from the sound box. You can get it on rent from the venue provider or you can purchase one for around $150. For the evening show, you can hire a DJ to make the wedding a memorable one. You can hire a local DJ at an affordable price of around $300-$400.
Honeymoon Period - $2000
Planning a honeymoon can be a tough task. There are so many things to think about and you want it all to be perfect. During the honeymoon period, you cannot save much that is why we saved a little more in other parts. $2000 will be more than enough for the honeymoon. Traveling to new destinations, surfing on beaches, and staying in expensive hotels won’t be an issue.
Miscellaneous - $800
In the miscellaneous section, we have separated some money for things like a wedding cake, wedding flowers, wedding ceremony fee, tips, etc.
Wrapping Up
Budgeting for a perfect wedding is almost impossible as weddings are quite unpredictable. But if you follow the breakdown guide we have created, you can save a lot of money. Whether you are booking a venue or planning the honeymoon, the above-mentioned budget will be more than enough to complete the wedding for under $10,000.
Meanwhile, if you are searching for a wedding loan, contact us. At Pay My Wedding, we offer fast and easy financing to couples who need extra cash for their wedding days.