How I Got Married for $3,000

Well, this post has been a long time coming. I always thought I would elope simply because of the exorbitant cost of weddings these days. But when M and I started talking about weddings, we both figured that we might eventually regret not having our family and friends there.

So, I decided to do a wedding on a low budge. I mean, a really low budge. Initially, I wanted to do it for less than $2,500 and I was pretty close to that, but it was a little over. Total cost was about $3,200. Crazy, right?

But I honestly didn't miss anything. I had all the "parts" of the wedding that I wanted and eliminated the other parts that I didn't care about or didn't need. What I ended up with was a custom wedding experience that didn't break our budgets or cause us to go into debt. Below is a rough breakdown of how it all went down.*

So, as you can see...though I didn't stick the original budget of $2,500 but I came pretty dang close. I probably could have saved more had I not ordered invitations for every PERSON we invited to the wedding instead of every couple/family we invited. So, basically, I ordered 220+ invites because we invited that many people not taking into account that most of them would be couples or families that would only receive one invitation. #facepalm But we do have a hundred or so leftover wedding invitations...so if anyone knows any good DIY projects... :)

*Now, I will say that my family was very generous in giving M and I money and my parents also bought my dress. So, my dress is NOT included in the cost of the wedding, since it was also a gift. However, my dress was this one and it retails for $599. It was on sale when I got it from from David's Bridal. I think it looks much more expensive than it is. :)

I also, through various friendships and connections, I was able to receive a number of things at a discount or free. Below is a list of the "freebies" (not including the discount I got on the wedding invitations).

1. AV/Sound Technician and Video Recording (Friend of couple)
2. Wedding Musicians (Friends of couple)
3. Wedding Hair Styling (Sister of bride)
4. Processional Coordinator (Friend of bride)
5. Bridal Bouquets (Done by bride's sister as a wedding gift)
6. Church Usage & Tables/Tablecloths (Perks of being a former employee of the church)
7. Mason Jars/Glass Vases/Serving Trays/Cake Stands (Borrowed from friends of bride)

All along, my plan was to spend no more than $2,500 on my part of the wedding obligations. (So the parts that the bride/bride's family traditionally pays for.) I knew this would include everything for the wedding ceremony and reception. I went about $700 over my original plan, but that wasn't too bad, I don't think.

The other part of our total wedding experience was our honeymoon. M paid for the honeymoon and my wedding ring (as per tradition) and both of those together was about $3,500. Again, this isn't what I paid for or even budgeted for, but it's important to mention it because it was a part of our wedding. :)

Catch up on all of my wedding posts here.

Linking up!