There are the ring, the venue, the food, the flowers, the invitations, the cake—and plenty else. Take a look at all of the expenses involved with a wedding so that you can develop an idea of how much, realistically, you might end up spending.
Major Factors to Consider in Your Wedding Budget
There are many costs to think about, but here are some of the most common expenses that can make or break your wedding budget:
Your guest list: Most venues will charge you per guest for food and beverages, so more wedding guests can equal a significantly larger bill. The venue: It matters where you get married. A wedding in New York averages $48,600, while Idaho brides will spend, on average, $19,800. Day and time: The priciest dates are during peak wedding season, and an evening reception will up your costs even more. Saving your money and opting for a brunch or afternoon reception can cut costs. Style of wedding: Formal weddings often cost more because they up the ante with higher-end food, decor, cake, and entertainment.
What Other Costs Add Up?
The Ring
The jewelry industry “rule of thumb” is that a ring should cost two months’ salary, though that may seem like an extraordinarily high bar to meet. Nonetheless, a ring can cost anywhere from $500 to $5,000 or more. As trends change, many couples are looking at smaller, less-costly rings with alternative gems such as morganite, opal, or pearl.
Your Perfect Dress
The average bride spends between $500 and $4,000 on a dress. Remember, in addition to the main gown, you might opt for a veil, shoes, and complementary jewelry. These can add up more quickly than you expect. The groom, meanwhile, may shell out a few hundred dollars for a rented tuxedo.
Invitations and Save-the-Date Cards
It may be hard to believe, but formal save-the-date cards, followed by official invitations, can add up to hundreds of dollars. Many couples choose to have a professional photographer snap pictures for the save-the-date card, which compounds the cost. You can trim this cost by designing your invitations on Canva, a free online design program. Then head online or to the nearest copy center to print your invites, or buy a high-grade printer and some stock paper to print them at home.
Planning for Your Reception
The dress and ring may cost a significant amount, but there’s more. From your reception venue to the food, drink, and music, you might be amazed at just how quickly the costs add up for your reception, even if you’re planning something fairly modest.
The Reception Venue
Renting a space for the ceremony, dinner, and reception can cost thousands of dollars. Furthermore, many venues require that the couple use their in-house catering or dining services, which may add to the costs, because they’re locked into those food and beverage prices. Some people, however, choose to save money by hosting their wedding at a friend or family member’s home, or by reserving a free or low-cost space like a public park.
Food
Appetizers, dinner, and dessert can be costly. Many services bill “per person” or “per head,” so wedding planners sometimes advise couples to lower their wedding costs by cutting their guest list. Of course, that’s not a great solution for many couples who want their friends and family to be present on their big day. Alternative ways to lower wedding food costs include offering a buffet-style, self-serve meal (rather than having individual dishes served by a waitstaff), serving vegetarian food or low-cost meats like chicken, or skipping the salad course.
Before and After
Don’t forget: You’ll also want to serve food at the rehearsal dinner and the day-after brunch.
“Day-of” Wedding Coordinator
The actual day of the wedding requires a lot of event management. You’ll have a less-stressful experience if you have a “day-of” coordinator who can manage all the different moving parts: making sure the wedding party knows where to go, directing the videographer and photographer, ensuring that the flower girl is in place, and helping avoid any wedding disasters.
Photographer
You’ll want high-quality pictures of your big day. Wedding planners often advise clients not to cut the photography budget, since the photos are a great source of memories. Many couples compromise in other areas, like flowers or centerpieces, to make sure they have a good photographer or videographer.
Decorations
From flowers to centerpieces, from aisle runners to tablecloths, from chair covers to fancy menu cards, your wedding will involve a lot of decorative staging. Want lanterns? Candles? Need to rent silverware? It all costs money.
Cake
Creating a multi-tiered cake is a huge endeavor for a pastry chef, and couples are charged accordingly. Opting for cupcakes, which are cheaper and easier for pastry chefs to produce, can save you money. Alternatively, if your venue allows it, you can ask your friends or family to make the cake as a wedding gift to you—just remember that it may not be as fancy as what a professional can do.
Drinks
Ah, the open bar. Alcohol can add up quickly. Curb the cost by offering only a limited selection of wines and beer. If your venue allows it, you can also recruit one of your friends to be the designated bartender for the evening.
Band or DJ
Regardless of whether you book a band or a DJ, prepare to spend between several hundred and several thousand dollars. After all, the band needs to compensate its members and cover its transit costs and any sound system rental; a DJ has to get paid for their time and compensate for their equipment costs. You’ll might use a music and entertainment booking agency to find the talent, which will also take a cut of the fee. You can trim this cost by putting together a playlist of your own music for the wedding and asking a friend to be in charge of the sound system.
Guest Gifts
Want to rent a photo booth, where guests can snap pictures of themselves? Want a popcorn or a cotton-candy machine? Want to give your guests little jars of honey as a take-home present? All of these guest gifts cost money.
Honeymoon
Don’t forget that the pricey trip you take after the ceremony can count toward your wedding costs. Think carefully about whether you’d prefer a fancy wedding or a nice honeymoon. Some travel enthusiasts skimp on the wedding so that they can spend a week at a luxury resort in the Maldives. Others reason that they can travel at any time, but they’ll only get married once, so they designate the bulk of their budget for the wedding and save on the trip.
Wedding Budget Benchmarks
Just for fun, this is how much brides are spending on average in various states. However, within any given state, the cost also varies, depending on the area. Look at some average wedding costs by spending category: States With the Most Expensive Weddings
New Jersey: $53,400Rhode Island: $49,800New York: $48,600Massachusetts: $43,600Connecticut: $41,000
States With the Least Expensive Weddings
Utah: $19,700Idaho: $19,800Wyoming: $19,800Oklahoma: $21,200Arkansas: $21,800
Average Wedding Costs by Category Expenses are followed by their average cost:
Venue: $10,500Wedding dress: $1,600Wedding planner: $1,500Photographer: $2,400Videographer: $1,800Flowers: $2,000Reception DJ: $1,200Reception band: $3,700Wedding cake: $500Rehearsal dinner: $1,900
How Can You Budget for All of This?
Weddings have an incredibly long list of expenses. Before you start spending money, review this list, and number the expenses in order of priority. What’s the number-one thing on this list? The dress? The photographer? The honeymoon? What’s the number-two thing on your list? And what are you willing to give up to ensure that you can save enough money to pay for your top priorities? Both partners should separately number this list in order of priority, and then compare notes to see how the priorities align. Budgeting is, at its heart, the art of aligning your expenses with your priorities. The only way you’ll be able to do that is by articulating which expenses take the number-one position and deciding what you’re willing to give up to afford it.
