Wedding Budgets: Everything You Need to Know

You can plan a wedding on whatever budget you’ve got, but how do you go about setting your wedding budget? Determining how much you can afford to spend on your wedding can feel like a daunting task, and that’s before you even begin allocating your funds to various aspects of your day.

This page contains all the info you need to know about wedding budgets. From how to talk to your partner and families about money for the wedding, to how to calculate your total budget.

You don’t have to go into debt to have a beautiful wedding

If there’s one thing we believe here at The Budget Savvy Bride, it’s that you can have a beautiful, meaningful wedding no matter what budget you’re working with. We wholeheartedly encourage couples to plan #debtfreeweddings so that they can start their marriages off on solid financial footing.

Starting off your marriage in debt for a wedding you couldn’t actually afford is not the best idea. Learn more about planning a debt-free wedding here.

If you want more guided help in planning your wedding, make sure to pick up a copy of our best-selling wedding planner: The Budget-Savvy Wedding Planner & Organizer.

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Setting your wedding budget for the big day

We’re working on building a wedding budget calculator, but we’ve got other helpful resources in the meantime. Find out what you can realistically afford to spend on your wedding based on your personal circumstances. If you’re looking for help setting the budget for your wedding, we’ve got the information and advice you need! Start with the following posts:

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Review average wedding costs in your area

Visit the resources below to view the average reported costs of weddings in your area and across the country. Just remember to take average costs with a grain of salt and do what’s right for your personal financial situation.

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How will you be paying for your wedding?

Will you be cash-flowing your wedding payments? Putting payments on a credit card? Check out these posts that can help you further in deciding how to handle funding your wedding.

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Get inspired by savvy real weddings on a budget

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed about pulling off a wedding you’re proud of on a modest budget, browse our real wedding archives for tons of inspiration. 1000s of real couples share their wedding budget breakdowns to prove it’s possible to have an amazing wedding without spending a fortune.

Browse Real Weddings by Budget

We only publish events on a total wedding budget of $25,000 or less, and each real wedding includes a breakdown of the budget so you can see how a couple spent their money. These sample budgets are incredibly helpful, especially if you’re working with a smaller budget. We’ve even featured $1,000 weddings and elopements! There are real weddings to inspire you from all across the US and at all different price points. Most of the weddings we’ve published are $15,000 or less– which is less than 1/2 the national “averages” reported.

Browse real weddings with sample wedding budgets & budget breakdowns by clicking the button below!

Explore sample wedding budgets from real weddings

An actual wedding budget breakdown accompanies each wedding feature!

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The best ways to save up for your wedding

Need to save money to cover some of the wedding expenses? There are many ways to save money during the wedding planning process, including earning more money to help pay for your wedding! Read the posts below for advice to put money away for the big day:

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Advice for sticking to the wedding budget you’ve set

Once you’ve set the budget, you need to figure out how to stick to it! Read these posts for advice on keeping your eye on the prize:

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Tips for planning a wedding on a budget

If you’re planning a wedding on a small budget, you’ll need to get creative to make the most of your money. Once you know your top three priorities for your wedding, it will help you allocate your funds to the areas that matter most to you.

There are ways to save money on every single category of the big day, from photography to rentals, to outfits and makeup, linens, centerpiece décor, and more.

For the areas that aren’t quite as important, read our tips for saving money on your wedding to learn dozens of tricks and budget hacks to lower your wedding costs!

Simple Choices to Save Money on Your Wedding

Tips for Finding Lower-Cost Wedding Vendors

• Tips for negotiating with vendors
• Hiring friends as vendors
• Tips for hiring budget savvy vendors
• Wedding vendor tipping guide
• Find an up-and-coming photographer
• Officiants – have a friend perform your ceremony
• DJ your own wedding instead of hiring a pro or live band
• Opt for DIY videography instead of hiring a pro videographer

Free Stuff for Your Wedding

• Free Wedding Printables
• Big List of Wedding Freebies

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Making the most out of your money:
stretching your wedding budget

Make note of the ways we’ve shared to stretch your dollars and maximize the money you’ve got for your event!

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We hope this helps set you on the right path for setting and sticking to your wedding budget!

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