My own wedding has come and gone, and I see a lot of couples struggling to understand how much everything costs. I wanted to share the breakdown of my wedding day expenses and give a shoutout to our awesome vendors. In October 2023, we spent $20,000 on our wedding for 80 people.
Wedding Budget Breakdown: $20,000 for 80 People
Venue + Food + Drinks: $13,000
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80 people, $90 per head (plated dinner service and cocktail hour)
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We paid the drink tab - $6 per drink
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$1500 site fee (included on-site ceremony)
Flowers and Decor: $1600
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It would have cost me $1600 to "order from myself"
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Bridal bouquet, 6 bridesmaid bouquets, 9 boutonnieres, 10 centerpieces, arch flowers, sweetheart table garland
Videography: $1600 (Best Investment!)
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5 hours of coverage, 2 videographers
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Raw footage and audio delivered
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I edited my own highlight video
Bridal Makeup + Trial: $200
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Kaylee Ground
My biggest tip for brides currently booking vendors:
Please do your research, look for reviews, and have a video call with your vendors before booking. Beware of fake reviews! We chose a DJ because he had great prices, and even though I had a bad gut feeling because of the strange emails he would send us, I still booked him and he was unfortunately a disappointment for us on the wedding day. But otherwise, our vendors were absolutely amazing.
Another tip:
If you can budget for it, add in video coverage. Even if it's just someone coming to record raw footage. We saved a lot of money not paying for editing, but we had to specifically request a custom package without the video editing. Having high quality, raw recordings of my ceremony, parent speeches, and first dance is priceless!
