Weddings can be expensive, and many couples find themselves wondering how they’re going to pay for theirs.
But you can absolutely have a beautiful wedding without breaking the bank. The key is determining how much you can comfortably spend, identifying what the various components of a wedding cost and tracking all your expenses in a comprehensive wedding budget spreadsheet.
As you map out your wedding budget, avoid comparing your wedding to others. Between regional differences, inflation, differing funding sources and personal taste, wedding costs can vary widely. Instead, get quotes from vendors you’re actually considering and think outside the box as you work through your wedding budget breakdown. There are lots of creative ways to save money on a wedding, and they all hinge on your knowledge of accurate costs and viable alternatives. Read on for tips, tricks and inspo for a beautiful wedding for any budget.
Key takeaways
- The venue and catering are usually the biggest part of a wedding budget.
- There are lots of ways to splurge and lots of ways to save on a wedding.
- Keep in mind that unexpected costs will arise.
Identify your wedding budget
Before you can dive into planning your wedding, determine a hard figure for your wedding budget. This is something you and your partner agree to before you start contacting vendors or allow other funding providers, such as parents, to become involved. Once you start visiting venues and involving parents in the conversation, figures and boundaries can become blurry—so nail down your strict figure and rules surrounding what kind of help you’ll accept and how much of it you’ll accept before you do anything else.
Perhaps the biggest factor in your budget is your wedding’s size. Have a frank discussion with your partner and anybody else who expects a say in your guest list, as in many cultures, the couple’s parents play a role in wedding planning, about how many people will be invited. You don’t need a finalized guest list at this stage, but you should know approximately how many invitations you’ll send. This number will determine which venues are appropriate, how much you’ll need to budget for food and drinks and logistical expenses like transportation costs, if applicable.
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Once you have a clear wedding budget spreadsheet, keep in mind that unexpected costs will arise. Generally, building about $5,000 into your wedding budget is a good buffer to ensure you can cover surprise expenses like last-minute alterations or needing to buy umbrellas for all your guests. Ideally, careful planning will minimize your likelihood of needing to use this money, but it’s always good to be prepared!
The following wedding budget breakdown is an approximate look at how much of your budget you can expect to spend on various categories. Keep in mind it’s just an average, not a guarantee, so be sure to research average costs for each category in your city/region.
Key categories of a wedding budget
Venue and catering: ~40%
A wedding’s venue and catering often take up a big portion of the couple’s budget because often, these involve a lot of “moving parts.” There are staff members to pay, setup and breakdown, the cost of food and drinks and management required to ensure all goes according to the couple’s plan.
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As you research venues, keep in mind that some venues require you to use their on-site catering services. Others don’t offer this service, requiring you to book an outside caterer. In either case, this can affect the cost.
Ways to save
- Hold your wedding in a county or state park. There are lots of beautiful choices and often, parks have outdoor pavilions and other features that are perfect for partying.
- For a smaller wedding, you may be able to host at your own home.
- Opt for light bites and/or no alcohol at your reception instead of a full meal and bar.
- Plan a destination wedding in a foreign city or far-off resort—wedding venues abroad can be fairly inexpensive.
Photography/videography: 10-15%
There’s a reason why photography and videography take up a substantial portion of the average wedding budget: you want to remember your big day! A professional photographer and/or videographer can be more expensive than many people realize, so consider if it makes sense to hire them for a limited period (like just the ceremony) or opting out of professional photography completely and having your guests take smartphone pics.
Ways to save
- Choose one or the other: photos or video.
- Hire a photographer/videographer for a shorter time frame, such as just your ceremony or only until your first dance.
- Add a photo booth to your wedding reception for fun pics! This can be a great choice, especially if you choose to only hire a photographer for your ceremony.
Attire: 5-10%
Determine your attire budget before you say yes to the dress! It’s also important to remember that for some couples, the attire budget only includes their own outfits, while others shell out for their wedding parties.
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Ways to save
- Rent a tuxedo or suit.
- Thrift a gown.
- Borrow accessories and other items from friends or family.
- Check department stores for great deals on apparel.
Music and entertainment: 5-10%
Music and entertainment are a key part of any wedding reception. Traditionally, this meant a band, but at many modern weddings, the entertainment is a DJ.
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Ways to save
- Opt for a DJ instead of a band.
- Offer lawn games like cornhole and bocce during the reception instead of music and dancing.
- Skip the entertainment and opt for a shorter reception that only features a shared meal.
Ways to splurge
- Hire a wedding band who matches your vibe perfectly.
- Include additional entertainment like a henna artist or tarot card reader during the reception.
Flowers and decor: varies significantly
Flowers and other decor are an important part of setting the ambiance for a wedding. They can also be very cost-effective—or very expensive, depending on your taste, your budget and simply how much you choose to decorate the venue.
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Ways to save
- Keep decorations minimal, allowing the venue’s natural beauty to be your decor.
- Choose in-season or local flowers for your bouquet.
- Design custom wedding decorations like balloons and signage.
- Reuse installments throughout the day, like moving ceremony flowers to the reception area for cocktail hour.
- DIY your flowers.
Gifts and favors: varies significantly
This is another category that varies significantly because you can buy expensive wedding favors and gifts for your wedding party and partner, or you can go the inexpensive route and gift everybody a packet of wildflower seeds or an etched wine glass. After all, you’ll need glasses for the bar and or dinner service…why not make them your favors?
Ways to save
- Opt out of gifts.
- Alternatively, opt for inexpensive gifts, like customizable stickers from VistaPrint.
- Stick with personalized favors that won’t break the bank, like custom matchbooks or bookmarks.
Transportation: 2-3%
As you budget for transportation, determine if you’ll be providing transportation for your whole wedding party or just for you and your partner. This category may also include a shuttle from the venue to local lodging, if it fits your budget and if many of your guests are coming from out of town.
Ways to save
- Drive your own vehicle to your wedding.
- Stick to booking transportation for only yourself and your partner.
- Organize rides with friends and family to split costs.
Stationery: 1-3%
Wedding stationery is a broad category that includes save the dates, invitations, RSVP cards, thank you cards and documents like ceremony programs and menus. Generally, stationery only takes up a small amount of a wedding budget, but it’s important to keep in mind that the more guests you invite, the more you’ll need to spend on stationery.
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Ways to save
- Choose simple, generic stationery for must-haves like invitations and thank you cards, skipping extras like RSVP cards.
- Make RSVPing inexpensive and super-simple by including a QR code that goes right to your wedding website.
- Opt only for the essentials in your stationery suite, like save the dates, invitations and thank you cards.
Create custom stationery that fits any wedding budget
When you’re creating your wedding budget, stationery can be a big part of the breakdown or a drop in the bucket, depending on factors like the number of guests you invite, the type of paper you choose, the number of individual pieces you design (ie, invitations and save the dates and menu cards, etc) and whether you opt for premade stationery or choose to design your own.
Similarly, personalized wedding stationery can fit just about any budget. VistaPrint offers high-quality options in a variety of styles and finishes, all with the added bonus of adding your personal twist to your wedding communications. Take a look at the wedding stationery choices VistaPrint has to offer now.
