When the average cost of a wedding is between $20,000-$32,641 (theKnot.com), it’s no wonder brides turn into bridezillas and there are family feuds because of it! When I got engaged, I knew I couldn’t afford anywhere near that amount. So I set on a quest: a quest to have my ideal wedding under $10,000 so we could still afford to go on my dream honeymoon. My family calls me the “coupon queen” because I’m good at getting the best deals and being careful with money. I’ll admit to letting the stress of this goal get to me, wanting to cut corners every which way and thinking about eloping on several occasions. But with careful planning, I did it! I had my ideal wedding under $10,000 and now I’m going to show you exactly how I did it so you can too.
Dress $430 – David’s Bridal (Appleton)
You absolutely do not have to spend more than $1000 on your wedding dress. When we went shopping, I didn’t look at any of the price tags until I had found 3 that I liked the most. Two of them were in the $900-1200 range, and then mine was $400+tax. Unless you’re like me and sharing the costs of your wedding, NO ONE is going to know if your dress was “cheap” or not! As long as you love the dress, YOU will make it look like a million $$$. I just hated the thought of buying a dress for over $1000 just to wear it once and have it sit in my closet for eternity. **I didn’t buy any jewelry for the day either. My earrings were my moms, my necklace was mine. My shoes were $25 at David’s Bridal.
Alterations $80 – Alban (Oshkosh)
David’s Bridal wanted $200+ to alter my dress, and that seemed very high considering I only needed it shortened and the little hookie thing (I can’t remember what it’s called) to tie the dress in the back. My aunt recommended Alban, a local alteration business, and that saved me a ton! Look for smaller businesses for better prices!
Tux $160 – Men’s Warehouse (Appleton)
We had a great experience getting David’s tux. Ask for Coreena if you go to Men’s Warehouse in Appleton, WI. She was so helpful and had a great eye for style with our budget. The end result wasn’t what I originally intended to get but I am so glad we went with her suggestions because hello, David looked fineeeeeeeee 😉 We had a mailed coupon to save $50 off a rental and ended up saving $40 from our original budget!
Venue Package $5,100 – Heidel House (Green Lake)
This is where the real saving-money magic happened. Let me break down the initial estimate without a package and what we got with the package. Non-Package total: $10,210. Package total: $5,100. CHECK FOR PACKAGES! We would not have been able to have our wedding at my ideal venue without this.
| Non-Package | Package | |
| Ceremony site | $800 | $100 |
| Reception room | $1,200 | $500 |
| Food & Bev minimum | $7,000 | No minimum -actual cost $4791 including gratuity |
| Accommoda-tions | $130 per night | 2 nights free – lake suite |
| Appetizer cheese display | $950 | free |
| Not free – unsure the exact amount of fees | Free cake cutting & service Choice of colored linens |
Cake – Family member
Out of sheer generosity and love, a family member offered to make our cake for us at no cost. We were completely blown away that someone would do that for us. The cake looked and tasted amazing. I wanted something simple (cuz I’m the girl who doesn’t like eating bright colored frosting). This saved me $500 after getting quotes from 2 places in Oshkosh. Those costs ranged from $2.50-3.00 per person. Cake topper was off of Etsy! Find talented friends or go for a smaller local shop!
DJ $774 – Friend/EMI Audio Rentals (Robbinsdale, MN)
Being that David and I work with audio/lighting every day, we were able to DIY with a little help. We asked our friend/co-worker to run everything for us and we took care of the rental. I do NOT recommend going this route unless you know what you are doing. We 100% trusted our friend because I have worked with him for 3 years, we work events together, he understands what needs to be done, the vision I had, and I needed someone to handle emergencies because clearly I couldn’t do it myself if a mic stopped working in the middle of the ceremony.
We rented all the equipment (wall lights, dance floor lights, audio). It worked awesome because the rental price included 5 days total so we weren’t paying per light per day. That adds up fast. Then we paid for our friend’s resort accommodations. The $774 is total cost of rental and having our homie there to take care of it for us! As for the music? Spotify Premium (LOL nobody wants ads in their dance). I made the playlist myself. There are plenty of wedding playlists on Spotify if you need ideas!
Most DJ packages range from $900-$2300 depending on what you want. Just to use any AV services at the Heidel House was $966 including service fees, not including dance floor lighting or the per hour fee of having a staff member present. Then we would still be missing a DJ and you can’t let just anyone handle the resort’s equipment (AGH nightmare!). **If you need any advice and want to DIY your own wedding dance, please contact me or David! We can give you tips or maybe even hire us to do it for you!**
Photography $550 – Beautifully Pure Photo
Kat Farrell (owner of Beautifully Pure Photo) is actually one of Kayla’s friends from school. She is the sweetest person ever. The total cost included our engagement pictures, wedding pictures, and her accommodations at the resort. Yeah, all of that for under $1000 is unheard of. She is currently based out of Minnesota. Most photography packages are over $1500 minimum. We got our pictures back within 3 days of the wedding. THAT IS CRAZY PEOPLE. I know some couples who waited 2-3 months for their pictures! **Beautifully Pure Photo is subject to differ pricing as they see fit. Just because that was my price does NOT mean that will be your price. Releasing info about pricing is just to be a reference point for you.
Invitations/Meal Cards $215 – Wedding Paper Divas (now Shutterfly)
We did E-Save the Dates. Meaning we either messaged them or emailed them to people. We didn’t think it was a worthwhile use of money when we would be spending more money on real invitations that people might keep longer. With the invitations, get the standard white envelope. Don’t waste money on getting a fancy envelope that people will throw out 2 seconds later. We were required to get meal cards for the reception and rather than getting them customized with each individual’s name typed and running the risk of people not showing up or last minute additions, I wrote them out by hand. Again, they were thrown out by the end of the night so use that money elsewhere. Now Wedding Paper Divas is owned by Shutterfly but they still do amazing discounts! Mine were 40% off.
Decorations $1,800 – House of Flowers/Couture Events (Oshkosh)
We were originally going to DIY decorations and I am SO glad we didn’t. House of Flowers handling the decorations was an absolute 10/10 and everyone in the Fox Valley should hire them. Seriously. It was a tiny bit of a splurge but with the savings in so many other areas, we were able to afford it. We met with them twice and they came up with gorgeous centerpieces, the bouquets, the head table runners, ceremony arbor decorations, the dangling lights above the dance floor, set-up, and tear-down. We literally didn’t have to lift a finger. It was incredible. It saved so much time and stress from the day! I never thought I’d be able to afford real flowers (especially roses) and they made it happen. That was a BIG deal to me. LOVE THEM.
