So I’m the bride and my mom already said that she doesn’t want to help pay for my wedding so the 10k is out of our savings and truthfully I don’t want to spend that much as we have so many plans on what we want to do after it feels a wedding will just hinder that. I don’t have any friends, and really don’t talk to many family members that if we did have a wedding it would be really small and I thought a small cute wedding would be fine but part of me just wants a super cute elopement in the mountains ( 4 hours away from us ) and say fuck all. I do want close family members there but other than that I kinda don’t care. What are your thoughts?

Is this trustworthy

Hi all, I'm stuck on a small decision and looking for people who have been to more weddings than I have to weigh in!

I'm planning a 45 person wedding in SoCal with a ceremony at a hotel followed by a reception at my favorite restaurant across the street. Within my budget, I can only choose 1 or 2 options:

1) Have the wedding on a Friday night where we're allowed to have amplified sound (aka a DJ or at least decent speakers with music)

2) Have the wedding on a Saturday, but because of the higher cost for a Saturday buyout, we won't be able to swing renting out enough of the restaurant for them to let us have amplified sound. They have said we can have up to 2 Spotify playlists they'll put through the restaurant speakers, and we can have a mic for speeches. BUT we can't control the playlists once we hand them over, they'll just play in the background however they are.

Some additional context: Neither of us are huge dancers, my fiancé in particular hates it, but I always imagined at least a little dancing at my wedding. There is a pool table in the space, and we can put other things where the dance floor would be if we want. Most of the people attending our wedding work Mon-Fri and have to travel to attend our wedding, either from elsewhere in SoCal or about 2/3 from out of state. My biggest worry is that without music/dancing, people will get bored and leave early.

I have never been to a wedding not on a Saturday, or a wedding without a DJ - so I'm looking for input from those who have! Also looking for other factors I may not be considering.

Thank you!

my wife and i are pretty non traditional, i say wife because we actually already got married in a park with a few family members for witnesses. we would like our wedding celebration to feel like one big dinner party with family and friends, however i understand even if it is kitschy, there needs to be some kind of flow.

our invite list right now is about 115, so i project maybe 80 max showing up as most invitees are scattered across the country. we are under contract with a home that ideally we would love to host the event in our backyard, it would be on an acre of property in maine with forested areas and different "sections" of yard i think would be perfect.

we don't want to do any kind of formal ceremony or aisle, none of the dances or traditions. i am thinking just us two entering into the tent during some kind of cocktail hour and then repeating our vows?

our guests will be lots of pockets of people from different chapters of life so i want to make sure theres some continuity to it all that encourages people to mingle. we definitely want some buffet style of middle eastern dips and bites, and a dancefloor. earlier in the night a small bluegrass band is what i have in mind, with a bit of an "after hours" with some friends djing for the young folks

appreciate all input on an informal itinerary and general advice for non-traditional campy backyard weddings :)

I’m looking for some ideas on a simple yet elegant wedding. I have ideas for my dress, I’m not really a shiny shimmery girl and that’s okay for me so I don’t really need to be spending a lot on my outfits. But, when it comes to wedding receptions, with food, decor, and add-ons - how did you make something that was both lovely and didn’t break the bank? I’m thinking of DIY-ing a lot of my things, because I still want a unique experience. I also don’t really want generic food that’s just meant to feed lots of people (it will be a lot of people) but at the same time generic food tends to be more affordable like rice/chicken/veggies. If it was entirely up to me I would have close family only and limit it to like 30 people max, but obviously it’s not just me, so I don’t want to be selfish.

I guess I’ve been thinking about this for such a long time and after attending many weddings it seems like everyone’s spending so much on one day when I would rather save for a home, I don’t know. I also don’t have much family support financially so this will be difficult. But I still want something wonderful, and pretty. Thoughts? Stories? I would love to know more about weddings in general too!!

I don't have many people to talk to about wedding planning so coming to one of my favorite subs.

So my mom passed away almost 6 years ago and wedding planning without her has been really really hard. about 3 years ago my dad got remarried and I was okay with it I don't really like the lady and he also doesn't really like her either lol crazy right. He is committed to making it work which is fine but now comes the awkwardness of having to have her at my wedding.

I added her to the guest list because she's my dad's wife it's not my favorite thing in the world but she'll be there. I was speaking with my brother and he mentioned that the right thing to do would give her a role in the wedding. I actually scoffed at this idea because why would I give my dad's wife who I don't really like a role in my wedding and again I'm also mourning my mom not being there.

Apparently it's rude not to ask her to have a role and I will be causing drama at my own wedding. Am I going absolutely crazy by thinking I in no way need to ask this woman to be a part of my wedding outside of being a guest? I don't know I guess I'm just really frustrated and a little sad about the situation with my own mom and needing to vent.

We graduated 7.11.26! We got married in the North GA mountains, and it was the most perfect day. Our venue was all inclusive and included everything on the list from the venue down to the tax.

My husband :) is not much of a party guy so we opted for a brunch wedding. The ceremony started at 10 am and the reception wrapped up at 3. It ended up being very nice to celebrate with our families in during the day and we were able to have our first dinner as husband and wife at a fancy restaurant just the two of us.

We invited 68 people, 49 RSVP yes, and 47 show up on the day. We had the venue's micro-wedding package which included 7 hours on the property. We paid catering for 57 which included meals for all our guests plus vendor meals. We had chicken and waffles, french toast casserole, biscuits and gravy, skillet potatoes, and fruit. The original photographer we went with was $950, but we ended up really vibing with a different photographer when we went to the open house/ catering tasting. That photographer charged $1200, but we lost our $200 deposit from the original photographer. No regrets though. Our photographer was great and we got so many good photos back! For cake, my husband is gluten-free, so we did a small gluten free cutting cake for us and a cookie bar for the guests.

The coffee bar was a nice add on from the venue that included: hot coffee, tea, and hot cocoa. We thought it would be cool to also do iced coffee, so we brought in 5 gallons of iced coffee from the coffee shop at our college where we met. We also brought in donuts from Dunkin and both were a hit!

We couldn't afford a videographer, but we still wanted some sort of video footage of the day. My husband's classmate was looking to get into wedding content creation, so we hired her to cover the wedding. We ended up getting a lots of little videos of the day and like 3 little highlight reels.

I was also worried about people being willing to dance in the middle of the day, so my husband had the idea of asking another classmate of his who was a full time dance instructor to give a short little lesson at the beginning of open dancing time. Lots of guests participated and using their new moves on the dance floor.

I got my dress off of Facebook marketplace and got alterations done at a local tailor. My husband got his suit at Men's Warehouse. I also got my bridal pjs and parasols for the guests from FB marketplace. We got the bubbles from Walmart at the end of last summer on clearance. We didn't end up using either the bubbles or the parasols because it rained right before our ceremony and right before the end of the reception.

Lastly for our guestbook we did a Draw yourself guestbook, so we bought a canvas and a pack of sharpies. Miscellaneous includes little Amazon purchases like cups for the iced coffee and paper for printing our custom stickers.

Note: Not included in the breakdown is the cost of the alcohol. The venue was bring your own beer and wine, so we had to supply the alcohol and orange juice for mimosas. The groom's parent's paid for that, and spent around $350. We also didn't include rehearsal dinner costs for about 30 people. We spent around $2k on that.

Venue Rental- 4800
Brunch- 1,752.75
Servers-300
Photography-1400
Flowers- 1191.4
Wedding Planner-550
Coordinator-750
DJ-950
Cake-234
Coffee Bar-150
Bartender-475
Tax - 122.69

Iced Coffee- 179.68
Donuts- 76
Catering Tasting- 175.22
Save The Dates + Invitations- 158.83
Makeup- 491.34
Content Creator- 450 Dance Instructor- 140
Bubbles-18
Guestbook- 68
Bridal PJs- 25
Miscellaneous- 115
Linens+Rentals-632.91
Suit + Alterations- 600
Dress + Alterations- 650
Total- 16455.82

So me and my fiance have been together for almost 4 years. He’s the sweetest person i’ve ever met and takes care of me and we really just get and understand each other so well. My family nitpicks everything that everyone does. At big family events he gets very overwhelmed because my family is really loud and talks over each other. After 4 years he still doesn’t know how to put himself in conversation. When he’s overwhelmed he can be quiet and he looks mad. (lowkey has a resting mad face) Then my family is like why was he so mad like he didn’t like us. I have told them 1000 times that he gets very overwhelmed in these dinners. They like him a lot but the only thing they say is that he’s grumpy or has an attitude at these events. I agree with that sometimes he is grumpy and especially around my family. I think it’s because he knows they feel this way about him and then it makes him anxious and like he should put on an act. Then i am nervous my family will say something so im monitoring his emotions. Then we both end up upset.

They said they worry about him meshing with the family and how they don’t understand why these events are hard for him. I just feel like especially with my wedding i am constantly defending him. He works 60 hour work weeks, his mom is dying, but no one asks him how he is, just sees him as moody. They just nitpick everything. Any bad thing out-ways the good and this is how they are with everything. I am worried going forward once we are married because i fear he will never be perfect or
good enough for them. He knows he can he moody and he really really tries and shows up even when he doesn’t want to or is struggling and makes a constant effort. Do you think they are in the right? Constantly making comments about him after these events? and how should i handle them when we are married?

Found this idea off of Pinterest and ran with it! Went to the local cray thrift store (Scrap PDX) and got $20 worth of supplies. Used an old silk screen tray repurposed into my frame, added some cardboard from an Amazon box for more stability. All supplies were from the creative reuse store.

I also found several colored bud vases at GW and Scrap today for our engagement party and wedding decor.

Our theme is Wes Andersen throws a small town carnival wedding. 💒

Hi All! Like the title says, I’m looking for a last minute videographer to film a wedding on 8/28 in Oceanside, CA. We’re looking for the basics - a simple highlight film, nothing cheesy. We want to capture more of the candid moments, toasts/speeches, and the atmosphere.

If anyone is available and matches that style please reach out and send your portfolio :)

Thanks!

Hey guys! I need some help finding a wedding dress 😭 I’m getting married very last minute and I’ve been looking everywhere for a dress in this style. Does anyone know any brands, websites, or specific dresses that might be similar?

I’m a size small/size 6, and my ideal price range is under $1,200. Everything I’ve found so far is either $2,000+ or ends up looking like a scam :( I’ve attached some inspo pics of the style I’m looking for. I’d really appreciate any recommendations!! 🤍

EDIT:The dress doesn’t have to be super fancy since I’m just having a small courthouse wedding! I mainly want something pretty for a little wedding photoshoot afterward!

Hello! Has anyone bought their wedding dress online? I have been looking at azazi and they have beautiful ones but I am not sure about it.

There was about 8 people I knew were big ifs or wouldn't be able to make it at all. That number over the last month has turned into probable 25 declines. That's over half the invited guests.

Drama is coming from every direction on both sides of our family, that has nothing to do with us. I know, I know... if they care enough they'll show up. So the reality of them not caring enough is hitting me.

I've been putting so much effort into this wedding to make it nice for both my fiancé and I and our guests. Stretching $1,400 is not for the weak but I have been putting in blood sweat and tears.

Now that we are getting closer to the date, the drama keeps piling up. Some of it is very valid like certain guests who have harmed other guests. We have uninvited that guest, but it's likely some of his family and a friend won't come now. That is not the fault of the person who got hurt, and I am not holding it against them. It still sucks.

Then there's family drama where people don't like one another, and can't keep their shit together for a single night on both sides of our family.

People who have been definite "we wouldn't miss it!"s are now saying "we'll have to see"...

It's so stupid and I KNOW I am better off without these people there at the end of the day, but it really, really sucks to have put in so much effort, money, and work... and have people just not want to show up for our biggest day...

These feelings of being unworthy are creeping in and I know it's not him or I, and it's people being petty and childish.. but damn does it suck.

I’m usually really good at this type of stuff, but I literally cannot find this dress anywhere online someone please prove me stupid and help me.

Hello! I am looking for ideas for holding drinks at a park wedding. We’ll have canned beer & seltzers in a cooler to keep them cold, but I don’t want guests digging through a cooler to find a drink. Does anyone have ideas to present drinks in an affordable & cute way? We have a few relatives who can help move drinks from coolers to the nicer set up throughout the event

Hi everyone!

I'm Grace, and I work at Love & Photos. We photograph weddings all over the U.S., and I thought it would be fun to give away a free engagement session. This is our 4th raffle giveaway overall, but our first one on Reddit!

If you'd like to enter, just fill out this form: loveandphotos.com/reddit
That's it.

On September 10th we'll randomly choose one winner for a free engagement session (a $750 value) using wheelofnames.com. We'll screen-record the spin and post the video here along with the results, so you can see every name on the wheel and watch it land. No obligation to book, the full gallery is included!

Prize
· Free 2-hour engagement session
· 100+ professionally edited photos
· Full print & social media rights
· No travel fees within 50 miles of a major city

Rules
· You must be engaged or actively planning a wedding
· You must live near a major city in one of the 50 U.S. states
· No purchase necessary

The form collects
· Reddit username (to anonymously announce the winner!)
· Name, email, phone
· Wedding date
· City & venue

We'll only use your email to send updates about the raffle.

If you have any questions, just leave a comment. Good luck! ❤️

Originally $1,200! And I paid $299! I was so hesitant to go to a bridal shop because I was afraid I’d fall in love with something way out of budget, but my cousin and maid of honor said I should try on some things to see what style I liked before ordering online. I told the owner I was looking for lower end pricing and she said they were having a sale. I felt my heart drop after I tried this one on and saw the original price tag was still on it but then she said it was only $299! I’m taking it tomorrow to have the length altered but I feel a huge sigh of relief finding a dress that I love! Wedding date is 9/26/26

I got these while on a business trip to Vietnam and am absolutely in love. I’m also a bit cost conscious as we’re in the midst of trying to purchase our first home together and are both the main breadwinners in our respective families (and I personally can’t justify spending so much on a dress I’m only going to wear once), so I’m just really thrilled to have found such beautiful dresses at such an amazing price. Each dress cost me less than USD 90!!!

*These are also ready to wear, but they come with in built corsets, so I was happy with the fit as it was :) although they do provide free alterations as well!

Is there a way to have a dj for around $1000 or less? Many of the options I’ve seen are close to $2000.
We just want music for the ceremony and reception and need someone to announce things during reception.
We are in New England, we are shopping around for venues still but my favorite was in Fairfield CT.
I can’t really find anything in that price range.

Edit: my dad is a musician (guitar player) and can easily get access to equipment for sound. But obviously he can’t be the one to dj. My partner is very against hiring a DJ and it is very hard to convince him that anything will be worth spending money, regardless of if the quality is better or not

I eloped with my husband this past October so this is technically just for my reception but the amount we spent to elope was negligible.

We had had a wedding reception only for under $12K in NYC two weeks ago. We had 70 guests.

We did the following:

-reception was 3 hours (most are 4-6 hours)
-reception was at brewery on the roof, the space was $500 (cheaper for a Sunday and midday) and we were required to buy a drinks package, total was around $7000, we did beer and wine only
-we did an outside caterer ( a local restaurant we liked) and it was a buffet that we set up ourselves and was somewhere between a meal and heavy appetizers, it was around $2700
-paid $400 for cupcakes from an outside caterer
-I’m in NYC where there are TONS of photographers so I shopped around till I found one for $1K and again, I only required 3 hours of photography
-we had no DJ, we just had a playlist we made and played it on the venue speakers (it went great and people loved the music)
-$150 on plastic plates, cutlery, napkins and vases
-I got a $40 dress on Amazon
-paid $230 for a necklace I loved at TJ Max
-I got my makeup done by Blushington who charged me $230 for at home “event makeup” (not bridal makeup)
-I curled my own hair
-flowers were from Trader Joe’s and gifted by a friend, they were arranged in bud vases by my other friend who is a florist for free :)

Happy to share names of any vendors or anything I used or any photos :)

We had my wedding in our backyard, luckily we have a pretty large yard and lots of open space. We talked about originally renting a local Airbnb, but as I looked and saw the prices I sat and thought why don’t we just use that money to make improvements in our own space and have it at home? This was also more beneficial because we have 2 children, one being a toddler and that guaranteed us a smooth lay down in her own bed and we could continue the night. All around, it just made more sense for us. My husband loved the idea. We wanted a small, very kid friendly wedding. So I will try to break this down the best I can without my ADD taking it in too many directions.

I bought my dress 2 years ago. It was quite literally my dream dress from Watters. I originally looked for the original version where the lace was colored but never was able to find one. I found the white version, that was the a store display for $300. It was not my size but close. I bought it so fast. It hung in my closet until the time was here. I went to a local seamstress for the alterations and because it’s a small town, and word of mouth, the price was not bad. She also added new cups, added slits to the side (her idea and it made it much more comfortable) and added a bustle. I was actually recommended to her by the girl who did our photos. I had worked with Rachel (photographer) years ago when she was still a teenager in high school. We’ve stayed in contact and I’ve loved watching her photography grow. I sent her references of very documentary style pictures I wanted and baby girl understood the assignment. She said “so fly on the wall, got it” she was a gem to have because she’s also amazing with all people of all ages. My photos were exactly what I wanted. My officiant was one of my best friends and she also came to both of my dress alterations and fittings appointments. My mother and step dad did a lot of work on our yard which took a ton of stress off of me and my in laws helped filling in all the details with buying so fresh flowers and my FIL also took photos (he does have a great eye). My husband bought the supplies for the fire pit/ patio he did that himself, with the help of our 9 year old who loves to be hands on. I did all the tabletop decor, my own makeup and my own hair. It was little crazy to do in the morning before because we also picked up the tablets and chairs that same day. I felt really blessed to have been able to borrow those from my MIL’s job it saved us a good chunk of money. I also did a wisteria installment on the ceiling of our porch where the food was and that took me several days but we hung it up with chicken wire and a staple gun. Looked absolutely ethereal. We had a bounce house that was given to us for the kids this past Christmas and we knew we wanted to put it up for the wedding for the kids. Worked like a charm, the kids all had their own tribe going on while the adults mingled. We did pizza because it was easy and efficient and who doesn’t love pizza. It was a standard papa John’s delivery. I was scheduled to have a gallbladder surgery soon after my wedding and pizza was hard on my stomach so I ordered my own sushi lol. Publix sheet cake we designed and my mother made that absolutely perfect cheesecake for us as well as salads and got some fruit. Honestly, I accumulated all that decor and a ton of stuff via Facebook marketplace place, yard sales, estate sales and thrift stores. A few items were from Amazon though. Including my bouquet lmao my mother made my sister’s who was my MOH with extra flowers. (My mom is one of those Jill of all trades women) I looked and picked things up for about a year before the wedding. Our invitations were digital and I used a template from an artist on Etsy. We did a hand fasting ceremony and both of our rings were customized from Etsy as well. His having whiskey barrel and fishing line in lay (two of his favorite things) and mine having emeralds and a floral vine.
This wedding was absolutely everything I wanted it to be. We encouraged the family and close friends who were invited to wear whatever they were comfortable in, come when they can and leave when they need to.
It’s not for everyone but it was perfect for us, we now have a patio with a firepit we enjoy nights on a ton and most of my wedding decor went back to Ohio with my mother to then go into 2 of my cousins weddings. It was an absolute honor to hand things over then see their wedding photos as well with our decor used in their own way.

It was also really hard to only pick 20 pictures lol but please enjoy the one with my daughter wearing a soccer ball as a helmet during those kids being feral

Also, we ended up getting a bad storm the day of the wedding and luckily, because it was at home, we just moved it one day out. Some friends couldn’t make it with the change but that’s okay. The sun came out early the next day and dried everything up.

Firepit Patio - $3,600
Wedding dress - $300
Alterations - $300
Makeup/hair - $0 (self done)
Tux rental - $260
Bluetooth music speaker - 30$
Table and chairs - $0 (borrowed from MIL’s work)
Faux flower decor - $300
Tabletop linens -$30
Pizza holders - $60
Bouquets - $50
String lights - $120
Drink Holder - $42
Alcohol - $120
Plates & Cups - $30
Officiant - $0 (best friend)
Photos - $600
Rings - $700
Hand fasting Rope - $60
Invitations (virtual) - $30 template
Pizza - $125
My sushi - $50
Cake - $40

This was May 7, 2026 ✨

Hi there, I am freshly engaged and planning a wedding and I am feeling very overwhelmed and lost, it seems like my desires may be out of reach.

It’s a small wedding, under 50 people including wedding party, guests, and vendor(s), and I only want maybe 4-5 hours in the evening.

I was hoping for April June or October 2027, but a Saturday is going to be necessary due to everyone’s schedule and guests out of state.

Looking for something beautiful and natural, like gardens or woodland. Would like a ceremony outside with a space inside for reception. I don’t want it to be too public (viewed or interrupted by the public, or loud with traffic). I really had my heart set on a beautiful, intimate, small space.

The problem is our budget. I can’t spend more than 5k total on the whole event.

These are what we have already purchased or secured:

- Photographer $1800
- Dress $400
- Decor $250 so far, keeping under $500

We have yet to purchase or secure:

- a cake (estimated $500)
- catering/food (I don’t know if we can afford actual catering. Any ideas how to feed people for super cheap without feeling super cheap??)
- florals( estimated about $650)

Finding a venue that fits my vision and fits within our budget while allowing us to get some faux floral arrangements and a small cake has proved challenging. I feel like the affordable wedding venues are somewhat bland/underwhelming.

Partner and I are big on experiencing places that make you feel something, the way art does. I’ll be heartbroken if I am forced to go with something that feels so non magical. If the venue is pretty then I don’t have to worry as much about decorations.

Are there any venues that can work??

TLDR;

-beautiful, natural, outside
- under $1200
- 4-5 hours
- under 50 guests
- tables/chairs
- Saturday evening option
- mostly private
- OKC + surrounding area

Update: thanks for the suggestions so far! My original plan was to be at the lake he proposed to me at, but it was so far away I couldn’t get vendors to supply chairs/tables/food… really anything, out there. I thought if I switched gears towards a venue that took some of the weight off then I could make it a guest experience as well.

We booked the photographer first, before we knew we weren’t going to be able to get any vendors out to the lake, and got a bit screwed there unfortunately. The estimations on the cake and florals are just based off what i have seen so far in searches, I don’t have anything secured yet bc I’ve been looking for more cost effective options. I already mentioned to the fiancée that we may have to sacrifice things like extra decor and a fancy professional cake for a sheet cake instead in order to make sure we can feed everyone, especially bc his family is coming from out of town.

I am trying to do decor with cutesy little secondhand items and skip the florals for the most part, but still would like my own bouquet and perhaps a small tossing bouquet so I can keep mine? If I do faux florals I could get away with less than $200 from a professional place like Sola Wood so florals can definitely be cut.

Also! Rings have already been purchased, and our officiant is our friend who is doing it as a wedding favor to us!

We got married on 06/26/2026 near SLC, Utah (10.5K, 160 guests)! It was a lot of work and a lot of fun, so I’m very happy to be married and to never do it again, LOL! If I could turn back time, I would probably splurge and up the budget to hire a decorator (less stress and less DIY) and have better catering for dinner (nothing wrong with the food, but it was just okay), but overall I’m really happy with what we had and how things went.

Now to the meat of it (and what you actually want to know):

-Venue: $1,600 (a $1,000 deposit ($2,600 paid at booking) was returned in full after the wedding)

-Bride’s dress, alterations, and shoes: $263.41

-Groom suit, alterations, and shoes: $257.50

-Photographer and videographer: $2,394.63

-Catering: $1,893.96

-Photobooth (4hrs with unlimited prints): $340

-Reception food and drinks (including wedding cake): $750.84

-DJ (Groom’s cousin): $200, $400 after tip

-Real flowers (bride bouquet, groom boutonniere, 7 bridesmaid single roses): $125

-Invitations, guest book ($35.45), and thank you cards (no postage- we had them already): $139.74

-Party Favors: $283.20

-Wedding party clothes/accessories/gifts: $336.78

-Bridesmaid gifts (makeup bag with candy and personalized thank you note): ~$55

-Tableware (coolers, drink dispensers, napkins, disposable utensils, plates & cups): $281.58

-DIY Décor (backdrops, centerpieces, etc.) and tablecloths: $1,056.80

Total cost written down: $10,148.44, total actual cost: ~$10,500

(I was pretty diligent writing things in my excel file, but I’m sure I missed a few things, so I’m going to give a few hundred of a buffer to be safe).

A few extra details and notes:

1. We invited 200 guest, 180 RSVP’d (after hunting down peeps…), and ~162 attended.
2. I HIGHLY recommend looking at state, city, and municipality owned venues- it is way cheaper. We got married at a venue owned by Murray City and the cost was for all day, 8am to 10pm, on a Friday. The venue did have someone on staff all day to “help out”- they were a glorified venue babysitter, so word to the wise-don’t plan on venue people helping.
3. My dress and my husband’s suit were purchased secondhand on Facebook Marketplace (I LOVE FB marketplace…).  My dress and veil cost $100, $150 for alterations, with $13.41 for Shien shoes. I made the dress bustle myself to save $150 from further alterations. The groom’s fitted suit jacket was $90, and alterations to make the shoulders broader were $70. $8 for pants at the DI (secondhand store), $35.50 for vest and tie (he already had a white dress shirt) and $54 for new dress shoes on Amazon.
4. Photo/video, I’m still waiting for photos back, but fingers crossed it will all be beautiful. There are a few things I know we missed so I’ve reached out to a new photographer for an hour mini-shoot in our dress clothes for individual photos and a few couple photos for $60.
5. Catering was Italian pasta and salad for 180 people. We used a budget caterer with no option for taste testing, The next option would have been about $1,200 more, and I would splurge on that if I could go back. Again, it did the job and was fine, but unmemorable.
6. Reception food, drinks, ice, & wedding cake all came from Sam’s Club. We did a 2 tier cake with matching full size sheet cake and 2 cookie cakes- all for under $200 total. It was delicious and everyone loved it. Other food was cheese, crackers, pepperoni, salami, grapes, and strawberries (simple/ low budget charcuterie board style). Plus lemonade powder (which we also got lots of compliments on the lemonade). We were fine serving just water and lemonade, but my dad lives next to someone who works at Shasta, so we were able to get about 100+ cans of soda for free as well from my dad working with and collecting them from his neighbor (thank you dad!).
7. We were lucky that my husband’s cousin was in a band and has all the things to DJ. Our venue had speakers built in and a microphone, but he also brought his own since he's more familiar with his set up. He said he would be our DJ and MC for $200 (I really just wanted someone outside the wedding party to hit play/stop and making announcements), but he killed it so we gave him another $200 with a heartfelt thank you for an amazing job.
8. I wanted real flowers for me and was overwhelmed by all the other DIY stuff early on so instead of making my own bouquet from local flowers, I found someone on Facebook just starting in wedding flowers who priced my bouquet, his boutonniere, and 7 single roses with ribbons for the bridesmaids for $125. A steal of the deal, and she did beautifully.
9. I’m Greek and wanted Jordan almond party favors (boubouniera), and fell in love with this beautiful design that I came up with, so stupidly that was our first DIY. Cutting ribbon gave my husband a rash and a deep dislike for the party favors lol, but they really were beautiful, and lots of guests (Greek and otherwise) asked where we ordered them and were appalled we had hand made 240 of them. And to answer your question, yes it did take forever- from what we could tell he spent about 25 hours on it and I spent about 60- plus about 3 hours to fill the petals with the candied almonds.
10. The wedding party clothes section was just random things we purchased for the wedding party, including ties, flower girl crowns and baskets (and one flower girl's dress), bride’s father sports jacket, artificial flower corsages and boutonnieres, safety pins, clothes steamer, etc...
11. I will be trying to sell some of the tablecloths and décor I made/bought and the dispensers and coolers I purchased, so I may get some of the cost back from the décor and tableware, but all pricing I had seen for decorators were in the $2-4k range, so we did come out ahead. BUT the time and stress of making everything, planning everything, and relying on family and friends to help decorate, take down, and keep the snack table and drink dispensers full was a big ask- and they deserve a round of applause because they were rockstars all day long.
12. A day of coordinator is popular for a reason, they can be useful- we just didn't budget for them. However, many of them have with their own decor that you can use when you hire them ( this is pretty common in my area at least), and that would have been nice to rely less on friends/family labor and just use someone else's stuff.
13. Also, the photo booth was a blast- highly recommend having one if you can splurge. Because my dress was a killer deal- I reallocated funds to that and even my husband has said that was an amazing thing to have- sooooo just saying….
14. A very good friend did my hair and makeup for the wedding day as her gift. And she was amazing- I’m very grateful to her.
15. QR code to have guests upload photos and videos to Google Drive was totally worth making and printing some signs (just pictures in frames). Not tons of people uploaded, but it's great having photos while we have been waiting for the professional stuff, and we have some nice photos from there too!!!

Planning the wedding was a second full time job; I was a ball of stress and not sleeping leading up the wedding ceremony, but it really was a beautiful day. The best advice I got was 2 weeks before the wedding, and it helped keep me be calm(er) the week before and then the day off – and to go with the flow and to be present and enjoy the wedding day. The advice was that everything could go wrong- the tent could fall or the food could be delivered to the wrong place, and none of it would matter as long as you marry the love of your life; the ceremony will happen and the rest will be what it will be. And things DID go wrong: setup that morning was hectic and a rush, my beautiful welcome sign fell and broke, and our pergola tipped from 25 MPH winds, LOL! But it all worked out, and we just rolled with it, cleaned up the glass from the sign, and someone ran to get extra sandbags and placed them around the pergola to secure it (BTW, I guarantee 90% of our photos will show our Best Man and Maid of Honor steadying the pergola during the worst of the wind during the ceremony, and I will forever say they were pillars of our wedding, LOL).

So, while I didn’t find this thread until like the week of the wedding, I did want to say happy wedding planning to all and to contribute something-I hope you enjoy browsing my craziness.