Sample Wedding Budgets - What You Can Get For Your Money

Sample wedding budgets are sometimes helpful to the newly engaged couple, but wait for my warning at the bottom of this page.

This number is really going to determine what kind of wedding you are going to be able to have.

Check through this page to see what kind of options are offered. If you are not happy with what you would be looking at, probably you should hold off and try to save some more.

Also, you can check in your particular area as price differences are regional and these are just estimates. You might just find that you would be able to afford a certain type of wedding just because where you live is not as expensive and will fit into your sample wedding budget better.

Just remember, the exact opposite may also apply to you if you are living in New York, Los Angeles, etc .

So, first what we will take a look at is a small end of sample wedding budgets of about $5,000.

If you are into this category, remember that your reception always makes up about 50% of your total wedding costs, so we are looking at about $2,500 to spend there.

Your guest list will probably be in the range of about 50 to 60 people. This will be quite a nice intimate wedding.

One thing that I will say when dealing with this amount of money is that it can be done! But watch how you do it and put emphasis on what is important to you. But first...

I am going to give you an example of an inexpensive wedding gone terribly wrong.

The bride spent about $1200 on her wedding dress. Since she spent an "inappropriate" amount on her dress, the rest of her wedding day suffered.

The only thing they could afford was a reception hall in a local community center that had 70's style paneling on the walls.

Decorations were a bare minimum and the food was limited to take out fried chicken and french fries still in the bucket and take out containers.

They even ran out of food!

They had a cash bar and their small wedding cake did not even feed all their guests. Donuts from a local franchise was substituted (served out of the box, I might add).

How do you think their guests felt coming away from that wedding?! A little taken, perhaps.

Memorable all for the wrong reasons and her beautiful dress, that meant so much to her, looked totally ridiculous in her surroundings.

So, now that you know what NOT to do, let's see what we CAN do with our sample wedding budgets.

You are inviting your most special family and friends, so you want to do this right. They are your guests so treat them well. Your reception can be done for this amount of money.

Check out different venues such as church hall rentals, parks, gardens and other (nice) community center room rentals.

Your parents' memberships in clubs could possibly come in handy now as sometimes you could get discount rental rates of club halls and venues.

Check to see if someone you know has a large house or property that they wouldn't mind renting to you or offer to you as a wedding gift.

Call around for catering options, if not from professional caterers, ask at your favorite restaurant and ask if they have take-out trays.

You can also ask family members to help out so that you can stretch your reception portion of your sample wedding budget.

If you thought it out ahead of time, you can save a lot on your bar bill by making your own wine and beer. You can even print off and order your own labels to place on your bottles.

I don't really believe in cash bars. It would be like inviting guests to dinner and then give them a tab at the end...this is no different, I think, anyway.

You could provide liquor in large ice filled galvanized tubs and have it primarily self-serve or have a friend or family member do the bar tending.

Save on your centerpieces by doing them yourselves. Watch the height and just use simple squatty bowls of flowers blossoms, complementary to your wedding colors, or floating candles in bowls of water (if inside, that is).

Anyway, just go back to your Wedding Budget Analysis and break down your amount per the percentages estimated.

Of, course, always make adjustments according to what is most important to you both on your wedding day.

Let's see what $10,000 will get you...

For about $10,000, your guest list could be around 75 to 100 people. According to the Wedding Budget Analysis roughly about $5,000 will go to your reception.

If you would like to have a more extravagant affair than listed above, you will probably have to make some cuts to your guest list. Take a look at Wedding Guest List for some tips on how to cut back on your numbers.

You can also stretch your budget by changing the date to a Sunday or Friday wedding and heading to an off-season such as spring or fall.

Let's see what $20,000 will get you...

For about $20,000, your guest list could be around 100 to 200 people all depending on time, day, date, formality and the whole other list of things found in the Wedding Budget Planner. Once again, it will be your reception that takes the lion's share of money.

Go back to the estimated breakdown and see what you could afford under each category.

Sample Wedding Budget Summary

I think the important thing you take away from sample wedding budgets is this: It is virtually impossible for me (or anyone else) to put anything down that would look like the kind of wedding you envision for yourself.

I think that the sample wedding budgets you find in the wedding magazines are so far off the mark that they can be truly frustrating for the couple searching for the information. The feeling that your wedding numbers are not adding up to the "magazine budget" can be truly depressing.

Instead, I would prefer you to figure out how much money you can gather to pay toward your wedding, divide it up into the percentages you will need for each category, then divide how many people you would like to invite paying particular attention to your reception (as this will be where you money goes the most).

You know your area the best, what things cost and what resources you can use to save money.

See my money saving tips under Wedding Budget Tips to see what you can save in one area and spend in another.

Don't believe that your wedding can fall into one of those cookie cutter sample wedding budgets you see in magazines or on other wedding websites.

You and your love are unique and so your wedding and so your circumstances will be unique as well.

Set some goals on what you really want and what really matters to you and you will achieve it....I know you will!

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