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This post is about how to plan a wedding for $5000 dollars.
Wow, it’s wedding season coming up real soon. Did you know that you actually don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to plan and create the wedding of your dreams? Did you know that creating weddings has become so much more commercialized than they were back in the days?
Don’t worry, I got you. In this article you will quickly see where you can save a lot of money on planning your budget wedding and how to plan your wedding for 5000 dollars.
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Planning a Wedding with a Small Budget
Well, let me tell you, you can actually make a budget for every event and activity you are planning in your life. One major life event is planning for a wedding and setting a realistic budget.
A budget is the first step in setting the financial framework of your wedding. It sets a guideline and based on your budget you need to allocate the money towards each item on your wedding planning list.
If your goal is to stick to a wedding that costs no more than 5000 dollars all in, then you’ve really got to sharpen your pencil.
You need to lay out the items that are most important to you to have on your wedding and then make sure you do not spend more in each of the categories.
You need to prioritize items on your wedding list so that you know where to put the money appropriately.
Weddings nowadays have become so commercial. There are couples and families that spend up to 60K on weddings. It has become out of hand if you ask me. In my books, 60K would be spent better elsewhere, such as on a down payment of a house – but to each their own.
In this article you will see how it is possible to plan and have a beautiful wedding by just spending 5000 dollars.
It is doable and there are many options how you can do this. One option even entails flying to a destination to getting married.
One thing is for certain, if you are only spending 5000 dollars on your wedding, the good thing is that you are entering marriage as a debt-free couple. On top of that, if you and your partner do most of the things that usually get outsourced by vendors yourself, you will be able to see how much you can cut costs.
If you keep the wedding planning minimal you can and will in fact have an inexpensive, beautiful wedding that didn’t cost a fortune!
11 Ways to Stay on a $5000 Dollar Wedding Budget
1. Wedding Invitations
Most couples spent a fortune on the invitations. It’s the first thing wedding guests will see and usually it sets the tone of the wedding. According to theweddingreport.com, “the average price spent for 150 invitations and response cards is $245 dollars.”
However, you don’t have to spend that much money on invitations. Save yourself the money and go to placed like Michael’s or Etsy to find invitation and RSVP cards.
Another option, depending on how many guests you are planning on inviting is to make your own wedding invites.
2. Wedding Flowers and Decor
If it’s one thing bride-to-be’s like to spend money on, it would be flowers and decor. I mean who doesn’t want to have a bath of flowers at their wedding, flower walls, flower table arrangements, the bouquet, and so much more. This can go into the thousands of dollars as flower arrangements for weddings are not cheap.
If you have decided on a colour scheme, then your best bet is to go to Costco and see what kind of flowers are available there. They usually offer a whole array of fresh flowers.
Decor is another area in which you could spend a lot of money. From candles to glassware, wedding arches, seating, etc. decor is expensive. Let’s not kid ourselves!
Try Dollar Tree or Dollarama for decor. Especially table decor such as glassware and candles. Sometimes you can really score nice, cute little trinkets at Dollar Tree / Dollar Store.
You’d be surprised!
3. Photographer
Photographers can be thousands of dollars for weddings. Especially nowadays, when you want to have a wedding video as well. Photographers use special equipment, such as drones to capture the wedding day on video. This is what makes it much more expensive.
If you can go without video and just simply decide on classic images, then you will be saving a lot of money. I am old fashioned in the way that I did not need to have a video of our wedding. In fact, if you are able to find a photographer who is not super famous but has a nice portfolio and you like the style of his/her images, then go ahead and book that. Some beginner or hobby photographers love to offer their services for much less, as it gives them the possibility to enhance their portfolio. This way you will be getting a deal that’s significantly less than with a super famous wedding photographer.
Another option would be, that if you have a friend who can take good pictures, you can ask them to cover your wedding day. Just make sure they will feel comfortable doing this and actually be excited about it.
4. Wedding Location
Location, location, location, right? Well, wedding locations are super expensive. The more popular they are, usually, the more they cost. Due to the pandemic, many weddings were cancelled and so now, these locations are trying to capture back their losses by having increased their prices.
If you do not need a big location, try and source a small location that will cost much less. Churches are usually less expensive, venues like vineyard estates, or venues that are further away from the big cities can also be much less expensive. Another option would be a small bed and breakfast.
Lastly, you could always still do you wedding in your parent’s backyard or your own if you have one. Especially since the pandemic, many couples have held their weddings in backyards (including myself!). I can tell you, that it was the best decision of my life and I enjoyed it very much (so did my husband!).
5. Keeping the Wedding Invites to a Minimum
Well, since you are only planning on spending 5000 dollars on your wedding, make sure that you do not extent your invitations to too many people.
You’ve got to set a limit when it comes to wedding guests as with each additional guest, you cost will go up.
Since the pandemic, small, intimate weddings have really become a thing! It’s great because as opposed to having hundreds at your wedding and not be able to communicate with all guests, a small wedding party will truly be easy to navigate throughout the day.
You will have time to talk to everyone while still enjoying your own special day to the maximum and not feeling stressed.
Of course, it will be difficult to decide on who’s coming and who’s not, but remember that it is your wedding and you are in charge of it, so you get to make the decisions (with your partner of course!).
Do not feel compelled to invite everyone and their mom to your special day.
6. Food and Beverages
Another category you would never want to cheap out on are food and beverages at a wedding. If it’s one thing people will definitely remember, then it’s how good (or how bad) the food was and whether drinks were available and what kind.
You can search for a caterer online in your area who will be able to cater food for 20 bucks per head. Alcohol or having a bar will probably be expensive but if you offer drinks made from batch (wedding punch) or champagne (you can try and negotiate the price), then you are set!
Bartenders and bars cost a lot so be wise when you are thinking about this category.
7. Wedding Gown & Shoes
For the wedding gown and shoes you do not have to go super expensive. Many bridal places offer second hand dresses or dresses that are in a much lower price category. If you can find a dress and shoes for $250 dollars, then that is great! You want to make sure you still buy comfortable shoes. There is a difference between buying cheap shoes and comfortable nice shoes. Make sure to check the sales sections at Nordstrom Rack or OffSaks5th stores if you have them nearby.
Now you also can get some nice accessories, jewellery, hair pieces, etc. and can really spruce up your entire attire. Do not think that you have to have a designer dress and shoes! Just make your entire look pretty from your hair to your makeup, and then definitely add beautiful accessories and you will be a super pretty bride. There are a lot of accessories out there that are inexpensive but look expensive. Go for that kind of look.
8. Wedding Rings
Many couples spend lot of money on the rings but that doesn’t have to be the case, really.
You can find many nice wedding rings in department stores or specialty stores that aren’t too expensive. Always pick a classic design that’ll still look beautiful in 20 years.
9. Music
Many couples choose a DJ or band to perform the music at their wedding. You want to entertain your guests with music all night long so booking a DJ or band can also be fairly expensive.
You could ask your good friend to DJ the night away. Again, make sure your friend is actually OK with DJ’ing all night long at your wedding. You would save a ton of money here.
An alternative to having live music is having a wedding playlist play on speakers at your wedding. You could create a cute wedding music playlist with your partner and then just hit play. One thing you will have to watch out is that the music doesn’t randomly cut off.
Some couple forego a playlist or band entirely. They choose to play classical music in the background which is also easy. You can select great classical music to play more as a background music the entire day and night. However, if you really care about your wedding guests having a dance party, then you really cannot play classical music at night.
10. Transportation
Getting to the wedding is always something that needs to be planned well in advance. Especially the close wedding party of bridesmaids, mother and father of the bride, etc. The cheapest way to get to a wedding with your wedding party is simply booking a limousine. With a limousine you get to make the arrangements fairly quickly and it’s usually not that expensive. You can always try to negotiate a flat rate so that you have a driver all night long.
Another way to arrange for transportation for all other wedding guests is to have a shuttle. A shuttle is nice because it can transport people back and forth. Try searching locally if there are any limousine companies that also offers “bus shuttle service”.
11. Guest Gift Bags
You want to make sure you leave the night on a memorable note. This is where gift bags come in. You don’t have to go overboard and spend a lot of money on gift bags. You could add some emergency knickknacks like small size toothpaste, toothbrush and soap/deodorant. You could also add something special for your close wedding party like bracelets and also add a photo of the bride and groom with a Thank you note.
Thank you notes nowadays are underrated. It makes a world of difference if you provide your guests with a thank you note for attending and gift giving. This is a classy move and will leave your guests with a positive note upon their
Keep Track of Your Budget and Expenses
It’s really important to keep an eye on the costs you are spending. You want to make sure you keep a list of all the expenses for each wedding item so that you can make sure you stay under the 5000 dollar mark.
Something like this will work great:
Staying on budget and constantly trying to prioritize items on your wedding list will be something that you will have to keep a close look at. As you are going to be on a tight budget you’re going to have to make concessions here and there.
But no worries, you totally got this!
CONCLUSION: HOW TO PLAN A WEDDING FOR UNDER 5000 DOLLARS
A wedding doesn’t have to cost a fortune if you plan it well and are up for doing the majority of the work. You will need to become very creative and see what items you can do yourself and not need to outsource. On top of that, Pinterest has great ideas on how to plan a wedding on a tight budget. You want to DIY most of the things so that you do not have to outsource anything. Think about what really must be outsourced that you cannot get done on your own and then always try to get at least 2 offers in for that wedding item.
By sticking to a wedding budget you will see that it is indeed possible to only spend 5000 dollars on your wedding and still enjoy all the aspects of that very special day and not feel cheap about anything you had arranged and planned for.
This post is about how to plan a wedding for $5000 dollars and not feel cheap about it.