What a Wedding With A Budget Under $3,000 Looks Like

This post contains affiliate links. You can view my very dull disclosure policy here! 

When I first started wedding planning, I loved reading wedding recaps. It was so interesting to me to see people’s budgets and what their weddings looked like within that budget. Inevitably, most of these weddings were between 3-10 times over my budget–which was around $3,000. I knew that once I got married, I wanted to share the experience with others who were also trying to plan a wedding on a small budget.

As you’ve probably heard, the average American wedding costs $30,000. If you have $30,000, it sure makes for a glorious wedding! But if you don’t, you can still have a beautiful wedding that you’ll remember fondly forever.

Our wedding wasn’t perfect or flawless, and it wasn’t the best day of my life. It was one of favorite days, and the start of a really beautiful life together that’s had and will continue to have many best days. No matter how big or small your wedding budget is, laying aside the expectation that “this is the most important day ever that has to be absolutely perfect in every way” will really help you to be happy and satisfied with the wedding you end up having. No matter what you do, your wedding won’t be perfect. And even if you don’t remember a single flaw, you’ll see a photo months later of something hanging the wrong way or your lipstick worn off.

I wanted to share a summary and budget breakdown of our wedding to encourage those of you brides who are wedding planning on a small budget. Now, we were extremely blessed to be able to access a lot of things that are normally costly for free. I realize that is certainly not doable for most people. But, you have your own circumstances and set of connections. Utilize them!

When I look back on our wedding, my fondest memories aren’t the donuts or the bouquets. My fondest memories are the people who love us who helped us pull this day off. If you keep your focus on the person you’re marrying and the people who are celebrating with you, you won’t be disappointed when things go askew.

So with that said, here is our wedding breakdown!

Invitations/Engagement Photos: Somehow I don’t have a single photo of our invites, nor do I have any email trail of where I ordered them from. I think we used Shutterfly. My Matron of Honor took our engagement photos and I used those to personalize our invitations. Instead of adding on RSVP and registry cards, I created a simple wedding website through The Knot and had all that info on there. ($45)

Venue: Long story short, we were blessed to be able to use a chapel and reception area for free through our church. We took our photos in Echo Park, which was where we were the first time Theo told me he liked me, as well as where we had spent many future dates. We had our first look in not the most photogenic spot–a busy intersection in front of the church–but it was the first place we spoke after spending three and a half months apart. (Free) 

Photography: Photography was of number one importance to me. While the actual wedding would only last a few hours, I knew we would be looking at these photographs for the rest of our lives. Good photography is expensive–especially in the Los Angeles area. I was so thankful to find Anna Clark Photo. Not only did she work with my tiny budget, she was fun to work with and really took the time to understand what I wanted. She also responds super promptly which I found to be rare with a number of photographers I contacted. We were so happy with our photos and will treasure them forever. ($1,300)

Officiant: My dad is an ordained minister and so he married us. We had another friend do the opening prayers until my dad walked me down the aisle, and then they switched out and dad performed the rest of the ceremony. It was very special and I’m so thankful he was able to do that. (Free)

Music: This is something I should have done differently. We did a Spotify playlist for the reception, which worked just fine. For the ceremony, I tried to do the same but had yet another dear friend in charge of the playlist. I asked him the day before and he was like “Uh you want me to do the music for the biggest day of your life TOMORROW” yup, yes please. It worked out fine, but I wish I had found a better edit of the song I walked down the aisle to (“Beautiful Things” by Gungor) because we walked down at the beginning depressing part of the song which was not exactly the vision I had in mind. Oh well! (Free)

Flowers: I did the flowers and boutonnieres myself. I had kind of made bouquets once before, when I was a Maid of Honor in my BFF’s wedding. I had never made a boutonniere. The day before our wedding, I got up at the crack of dawn and ventured to the LA Flower Market with a dear friend. We got roses, lilies, and baby’s breath–oh, and donuts–and then I made the bouquets, boutonnieres, and some of the centerpieces (my mama made the rest) with some help from any friends I could round up. All things considered, they turned out good! Along with the flowers, I purchased burlap, lace, and flower wire/tape. ($75)

Food: We had a taco bar from My Taco Man. His rates were easily the most economical in Los Angeles and it was delicious. They delivered everything we needed. Neither Theo or I like cake, but I love donuts, so we had a donut bar. At the very last minute I decided we should have a root beer float bar because Theo loves root beer, so we had that too. We also had water, and sparkling cider for the toasts. ($500)

Decor: I didn’t decorate the chapel at all. For the reception, my mom had a friend who let us borrow tablecloths, mason jars, and all kinds of cute little things that worked really good with our theme. Again, that was a huge blessing and helped keep our costs low. I added in some prints I had purchased a long time ago from the Cultivate What Matters shop. (Essentially free).  

The Wedding Party: 

Bridal Gown: Ordered from China via Amazon. You can read all about it here! ($105)

Veil & Jewelry: Homemade by my mother. She miraculously found the fabric and put together exactly what I wanted. One of my most treasured items that I will save forever. For jewelry, I wore rose gold earrings that Theo had given me for Valentine’s Day and a rose gold necklace that was a Christmas gift from years ago. ($40)

Shoes: These were one of my major splurges for the wedding. As soon as I saw that the kate spade glitter Keds came in rose gold, I had to have them. In fact when I sent the link to Theo, he replied saying they were a need (which is exactly when I knew we should spend the rest of our lives together). I bought them during a 25% off sale with free shipping, so they were $65. They were so comfortable and I just love them. I still wear them on any special occasion that I can find. I also really like these. ($65)

Hair & Makeup: One of my bridesmaids did my hair, and I did my makeup myself. Minimal makeup worked out very well because it was a HOT day. Since I can’t paint my nails to save my life, I got a Groupon for a gel pedicure and manicure. ($60, including makeup I wore for the next few months).

Bridesmaids: If I wasn’t spending a fortune on a wedding dress, I couldn’t justify making them buy an expensive dress. Especially since we all know that we don’t wear them again! Personally, I don’t really care for the look of matching dresses so that made it easy. So I gave them a general color (blush) and asked for floor length. They ordered online from various places and one even got hers at Ross for like $12. 

I didn’t do any of the cute bridesmaid asking boxes or cups or robes or personalized bangles. While I love all those things, they get costly really quick. Also, while I knew my friends would find those things adorable, we all live in small spaces–and honestly how long is a “Bride Squad” mug going to be loved? In my initial engagement excitement I did order some over-priced rose gold cards and wrote them each a note. I also got two of them and myself “Bride Tribe” and “Bride” shirts that we wore for a bachelorette beach day (I did get these secondhand). These were fun things and we took a few cute pictures, but they were really an unnecessary expense. ($50)

My mom provided a nice little brunch for us the morning of the wedding. We had bagels, lox, fruit, and some other assorted munchies. Oh, and coffee! This was great to have as we got ready. ($40)

Groom and Groomsmen: I was basically completely hands off with them. At one point I considered having them not match one another, but someone wisely talked me out of that. My two requests were charcoal-ish grey and suspenders. Three days before the wedding (the 4th of July no less), they went to Men’s Wearhouse after a morning of golf and picked out their outfits. They really pulled it together! (Groom, $100)

Accommodations & Transportation

Air B&B: Booking an Air B&B for to stay at the night before the wedding was a total lifesaver. I debated on not staying the night before to save money, but I am so glad I was able to splurge on this. The guest house was serene and peaceful, and far enough away from my room which at that point was a collection of boxes and suitcases. It was so nice to be able to relax after the rehearsal dinner and wake up in the morning to have a peaceful quiet time. The bride squad came over a little later to do hair, makeup, and brunch. It was so worth it. ($350, we stayed for a total of four nights including our mini-moon). 

Transportation: Very informal. We didn’t do a big send off, and we ended up staying longer then many of our guests which was a little awkward. We were going to schedule an Uber but we ended up having a friend drive us away.

Wedding Coordinator: Just kidding. But if I had to do it over, I would recruit (and pay) someone to coordinate the wedding. Yet another wonderful friend helped out with coordinating the ceremony. Again so thankful for her because by the time of the rehearsal my brain was at full capacity.  But it would have eased the stress on me, my maid of honor, my mom, and my other bridesmaids who all did a LOT of work.

While I had tons of help executing, as the bride the majority of the planning and coordinating was on me. Combined with trying to pack my entire life to move across the US, it was an extremely stressful week. It would have been worth it to have one person who knew exactly what I wanted and what was going on. Keep in mind if you’re going to DIY the whole process!

While our wedding was certainly not extravagant, I didn’t feel like we were lacking in anything. I totally understand why people spend tens of thousands of dollars and several years wedding planning, but even if those had been options they wouldn’t be what I truly wanted. And that’s really not even what getting married is about. If you’re just starting wedding planning, I really encourage you to spend some time in prayer finding the purpose behind your wedding. 

You always hear “this is YOUR day” but I felt very strongly that my wedding day was not my day. It wasn’t about me. Our wedding day was the Lord’s gift to us, just like every other day He has given. He graciously gave Theo and I each other, and orchestrated our lives so that we would meet and fall in love. And at the end of the MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF ALL TIME ™ what I wanted our guests to leave knowing, and what I wanted to remember, was the goodness of God to give us this beautiful gift. 

In summary, our expenses came out to $2,690. I’m so thankful for the people that helped our wedding come together. If you’re planning a small-budget wedding, I’d love to hear from you!

A guide to the first seven steps I took when planning our wedding is available here! 

All of the photographs in this post–except for the few that were obviously taken on a phone or say otherwise–were shot by the wonderful Anna Clark.