Wedding expenses: list of main expenses, who pays for what

Images of the bride and groom

5-10% of the total budget

• Wedding Dress
• Groom's suit
• Shoes (+ spare flats for the evening)
• Underwear
• Veil / its alternatives
• Jewelry and accessories
• Stylist services

Optional:

Bridesmaids' Dresses
Second dress for the evening

How to cut costs:

Start looking for a dress early: in the fall and winter, salons offer good discounts.
Shoes for a wedding can be bought not only in a bridal salon. If you are not necessarily looking for classic white pumps, then take a look at regular shoe stores: they have a larger assortment and more affordable prices.
In many salons, adjusting a dress to your figure is free, but additional alterations (changing the length of sleeves, neckline shape, etc.) will require additional costs from you, so if your budget is limited, it is better to immediately look for a model that suits you completely, or sew a dress to order.

+ additional ways to save on your wedding look

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Unlimited budget

Every girl, as a child, begins to picture her ideal wedding in her head, and by the time she proposes marriage, the picture she gets is quite real and feasible for a certain amount of money.

When there is no need to look at prices when organizing, you can make all your wedding dreams come true. And you should start with the wedding dress. Let it be a work of art. It doesn’t matter whether you buy it or have it sewn to order - it should fit perfectly on your figure and be comfortable. Or maybe you want a dress from the famous designer Vera Wang or an outfit embroidered with Swarovski crystals? Do not deny yourself this pleasure, because this is an important day of your life.

Wedding costs include payment for the wedding procession. It looks most impressive if it consists of identical luxury cars. The newlyweds' car may stand out, for example, be a different color. And don't forget to hire a professional photographer and videographer to capture your tale.

Brides always want their wedding to be the best, and for guests to talk about it for a long time. And in order for the guests to be satisfied, you need a rich, varied table: a lot of unusual snacks, hot dishes for every taste, good drinks. Guests should also have fun: an experienced host with a good script, live music, butterfly fireworks, a light or fire show, etc. And remember, there are no trifles in organizing the wedding of your dreams.

Wedding rings

3% of total budget

We do not recommend saving on rings, because this is the most important decoration, a symbol of your marriage. Show your imagination: consider different types of metals, shapes, stones, come up with an individual engraving. You can even make rings yourself - jewelry stores conduct similar master classes. If your budget is very limited, choose a classic: a simple, smooth ring without stones will not only reduce costs, but will always be in trend.

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Decor and floristry

10-15% of the total budget

• Bridal bouquet + boutonniere for the groom
• Design of an outdoor ceremony
• Dinner decoration: presidium, central compositions, additional decorative elements
• Lighting
• Florist decorator services

Optional:

Bridesmaids bouquets
Petals for the ceremony
Photo zone/lounge area
Evening ceremony decoration

How to cut costs:

Choose seasonal flowers. They will not only be cheaper, but also of better quality.
The wedding venue should match the style of the wedding, then the decor will be minimal, you won’t have to completely redo its appearance with it - just add flowers and place accents.
Combine zones: for example, a photo session with guests can be held against the backdrop of a wedding arch, and the buffet area can be turned into a relaxation area by placing upholstered furniture and complementing it with warm lighting.

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Abroad

A wedding abroad is a great way to combine travel and a ceremony that will remain a pleasant event in your memory.

France, Thailand, Great Britain, India, Maldives and some other countries do not register marriages of foreigners. You will have to rely only on an unofficial ceremony.

In general, to register a marriage, you need to pay a tax, write an application for registration, provide a foreign passport and sign. Obtaining an apostille guarantees the legal validity of the marriage certificate.

Countries where you can hold a beautiful ceremony in the summer, and the approximate cost of a celebration abroad (in rubles):

Montenegro (Budva) – from 140,000;
Cyprus (Larnaca) – from 170,000;
Cuba – from 170,000;
Czech Republic (Prague) – from 170,000;
Sri Lanka (Bentota) – 190,000;
Portugal (Lisbon) – 195,000;
Seychelles (Grand Anse Praslin) – 220,000;
Greece (Rhodes) – 240,000;
Hungary (Budapest) – 245,000.

The prices include: hotel accommodation for the couple (10 days), flights, marriage registration and hall decoration, photographer services, etc. You can save money if you thoroughly study the registration rules in advance, book photographers and decorate the ceremony site yourself.

After receiving an apostille from a notary, it must be translated into Russian in Russia.

Interesting! The most expensive wedding in the world, worth $137,000,000, was celebrated in Dubai. The newlyweds, Princess Salama and Sheikh Rashid, invited 20,000 guests to their celebration.

Photographer, videographer

15% of the total budget

How to cut costs:

Consider package offers from professionals, usually cheaper than hourly shooting.
Keep an eye on promotions and special offers (subscribe to the social media accounts of the pros you like): some photographers offer a love-story as a gift for ordering a full wedding day shoot, a discount for booking a date earlier, saving prices from the previous season when signing a contract in December, etc.

BUT! Never skimp on the quality of services. Choose only those specialists whose work you really like and with whom you find it easy to work. Photos and videos are your memory of the wedding, trust your memories only to the best!

How to choose a photographer?

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Banquet

40-45% of the total budget

• Site rental
• Food and drinks
• Service
• Presenter
• Corkage fee
• Cake and sweet table
• Food for contractors

How to cut costs:

As a rule, the cost of a banquet directly depends on the number of guests, so shorten the list of guests by crossing out distant relatives whom you have seen once in your life and acquaintances with whom you communicate extremely rarely.
If the wedding format allows, a five-hour banquet with a change of dishes can be replaced with a light buffet: this will not only help significantly reduce costs, but will also make the holiday more active and informal.

How to make a guest list?

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What can you save on?

You don't have to rent a luxury car at all. A beautifully decorated Nissan Murano or Toyota Corolla will give it worthy competition.

Wedding dresses can be rented. Not many people can afford to buy a chic wedding dress, but rental budget will allow it.

Restaurant expenses are an item that can be seriously cut. It’s better to do the decoration of the hall yourself, doing everything to your liking. A restaurant in the city center requires more expenses than the same establishment, but on the outskirts.

A weekday wedding day will reduce the wedding budget, since the payment increases on weekends. The season also affects wedding expenses: in warm weather, the banquet can be held outside.

Printing

3% of total budget

At modern weddings, printing is more of a decorative element than a vital necessity: instead of paper invitations, you can create a wedding website that will contain all the information necessary for guests, and seating cards can replace personalized compliments for guests.

On the other hand, beautiful calligraphy, an elegantly designed menu, original Save the date cards - these are the little details that give your wedding a special touch and create its unique character. Therefore, the costs, composition and style of wedding printing depend only on your preferences and financial capabilities.

Everything you need to know about wedding printing

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Entertainment and music

5-10% of the total budget

Whether it will be a DJ or a cover band, whether live music is needed at the ceremony, whether it is necessary to invite animators, how to entertain guests during the buffet and at the banquet - all this is very individual, and depends on your personal preferences, style and location of the wedding, and, of course, budget.

First of all, decide on the format of the event itself - it will be a magnificent classical celebration (in which case a string quartet at the ceremony and performances by artists during the evening are appropriate), a youth party (with a DJ, board games and creative performances from the guests themselves) or a cozy family dinner, the main focus of which will be light music and long conversations?

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The structure of the wedding budget - the main expenses for a classic celebration

When you decide on the amount you are willing to spend on the wedding, it makes sense to distribute it among expense items. If you spend too much on one stage of your wedding planning, you may not have enough money for another. The initial allocation of the budget will help you navigate your expenses and decide where it is better to save and where you can overpay.

Many wedding experts advise to distribute wedding costs as follows:

50% at the venue. This should include not only a banquet, but also venue rental, decor, music, etc.
10-15% – the image of the bride and groom.
5-10% – wedding procession.
10% – photo and video shooting.
10% – other wedding expenses (invitations, pillows for rings, rose petals, wedding paraphernalia).
10% – unforeseen expenses (additional guests, damage to property and other force majeure circumstances).

Advice: if during the preparation process you still have extra funds, do not rush to spend them. It is better to save for unexpected expenses or a honeymoon.

Wedding planner

10% of the total budget

Do you need a wedding planner? - this is the first question that should be asked when starting preparations for the wedding. For independent brides who want to organize a holiday with their own hands, we have prepared a unique electronic assistant - Organizer from Weddywood. It will guide you step by step to the wedding of your dreams, help with calculations and drawing up a guest list, and it also has many lists and life hacks that will simplify preparations and help you keep everything under control.

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Calculating wedding expenses

Many new brides and grooms are interested in how much it costs to get married. This amount consists of many items, the main ones of which are the banquet, photo and video shooting, dress and suit, as well as small additional expenses, which ultimately result in impressive numbers.

In fact, it can be quite difficult to independently compile a list of wedding expenses, including invitations, bonbonnieres, decorations, car decorations, party props and photo shoots. Most of the expenses are not obvious and emerge during preparation, often catching young people by surprise. To prevent this from happening, you should use ready-made templates and the wedding expense calculator listed on our website.

Wedding budget for the bride

PRICE range, rub

Wedding expenses for the groom

PRICE range, rub

Wedding expenses for CAR

PRICE range, rub

Expenses for a wedding in the registry office

PRICE range, rub

Budget for wedding

PRICE range, rub

Costs for a wedding reception

PRICE range, rub

other expenses

PRICE range, rub

Pros of using an online expense calculation service

An estimate for a wedding is necessary in order to understand how much the celebration costs and where you can save money. Indeed, a visual representation of the costs makes it clear that by making the invitations and decorating the cars yourself, you can buy a more luxurious dress, and by ordering chicken instead of beef, you can invite a breathtaking presenter or professional photographer.

Our page contains an excel table of wedding expenses, which contains an approximate list of expenses and average prices for them, which will give a general idea of the event budget. You can download the wedding expense calculator and adjust expense items at your discretion. It will be relevant throughout the entire period of preparation for the wedding and help control all expenses.

Costs depending on number of guests and region

The most common number of guests is 50. Based on this figure, you should calculate the costs of the wedding. A huge part of the wedding budget is the banquet. According to Moscow prices, a check for 1 person, including alcohol, in a restaurant is about 7,000 rubles. This means that for 50 guests you will need about 350 thousand rubles. If a restaurant requires an additional 10% for service, then the amount will be 385 thousand. Sometimes the rent of the premises is paid additionally. Its price depends on the location of the banquet.

The decor of the room where the wedding is taking place includes an arch, tables for the newlyweds and guests, photo zones, and seating. On average, 50 invitees can cost up to 250 thousand rubles. It all depends on the desires and capabilities of the young people: some will work out everything in detail, while others will use the decor of the restaurant and save a decent amount.

The presenters also add a coefficient depending on the number of guests. In Moscow, a professional showman for a wedding of 50 guests will ask for a fee of about 60 thousand rubles. In this case, paying for a DJ and equipment will cost about 15,000 rubles.

The cost of ordering transport will fluctuate depending on how many guests you plan to take on the walk. Often a separate car is rented for young people, and guests are transported in minibuses. The costs will be about 50 thousand rubles.

In the regions, the wedding price tag will be significantly lower.

Some nuances of a winter wedding

Many couples are forced to get married in winter due to urgent circumstances, and some do it deliberately, because this period has many advantages:

No need to queue at the registry office at night;
Free choice of cafes and restaurants for celebrations, many of which are booked six months in advance in the summer;
Festive New Year's mood and appropriate decoration of banquet halls, which you don’t have to spend money on;
Magical photos in the snow;
Discounts on weddings, photo shoots, hair and makeup, dresses and suits, as well as many other expenses, for which prices increase significantly in the summer.

Miscellaneous

5% of the total budget

• Compliments for guests
• State duty at the registry office
• Transport costs
• Props for shooting love-story
• Manicure and pedicure
• Wedding day coordinator
• Hotel room

How to cut costs:

Prepare in advance a list of everything that may be useful to you on your wedding day, think about a plan B in case of rain or extreme heat (if the entire wedding or ceremony is held outdoors) and prepare for possible force majeure. This way you will save both money (there will be time to choose the most optimal option) and nerves, which is no less important on the eve of the wedding.
Avoid unnecessary travel around the city.
Gatherings can be held not only in a hotel, but also in a photo studio or outdoors if the wedding venue is located outside the city.
If the wedding format allows, ask one of your relatives or close friends to perform the ceremony. This will make it even more personal and touching, and will save on the services of a master of ceremonies.

What else can you save on?

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Small budget: how can you save as much as possible?

How to calculate the costs of a wedding with a minimum budget? Celebrating at home with your family is, of course, economical, but not fun at all. If you don’t want to spend a lot, you will have to give up a magnificent celebration for 100 people - maximum 30-40. Read how to save money on a wedding and not deprive yourself of a full-fledged holiday on the Svadebka.ws portal.

The most effective way would be to create a table that lists all the expenses for the wedding.

Where and when to hold the celebration?

To reduce wedding costs, hold your wedding outdoors in the summer. You don’t have to pay to rent the hall: you just need to rent tables, chairs and a couple of tents.

Festive table

The best option for organizing a table would be to order catering or an off-site restaurant. And to reduce wedding expenses, use vegetables and fruits grown in your mother or grandmother’s garden. You can make your own birthday cake. And since open-faced cakes are in trend, you will only need to bake the cakes and place them with a layer of simple cream. Decorate the top with fresh berries, place a beautiful stand, and that’s it – the cake is ready!

The image of the newlyweds

Your expense table should contain one more item - the wedding outfits of the newlyweds. Because the celebration will take place in the fresh air, the bride may appear in a light white summer sundress - this will be quite acceptable. An airy braid with woven flowers, which are also used in the bride’s bouquet and the groom’s boutonniere, is suitable as a hairstyle. A girl can do light makeup on her own; she doesn’t need anything else in hot weather. For a young man, a suit is not necessary; casual trousers and a light light shirt are enough.