Have Your Dream Wedding for $8,000 (Or Less!)

Your wedding day is one of the most expensive days of your life-but if you know me, you know I’m going to help you do it for less. Like, way less. In the latest episode of The Rachel Cruze Show, you’ll learn:
• How to save 300% on your wedding reception
• My step-by-step guide to creating a wedding budget that actually works
• Four wedding lies everyone believes and how to keep them from ruining your marriage
Download my free wedding budget template here: cdn.ramseysolu...
Sponsors pay the producer of this show, The Lampo Group, LLC, advertising fees for mentioning their services or products during programming. Advertising fees are not based upon or otherwise tied to any product sale or business transacted between any consumer or sponsor. The following sponsors have paid for the programming you are viewing:
- Zander Insurance
Helpful Links:
Zander Insurance: bit.ly/2Pd6Nss
Get my Wedding Gift Bundle here: www.daveramsey...
Podcast and Lead Magnet Links:
Show Notes Page: www.rachelcruz...

[@jessicavasquez1376]

So not really $8000 bc they’re parents are buying the food and flowers? I believe you can do a wedding in the cheap but this feels like cheating and click bait 😒

[@bethanyg1029]

My husband and I were able to have our wedding for $5,000. One of the biggest ways to limit cost was limiting guests. We chose only immediate family and our closest friends, which was about 60 people. I also found a secondhand/gently-used shop for my wedding dress, and purchased my dress and alterations for $300. And I did not feel like I compromised on the dress. It can be done!

[@sonalsharma5293]

What ? For many people food n drinks is the main cost .. u didn’t even discuss the no of guests n food cost .. parents covering.. really ? How convenient.. does your kit comes with generous parents ?

[@ytonly7294]

😂

[@martinr4549]

You don’t have to feed anybody

[@Mothly1]

Getting married in September for 5500!

[@bethanyg1029]

Way to go! That's about what we spent on our wedding.

[@moreflairbycrystalz2785]

Can u tell us your budget, for ideas?

[@bethanyg1029]

@@moreflairbycrystalz2785 it's been a few years for me, but here's what we did: Decorations: $100 Flowers: $120 Dress: $300 Church: $500 Reception space: $550 Food for 50 people: $925 Photography: $2,200 Hair: $65 Nails: $30 Minister: $200 Ring for him (my engagement ring was a set): $200 Gifts for bridesmaids/groomsmen: $100 total That adds up to $5,190. If I remember correctly, I did go over a bit but I can't recall in what. I think the grand total at the end of it all was $5,300. The honeymoon was not included in this. We did splurge on that and went to Punta Cana for about $3,000, I believe.

[@morgan.greene]

Wow how inspirational!!! 😍 I hope to do the same

[@sabrina9333]

Notice you didn't mention Hair & makeup. It can be up to $300 for practice and the day of. 😉👰🏻💇🏼‍♀️

[@melissahowe6254]

Thats cause u can do it yourself lol

[@sabrina9333]

👍what ever makes you happy but some people don't understand photographers makeup & it's an extra cost to make those photos look good when you make it to your 50th anniversary. 😉👰🏻

[@dianal8520]

Thank you so much for this Rachel! As a bride-to-be in the midst of covid-19, this came in at the perfect time. Blessings!

[@sabrina9333]

I noticed they forgot hair & makeup if that's important 4 U. 😁🤵👰🏻

[@CaseyBurnsInvesting]

Other people’s expectations should not guide ANY of your purchasing decisions.

[@naynay_berry]

This channel too!! 😂

[@Julesroe99]

Two things I learned in real life are that the dress you wear and the photographer are not important in the long run. The disparity between $3600 for a photographer for photos they will put away after a year and only budgeting $600 for two wedding rings that they will wear every single day makes no sense to me. And I kept waiting to see how their alcohol and food was going to fit into an $8K budget that includes a $3600 photographer. I agree with the others that maybe a couple whose parents are not paying for anything should have been the case study here.

[@tiamarawalker1252]

Thank you for the ideas Rachel but a large cost is the food and flowers so it would be helpful to cover that in discussion also because many people don’t have someone who can cover these costs.

[@bethanyg1029]

Totally get that. One of things we did was only pay for bouquets for me, a boutonnière for my husband, and flowers for my bridesmaids. I was able to borrow some beautiful silk flowers for the decorations and table settings. If you have a friend who recently got married, you can normally get a bunch of stuff from them!

[@joshua8627]

Do you recommend getting a wedding planner? If so or if not, why? Will they help you save money? I am Indian and Indian weddings are usually very big. 500 to 1000 people usually come. How do you recommend budgeting for this?

[@martinr4549]

$8,000 are you kidding me I’m not spending that much

[@pgsm15]

😂

[@saschamayer4050]

Ikr, 800 for the wedding is more than enough. Maybe 2-3k for a nice honeymoon. Rest goes straight to savings. 😎👍

[@sabrina9333]

For a low budget in California more like $10,000 🤪

[@ytonly7294]

Haha same maybe $5000 ....on a vacation for two

[@bethanyg1029]

I feel that. We did it for $5,000, and a large portion of that was the photographer. One area we didn't want to compromise!

[@hopedodson8058]

Got married in 2019. Spent a total of $6500 which included EVERYTHING from the rings to catered reception to week-long honeymoon in Cancun! We had 130 guests. We had it at our church and had a lot of help from church friends to pull it off. Since we are older and already had two of everything, we asked for donations to the church in lieu of gifts. People loved it! We raised $5200 for the church and have a photo album full of so many well-loved, happy people to start our life together. ❤

[@leighschleper7901]

Goodness, I have to say I didn’t expect to read such negative comments. Rachel was strictly helping them budget their money for certain areas. And come up with creative ideas to reduce the tablescape costs. What the show didn’t speak to, is that Mitchell and Meleah are paying for this wedding. They are doing side jobs to pay cash for their wedding. And cash for their honeymoon too. How many young couples under 25 can pull that off? Yes, my husband and I offered the gift of paying for the catering, cake and flowers, which has a very low budget too. At the time of the show we were still in the midst of finding caterers, cake, flowers etc so they couldn’t offer a correct budget figure. There is nothing wrong with parents helping with wedding costs. My parents paid for my wedding, and I’m guessing most of your parents helped in some way or another too. It’s what families do, help and support each other. In Nashville, everything is expensive and weddings are no exception. The average Nashville wedding is $25,000. We are so proud of these two. So Please share only Encouraging Words & Ways to help this couple and others cut costs for their weddings and spare the negative comments. The world already has enough of those.

[@jessicahalvorsen9315]

Hi Leigh! I’m super interested in hearing the final total for the wedding! And I’m sure it was a big success 🥰

[@elizabethbarrett5303]

Don’t be so overbearing. There is a comments section so people can COMMENT!!! Other people’s opinions are none of your business. Don’t let it ruin your day. You’re not going to hear what you want all the time. Accept that life will not always go your way and there WILL be setbacks and disappointments. Bye Felicia! And get a contentment journal!

[@elizabethbarrett5303]

Don’t be so overbearing. There is a comments section so people can COMMENT!!! Other people’s opinions are none of your business. Don’t let it ruin your day. You’re not going to hear what you want all the time. Accept that life will not always go your way and there WILL be setbacks and disappointments. Bye Felicia! And get a contentment journal!

[@elizabethbarrett5303]

Don’t be so overbearing. There is a comments section so people can COMMENT!!! Other people’s opinions are none of your business. Don’t let it ruin your day. You’re not going to hear what you want all the time. Accept that life will not always go your way and there WILL be setbacks and disappointments. Bye Felicia! And get a contentment journal!

[@elizabethbarrett5303]

Don’t be so overbearing. There is a comments section so people can COMMENT!!! Other people’s opinions are none of your business. Don’t let it ruin your day.

[@bremdaparedes9835]

As for flowers I'm purchasing them a floral warehouse. It's much cheaper for you to buy the bouquet and actually put them together.I'm doing that for my sister's wedding in addition you don't have to do any of the guessing work as far as what's in season was out.

[@Julesroe99]

How do you find a floral warehouse? I LOVE this idea!!

[@amymendez5739]

I did something similar for my wedding! I ordered from sam’s club online a few days before and some friends helped make the bouquets and table arrangements. Probably spent about $200-300 total and I was very pleased with the results

[@bethanyg1029]

Great idea! We actually borrowed the silk flowers my sister used in her wedding, and they worked great!

[@jessicahalvorsen9315]

Hey Rachel! I’m a big fan of you and your dad. This had some good ideas... but I was thinking this would explain how to cut some things out or skimp on things that were less important but actually COVER all the expenses involved on only $8K. The average plate at an American wedding is $50-100 per person and flowers are $1500 on average... so I feel like you did not address some of the BIGGEST line items of a wedding! If you revisit this topic in the future (and I hope you do bc I’m getting married in 2021!) I would like to see you work with a couple that budgets for the entire cost and maybe has some radical innovative ways to cut costs! I have heard about surprise weddings so maybe that would be a good place to start 😘 Thanks!

[@bethanyg1029]

Congratulations! One of the best ways we cut costs for the food was doing a buffet and trimming our guest list (although we both already wanted a smaller wedding, so that helped). We also borrowed silk flowers from my sister, who recently had been married, and only purchased fresh flowers for me, my bridesmaids and my husband's boutonnière. It still looked gorgeous -- in fact, I got a ton of compliments. Best of luck with your wedding planning!

[@sweetypashmaloo]

Professional wedding planner here - some expenses that was overlooked include; -Wedding insurance -Tips (expected for waiters, bartenders, catering manager, coat checks, hair/make up etc) -Transportation (how will the couple get home after the reception?) -Table numbers and escort cards (open seating will cost you more money- assign a table for each guest) -Cake cutting fee (likely required if the cake is not provided by the caterer) -month of coordinator (essential - who will create and distribute the timeline to all the vendors? Cue your friend to play his Spotify for your first dance? Bring water/food to you? Ensure the venue is cleaned up to standards after the event?)

[@sweetypashmaloo]

-Vendor meals (vendors such as photographers include this in their contract as a requirement)

[@KC-zn1mg]

They aren’t including cost for any bachelor/bachelorette party, bridal shower, bridesmaids, etc.

[@MagnitudeMoney]

In retrospect, I wish we would have eloped 😂

[@moreflairbycrystalz2785]

Why?

[@MagnitudeMoney]

@@moreflairbycrystalz2785 Stress levels and costs :P

[@annakulakova4294]

can you please share how to get a divorce for under 8k?

[@stephaniemiddleton3740]

A colleague of mine spent 8k (GBP) on the venue alone

[@johnhigginbotham8291]

Did your wedding cost 8k, Rachel??

[@allisonbroome7348]

Love love Rachel !! We just did a justice of peace kind of thing ! 11 years and counting 💕 we spent 3k to have a little ceremony in Jamaica with honeymoon :-) highly recommend simplicity ... I totally get wanting a wedding though :-) if you’re involved in a church they will help with a ton !!

[@ciannacoleman5125]

I know my boyfriend is planning on proposing although not sure when (he told me after 6mos of dating, 7yrs of friendship, he was going to marry me lol) and I am really hoping the ring he chooses doesn't cost more than a few hundred bucks since it is unnecessary. I began saving for a wedding when I started my job and will likely have around $5000 and hate the idea of spending hundreds of dollars on a dress, I am thinking of trying to find a really nice evening gown or maybe prom dress instead of a wedding dress because again, markup. Plus wedding rings are so expensive so I've been thinking getting "regular" rings would be a better choice although that will obviously be a conversation to have, markup for "wedding" and "engagement" anything is a real and crazy thing.

[@amyquillen2506]

9th anniversary in a few days. We spent $50, cost of the marriage license. We wore nice clothes we already owned, got married at the courthouse and my M-I-L took pictures. I want to renew our vows for our 15th anniversary and have a big party!

[@amyknickerbocker3866]

I found that for the photographer, if I purchased the disc of pictures, I could print as many pictures as I wanted for the mothers. And for flowers, I found that buying silks wholesale worked out well. I made the arrangements will in advance and most of the time you could not tell the difference in pictures. And some of the silks even looked good enough to be real.

[@sadieesther9721]

Everyone complaining about food and flowers.... have your wedding at a time of day where you don’t have to serve food and alcohol is a huge cost as well. Costco does cheap flowers or you can always go synthetic

[@courtneybenner7364]

Huge fan of yours. My husband and I paid $5k for our June wedding in Sundance WITHOUT the help of our parents/in-laws 🙌🏼✨👏🏼

[@bethanyg1029]

Way to go!

[@moreflairbycrystalz2785]

Awesome! How did u do that?

[@melissahowe6254]

Bye felica ! Good way to throw that in haha

[@alexiscormier4059]

I’ll be lucky if I can spend 1,500 on a wedding 😕

[@bren8652]

Talk with your church family, most will help with food if you don't mind going simple. Some even have decorations you can use, such as lights, arches, pew bows, and table cloths.

[@malaikakirby242]

Perfect timing!

[@12Sanguine]

Kind of of a pointless video, the couple didn't mention the number of guests, which is the most important metric, didn't talk about hair, makeup, accessories, etc. Catering, staff, transport, tax, insurance, tips, set up and tear down... And saying the parents paying for the most costly parts of it, such as food, and not saying how much that is? That doesn't help us at all.

[@cdular]

Honestly the Photographer/Cost - The pictures our friends and family took were just as good or better fun images than the pile of stills we have in a box - never to be seen again. I think we had one printed for the wall. really anyone could have taken that one.

[@Julesroe99]

I agree with this 1000%

[@PurpleFlower22]

For a sec I thought she was Mandy Moore

[@MakeItSo_ST]

I'm unsubbing due to Dave’s recent political statements that contain coded racist language. That's not why I supported Ramsey Solutions.