How We Planned Our Dream Wedding for Under $3000 | Wedding Planning Tips | Budget Breakdown

I’ve always believed in being open about finances, so in this video I go into detail about exactly how much my husband Brandon and I spent on our dream wedding. I start by giving some tips on how we kept things cheap, but still had in our opinions, the perfect wedding. Then I list out everything we spent money on. Obviously weddings are a very personal thing and I am by no means saying that anyone's wedding should look like ours, but hopefully you find these tips helpful!
Mentioned in this video
Wedding Dress: David's Bridal - www.davidsbridal.com/brides
Photographer: Authentic Radiance - authenticradiance.co/
Flowers: Global Rose - globalrose.com/
Wedding Band: Etsy - www.etsy.com/listing/88895300...
About me
I’m a 26 year old who is passionate about all things fitness, health, and wellness. I graduated from college in 2018 with a B.S. in environmental science and currently work in conservation. When I’m not working my 9-5, I am passionately working as a virtual personal trainer and creating content on KZbin. If you are interested in following along as I grow my virtual training business and figure out newly married life as a 20-something, then please subscribe!
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[@staciyork]

I hope you found this video helpful! If you're looking for more wedding planning advice feel free to check out one of my other videos! WEDDING PLANNING MISTAKES | DO NOT Make These Mistakes | Budget Wedding Tips: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n52pooigZqipY9Usi=Nx_S25_zo0SXdOfp Our Amazon Wedding Registry | Registry Ideas | Everything On Our Registry: kzbin.info/www/bejne/joDWkHSamceqoKc 💞

[@trothhammer]

This is really good advice. My fiancé and I are getting married in 2 weeks and we saved money by using a playlist of pre-selected music, $500 photographer, $250 dress, small cake / cupcakes from a friend, flowers from Trader Joe's, no alcohol, no dress code, $600 for both wedding bands. We did splurge for a handicap-friendly venue for ~50 people and catering for special dietary needs but I believe our budget wound up being under $5K. If the wedding wasn't such a big deal to both our families, then we would have just had our parents join us at a park for a small ceremony and then reserved a table for the reception somewhere. We are very low-maintenance and are just happy to be getting married.

[@staciyork]

Congrats on almost being married!! And thank you for sharing your budget, it's so helpful to see how other people spent their wedding budget. Wishing you the happiest of wedding days!

[@candysmith8724]

Having parents that have a beautiful venue for zero cost was your best savings!

[@kiraeckard7625]

For real! The Venue and food are one of the bigger costs of weddings. I'm doing searches right now and a simple venue for a small wedding seems to trend for the cost of her entire budget, especially when you add in food! If you tack her spending onto the cost most people with small weddings have to spend on food and venue, this would easily be closer to a 6k-7k wedding. No shame using the privileges she has, but definitely adds a big grain of salt to all of her advice. Absolutely use family and friends if they are willing and eager. Be grateful for what you receive. It's okay to ask for help but don't go begging and demanding!

[@governer76]

Our only regret with our wedding was with our photographer! We were pressured to use a friend’s wife that did photography for a living, so I didn’t bother to vet her work. You can’t get those moments back, and it’s something we regret to this day. ALWAYS check their previous work & don’t settle!

[@valenna7317]

Just got engaged and trying to figure out how to have my dream wedding on a budget Lol. This video helps to not feel guilty. You’re lucky you had your parents house as a venue, not all of us are that lucky. But hopefully a place will fall into my lap. We’ll see what happens! 🤷🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🎉💍👰🏾‍♀️

[@thetravelgoods2760]

Did you check local parks?? I found one for 550 by a lake with a indoor reception hall ❤ beautiful park

[@kristahowell8316]

I'm getting married October 1st of 2022 and this video really helped me feel better about not having a huge expensive wedding.

[@staciyork]

I’m so happy to hear that! Today is actually our anniversary and I can honestly say we have zero regrets! It was the perfect day and I know your wedding day will be too! ❤️

[@faithemilyd9908]

How was your wedding?

[@monteeziee4228]

That’s me and my girl anniversary…hoping u guys married by now and if u are…CONGRATULATIONS🎉‼️

[@oliviadrinkwine1411]

another tip when searching for a cake say it's for a very fancy birthday or something like that as people will often tax on things that aren't really needed (it's called the wedding tax).

[@nicolepeaslee5017]

Thank you so much for clarifying why photographers are an investment. I've shot a handful of weddings and it's so much work and I've invested a lot of money into equipment and education. I'm newly engaged and we have a small budget. Our hope is to find a student or someone who's starting out as well.

[@allaleelee]

Great advice!! Loved hearing the breakdown of everything. I think I spent about the same amount on my wedding! Also don't regret your dress, it still cost way less than most people spend on wedding dresses and you looked AMAZING 😍

[@staciyork]

Thanks lady!! It was for sure cheaper than so many other dresses I could have gotten and it was pretty good looking!

[@breonnarios1013]

Thanks for sharing! My husband and I have been married for 3years but never got to have a wedding so we are planning on having one on our 4year anniversary. We have a budget of 5K this was so helpful!

[@staciyork]

I’m so happy I could help! Congrats on 3 years abs good luck planning!

[@chaosgirl8552]

This is such great advice. We are getting married next year and I'm so nervous about overspending even though I'm having a really small wedding. I think the best part was about keeping food simple because we are going for a tea time theme and I was wondering if I should get a bakery to make the cupcakes/cakes but I think we can just go with store bought ones that are decent cos it will be far cheaper.

[@staciyork]

Oooh!! I love the tea theme idea! And I totally think store bought ones would be perfectly fine! Just throw them on some nice looking (but affordable) plates and it’ll be so cute!

[@beverlyjefferson8876]

absolutely the most real advice i have seen so far! thank you for sharing, i have taken notes! great vid

[@LearnGermanwithMarzipanfrau]

Thank you for your tips. I am planning on not spending too much on my wedding. And this helps me a lot to calm down. ❤

[@Melbee2008]

Love the ideas. Especially the ring suggestion.

[@staciyork]

Thank you!! We both really love our rings! 🥰

[@ElisaHawkes]

Great job! Everything looks beautiful!

[@SingWillie]

My fiancé and I are getting married in April and our goal is to spend only $5k! Thank you for the inspirational video

[@staciyork]

I love that goal! Good luck and I’m happy I could help!

[@babybluebeyou]

Great tips! Your wedding looks beautiful!

[@staciyork]

Thank you! We loved it so much!

[@jericalane2506]

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing ❤️

[@staciyork]

Thank you for watching! I hope it was helpful!

[@bethmaree6492]

Hi Staci - just want to say a HUGE thank you for your video. Basically mirrors what we have in mind for our wedding EXCEPT that you just saved me $1.5k on a wedding band I didn't really want. My fiance and I went looking at wedding bands, and it felt so sterile because my engagement ring is the one with the story, and the wedding band just felt like something we HAD to do. Realising that we DON'T actually have to, and in fact it's dumb to do it just because you feel like you have to. Thank you so so much ❤ Definitely sharing your video around xx

[@Dr.RivkaEdery]

A huge thank you to you- your video is just what I needed, including all the comments ❤

[@staciyork]

I'm so happy it was helpful! 💖

[@brendaking737]

Congratulations on your marriage. Thank you for sharing your ideas on how to have a wonderful wedding and not having to spend so much money.

[@evanousley850]

Under 3k and some of the most fun we’ve ever had!😁❤️

[@meals_seasoned_with_love_]

Getting married 8/24/2024 this video helped me so much! Thank you for your idea of a wedding at home, you’re helpful! Congratulations by the way ❤

[@JolenEE148]

This is such a fantastic video. Thank you for sharing! I appreciate it 😊

[@staciyork]

I’m so happy it helped!!

[@dawngrrrl]

Thank you for sharing your budget in detail! Your wedding looks beautiful. We're getting married next April and have a $4k budget and I'm the wedding planner so this is exactly my vibe.

[@staciyork]

Congratulations!! I hope you have the most perfect day!!! I’m glad I could help in some way!! ❤️

[@kphoria1009]

that’s my budget! i’m happy for you!

[@ayeshiahawke5070]

Your wedding looks beautiful girl, thank you for sharing 💕

[@staciyork]

Thank you!! I hope it was helpful!!

[@mescobar5232]

Thank you for sharing 💗 best wishes for your marriage may God bless you abundantly!

[@staciyork]

Thank you!! Same to you (assuming you are planning your own! 😊)

[@chloew764]

Your wedding day looks beautiful

[@gwenvann7279]

Very helpful video!

[@staciyork]

Thank you! I’m glad I was able to help! ☺️

[@terepatrick7640]

Very nice tips. Thank you

[@staciyork]

Of course! I’m glad I could help!

[@fromsarahjolie]

omg your wedding was beautiful 🥺

[@melanierobinson4152]

Great video! Our wedding is June 4th. We'd like to budget and this video is amazing! Our venue is already paid for. We chose a beautiful public park.

[@staciyork]

That sounds amazing!! Choosing a cheaper venue is definitely a great place to start to reduce costs! Good luck planning!

[@melanierobinson4152]

@@staciyork Thank you for replying. Yes it is a beautiful park. I am so excited to see what we can accomplish ❣️

[@jasminedew7157]

Mine too! Congratulations!!! 😊

[@kphoria1009]

@@melanierobinson4152how much did the public park cost?

[@cinny5917]

you are an angel and an inspiration

[@staciyork]

Thank you!

[@bntv96]

We brought the eucalyptus over to try it in your hair!!!!

[@staciyork]

Oh yeah!! That’s how it ended up there! The whole weekend was a blur!!

[@evanousley850]

Hi @bntv96!

[@trenatibaker]

Great video,!!

[@yifeihu8447]

Looking at venues around Boston and Rhode Island, hard to spend less than $50,000 these days. Good for you guys, if only $3,000 was even an option for me I would totally jump on that!

[@staciyork]

Venues are honestly so expensive!! We got really lucky being able to use my parents property! I highly recommended checking with local parks or state parks and see if the have rental spaces tho. They can be much much less expensive then traditional venues!

[@yaeltuttebel]

Not serving alcohol at your wedding is really cheap....

[@daniellel1705]

This was beautiful thank you! Can you please explain how you did the music playlist and the logistics of it and how it worked? Who was able to be the MC and did you have anyone to announce things? Super interested!!

[@staciyork]

Thank you!! We had a friend with a nice speaker as the “DJ”. He started the processional song at the proper time (we timed out how long walking down the aisle took, so we knew exactly how quickly to walk and when each person should start walking). Other than that we just had a chill playlist for after the ceremony that played while we ate and a dancing playlist for after dinner. We didn’t have anyone announce us into the reception or anything. We did do some speaks however and I’ll admit that it was hard for people to hear the person speaking. They do make microphones that have the speaker built in (www.amazon.com/BONAOK-Bluetooth-Microphone-Christmas-Smartphone/dp/B071SGMQ7V/ref). So that could be an option instead of hiring a DJ with a fancy sound system. Then you’d just have to find a friend willing to MC for you!! I hope that helps!

[@CieraOusley]

Thank you so much!!

[@staciyork]

I’m glad I could help! Good luck planning!

[@CuriousMarg]

amazing!! how many people attended the wedding?

[@juliaunasamone]

I’m not sure where you are but my husband is from Michigan city. We live in Tulsa and honestly just wanna elope. Maybe we could do it up there and find that photographer! ♥️

[@lynnko5295]

Photographer and videographer are the only two things that I am willing to pay hehe.

[@staciyork]

Totally relate to this! Obviously we paid way less than many people do for our photographer, but that was the one thing I did not want to “do it yourself”. Good luck with planning!!

[@derrickmilambo5493]

Great Budgeting,,i love your slogan.don't spend money on things you don't care about.

[@staciyork]

Thank you! It’s a great slogan for wedding planning and for life!!

[@sonia7689]

I really want to get married but I am nervous because of financial problem

[@timgood2778]

Hi Staci, my wife and I are planning a vow renewal on a budget. Loved your video here. Especially what you said about photography. We are in the Chicago area, do you think your photographer would come up here? How do we get in touch with her? Thank you!

[@staciyork]

Tim, thanks so much for your comment and congrats on the vow renewal! I’m not sure how far our photographer would be willing to travel, or what her rates are now. But feel free to DM her on Instagram (instagram.com/authentic_radiance_?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==). She was truly amazing and I would highly recommend!

[@teamarie123]

When I heard northern Indiana Michigan area I was hype

[@vasthidominguez8748]

Congrats, what other suggestions you would have for a dress?

[@staciyork]

If I were to do it all over again I’d probably order a dress online at somewhere like Lulu’s or Free People. I just feel like I could have found a dress I liked even more for way less!

[@TheRusselmuscle]

In CA the worse DJs are $1500 for a wedding. But they don't just play music if they're good. They do all sorts of things to make your wedding work. The playing music is the easy part, but knowning what to play and when to play it is something that you learn only though years of practice. How to work a crowd is not something you just do. The music lineup can't be just preprogramed ahead of time.

[@kphoria1009]

a good crowd will make any playlist work

[@Yousmelllikemyshoe]

I think I know my family more than the DJ

[@leslietorrez7589]

Where did you get your wedding dress I’m on Indiana too

[@staciyork]

I got it at the Davids Bridal in South Bend! The staff was very nice and helpful !

[@Bree19]

If you dont mind me asking, what was your guest count? Right now we're shooting for 80 but im honestly thinking about only doing 50

[@staciyork]

We had about 70 total! I would definitely recommend paring it down if there’s some people your on the fence about inviting. Obviously you want all the people you love at your wedding, but for me, even with only 70, I didn’t even get to chat with everyone! Good luck with planning and remember to have fun!!

[@lorettaprice8167]

Planning my second wedding, want a small intimate one. You never answered the cake question. Is that something you can skip?

[@RichAnti]

You can do a beautiful cup cake tower

[@kalycatherine4482]

Who did your cleanup and making sure food stayed warm? I worry about my family being unimpressed because they are all snobs and I just want a simple wedding but I know they are expecting something great

[@staciyork]

All of our close friends and family stuck around until the end of the night to help clean up and we had some friends and family loan us warming trays for the food. As far as snobby relatives go… it’s your day! People like that are never going to be pleased and will always end up judging you, so you might as well do what makes you happy and what’s best for you and your future spouse!

[@nadiadixon4163]

I just got engaged a week ago and I have this fear from my family moreso than his. I feel like if it's not 200+ it's not a "real" wedding

[@skaterboy-cz9wj]

Great video; great personality but the music ruined it. Very distracting and had nothing to do with the video. I think you got it right - do what is important to you; priortize and stay on budget. I do think others would spend more on decor but Costco flowers or boulangerie (grocey store flowers) could bring down costs. I think lots of eucalyptus and Cost co roses , carnations, astromeria, stock would be gorgeous. boutonieres are super easy to make . It would be helpful to see the food. I have seen potlucks ut they have issues - having enough to get Aunt Mabel's famous mac and cheese, ensuring food does not go bad a better ourte might be something like ham, mac and cheese, potatoes and veggies or a pasta bar and garlic read and salad. It keeps with a theme and can even be done with frozen prepared food and hire some students to cook and serve. But I love the bride seems happy. I agree about the dress. She may have been able to afford a more expensive dress if it was easier to alter. I found a dress that was $1400 for $100 I helped pick it for the bride because while it needed alterations - they were simple and could be hemmed without a lot of work.

[@desireesanabria6572]

How many guests did you have ?

[@staciyork]

A little less than 100. Definitely had to be very particular about who we invited, because boy does it get more and more expensive with each guest!

[@rollercoasterlife7233]

Buy all from temu 😊

[@kristiprice9419]

Did you have a wedding cake?

[@EmilyAnneAtHome]

I love the video and the tips but I feel like every person talking about having weddings under 5k have parents with national parks for backyards 👀 I’d love to opt out of a venue but I don’t know anyone with a backyard big enough for 50 people 🥲

[@kphoria1009]

you can still have your wedding in a public park

[@brunettelatina3966]

How much are the average photographers?

[@westcoastorbust2462]

Depending on my fam and friends would create a disaster.

[@staciyork]

I think unfortunately that’s true for all weddings! 😂

[@nearystar6341]

On photographers: don't come out the gate advertising experience as a portion of their pay. You will seriously offend them, and they will talk trash about you in local photography groups. Consider that these photographs will be your memory of this day, so spending an appropriate amount will really benefit you in the long run! I would even argue that getting no pictures is better than getting bad ones.

[@leonardoicandelariojr9090]

Great video I have seen, I am a wedding officiant can I reach out to you in private I need to ask you a question.

[@staciyork]

Feel free to DM me on Instagram. My handle is staci__york

[@leonardoicandelariojr9090]

Will do.

[@leonardoicandelariojr9090]

@@staciyork Hi, I DM you.

[@thebridalbra]

Wow $3,000 is .. doable 😁 Great advice though 🥰

[@evanousley850]

Plz be kind to others🥰

[@kenyonbissett3512]

Less expensive or inexpensive not cheap

[@staciyork]

Definitely better options!

[@kenyonbissett3512]

@@staciyork 😁

[@evanousley850]

@kenyonbisset3512 kindness is inexpensive and cheap🥰

[@cee3poh888]

Dress plus alterations for under a thousand dollhairs?! Great job. * I know your trying to emphasize the affordable choices you made but the word cheap sounds so negative* ( not trying to sound rude 😬)

[@staciyork]

David’s Bridal is definitely a great option all around for anyone on a budget! And your totally right, “affordable” definitely sounds a bit nicer.

[@user-wc2ze8cz9m]

*The efficiency of this spy site usespy online is next level.* To juggle walk throughs of various angles on the topic delivered to-camera, different content per topic from various folks underneath the umbrella of the track list of the larger big band concert itself is engaging and refined. To make a dense access like this so digestible is really something.. Awesome work Baron!!!!

[@WumiTolani]

Thank you for your full focus on the spy job instead of focusing on proving yourself to others. You always tried harder to be better and now your success speaks out louder. Thank you for a hard work. I’m sure it was worth it all before saying i do. There is no doubt that *usespy online* is the most deserving of all that should be given a shout out.

[@user-mt5hl3eo2e]

The amount of bravery this took was INSANE. These people all had their lives in danger, but still decided to go through with the recovery for the sake of busting bad cheater in relationships. True respect to *Usespy online.* If the FBI was half as dedicated and ingenious (and honest) as you guys are, people would be a much safer in relationships without cheating in this country Amazing work...

[@debreaction6280]

How many guests did you have ?

[@staciyork]

We had just a little less than 100 people! Thanks for asking!