Budget Recap & Breakdown | Chicago IL | 105 guests, $37k
Hi Weddit! I had my wedding on a gorgeous September weekend in Chicago and it was so much fun! So now, I want to share my budget breakdown + recap of my wedding, since I found these to be so helpful in the planning process. Happy to answer questions and share names of specific vendors to other Chicago couples!
Background notes
- We initially planned the wedding back while we lived in Chicago. Part way through planning but after the deposits, we unexpectedly ended up moving to the east coast. So it ended up being a destination wedding for us!
- We did not want the traditional wedding formula - we wanted this to feel more like a chill party that happened to include a wedding. We are goofballs and wanted to cut out a lot of the conventional wedding things (no wedding party, no rings, no first looks, etc) so it was very streamlined and focused on spending time with our loved ones as opposed to the ‘wedding parts’ - no shade to those that do these things! I always love it for other people.
- We invited about 125 people and landed at 105. About 70% had to travel in.
- Our original budget was more around $25k but ended up at $37k due to adding more things we wanted to do (like karaoke, welcome and day-after parties, more food). For just the wedding reception itself, it was $27k, so not too far off the original budget. We got about $14k in support from our families.
Spend
(* = includes gratuity)
- Venue: $5700 - A stunning industrial venue with a backyard space. Venue was a DIY space but came with tables, chairs, uplighting, and lawn games. We saved money by doing our wedding on a Friday, and also got some small seasonal discount.
- Catering: $12,300 * - Taco buffet from a food truck caterer from venue’s preferred list. Dinner was 2 passed apps, chips and salsa at tables, 3 entree options, and 1 side salad. Includes all the staff who served food, did the ceremony flip, and all the clean up. Also includes 2 bartenders, bar package, and all the food-related rentals (linens, plates, etc)
- Dessert: $500 - Donuts dropped off (went great with coffee from our caterer)
- Alcohol: $1600 - Venue was BYOB. We originally ordered $2k but the store allowed us to return unused product.
- Day of Coordinator: $1000 * - Helped us with set up, vendor management, and take down. Booked for 7 hrs
- DJ: $1800 * - 5 hrs of standard DJ and AV services
- Karaoke DJ: $1000 * - 2.5 hrs of karaoke, came with 2 screens and 4 microphones. Utilized a popular karaoke platform and guests added to the queue by QR code
- Photographer: $2400 * - Got a seasonal discount and also added on an engagement session. 6 hrs of photography, single shooter. Did not want getting ready photos, just family photos before the wedding and then the actual party.
- Photobooth: $660 * - Ran for 3 hours with an attendant, and included print out outs, a custom design, backdrop, props, and a guestbook
- Decor: $1150 - Went with fake florals (Ling’s, Michael’s, FB marketplace), candles and disco balls (Amazon, FB market). Bouquet and groom’s pocket square came from Etsy. Canva pro for signage and printed things at home.
- Uber codes: $530 - $20 vouchers on Uber. We budgeted for 80 vouchers at $1600 but surprisingly not many got used
- Event insurance: $120 - it was required ~shrug~
- Invitations / Website: $0 - We used WithJoy and invites/comms were all digital
- Rehearsal dinner: $3800 * - A nice tapas restaurant with a private room, for 41 people. Did not actually include any rehearsing, it was just another dinner
- Welcome happy hour: $1600 * - A fun outdoor tiki bar. Covered everyone’s drinks and some appetizers. About 60 people showed up
- Day after party: $1800 * - A local brewery that is BYOF. Covered everyone’s drinks and got fancy pizza delivered. About 50 people showed up
- Attire: About $1000 for bride (multiple dress options plus a designer floral headpiece), $500 for groom’s suit. Did my own hair and makeup
- Travel expenses [excluded from total wedding cost]: Probably less than $2000 for hotels, gas, tolls, parking, etc.
Thoughts
- I love planning and organizing things, so all of the logistical planning and decision parts of the wedding were my favorite. What I was not prepared for was how mentally exhausting it is to be socializing with 100 people and being the center of attention for 3 days straight. My social battery was dead just from the welcome party, which set me up poorly for my actual wedding day. To my fellow introverts - don’t add the extra events like me, build in lots of alone time, invite fewer guests if possible, or go elope!
- A few months before the wedding, we stumbled upon this DJ that offered a karaoke package for weddings, and that was when we realized we actually don’t like dancing but we do love karaoke (as does the rest of my family). So we nixed our dance floor, opted to do a first karaoke song together, and everyone had a blast! It felt like all of my friends and families took over a karaoke bar and it was awesome. Those that were not big karaoke people or wanted a break hung out in the outdoor space, where the other DJ was and where they could play lawn games and chat with folks.
- Really happy with how the flowers turned out, and arranging them in advance was low stress and kind of fun, so my fake flower friends, trust your vision! I only regret it a little bit because we had to drive everything from the east coast. But still much cheaper than getting a florist. The extra money we saved let us get more appetizers.
- We couldn’t think of anything we would’ve cut out or saved more money on. Maybe we could’ve saved a couple thousand dollars if people paid for their own drinks at our happy hour or day-after party, or cut out Uber vouchers, but it doesn’t feel that significant in the grand scheme of things and we’re glad to have covered it if it helped people have a good time. All of the vendors we used / things we bought were well worth it. And we're lucky we had the means and gifts from family to celebrate the way we wanted to!
