Welcome to our real wedding budget breakdown series! We love to simplify wedding planning in any way we can, so we're taking the guesswork out of wedding budgets and sharing the real life spreadsheets behind real life weddings. Hopefully seeing how other couples spent on their big days - the splurges and the savings - might take the stigma away from talking about money, and help you work what's realistic for you - whatever your budget!
Today's couple are 29 and 31, they live in the UK and work as a dietician and a HGV driver. They came to Ireland to get hitched in one of the most popular (and gorgeous) private estates in the country.
Budget: €30,000
Guests: 130
Venue: Private-hire country house estate
Wedding Budget Breakdown
Venue: €16,000
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Photography: €1500
Videography: €1000
Music & Entertainment: €2300
Flowers: €725
Wedding Cake: Made by a friend
Stationery: €250
Transport: Used our own cars
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Wedding Dress €1750
Groom's Suit: €250
Groomsmen's Suits: €1900
Bridesmaid's Dresses: €900
Shoes & Accessories: €500
Rings: €1800
Hair & Makeup: €550
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Gifts: €500
Accommodation: Included in the package
Celebrant: €425
Extras: We also did our own sweet table and guest book using Polaroid camera but bought these things as we went along so didn’t tend to include them in the budget.
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Honeymoon: €8000
More or less than you expected to spend?
It was more than I had expected before launching into planning.
Where did your wedding budget come from?
It was from savings and contributions from our parents.
Biggest Splurge?
Entertainment and venue but it was incredible and I wouldn’t change it for the world! Also my €300 shoes that I wore for about three hours and have sat in their box ever since!
Biggest Savings?
Doing our own sweet table and guest book.
Honeymoon
We had a mini-moon in Donegal immediately after the wedding, and then went to Canada and Antigua a couple of months later.
Were you happy with what you spent on your wedding?
I wouldn’t say I was happy but I do not regret paying as much as we did as we had the most perfect day. We still get comments now, about how amazing our big day was, which is lovely!
Any Tips or Advice?
Just go with what you want and can afford. Don’t sweat the minor detail or anything small that goes wrong nearer to the time, you will be the only person who notices.
Need more wedding budget real talk? We've got lots of tips and advice, and be sure to check out more real wedding budget breakdowns!
Got your own real wedding budget breakdown to share? Help other couples and fill in our anonymous Q&A!
Feature image: Carey Nash Photography via One Fab Day| All images are from a mix of real weddings, not the one featured in this budget breakdown.
