30k Wedding Budget Recap! 120 people in Seattle in March

I recently had my wedding and wanted to share how everything landed to help others with planning. We had 14 months to plan and the full budget breakdown is below. It was in Seattle proper with 120 people (140 invited originally) on a Saturday in March!

The ceremony was at a chapel and the reception at a bare-bones event space that we did all the planning and designing for ourselves (and leaned on a day-of coordinator to run things on the wedding day). For decor, I knew florals were expensive so I leaned into candles and kept things minimalistic with a TON of candles in hurricane glasses that I got mostly on OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace for the tables.

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  • Ceremony Venue $1,100.00
  • Reception Venue $4,898.75
    • We designed the reception to be super uncomplicated so we could minimize the hours we were using for setup and bring costs down here.
  • Save the Dates/Printing $519.20
  • Custom URL $20.00
  • Photographer $5,480.00
    • Our biggest priority and splurge
  • Extra Engagement Shoot Equipment $465.00
    • My husband got a rental shoot space and rented a special lens
  • Day of Coordinator $950.00
    • Worth every penny. She's new to the industry so we got a great deal.
  • Bride and Groom Apparel $2,395.92
    • I got my dress at a sample sale.
  • Ring Bearer Apparel $108.79
  • DJ $2,500.00
  • Catering $5,496.00
    • Buffet style whole roasted pig and brisket (but more classy and not backyard BBQ vibe)
  • Catering Rentals (Silverware and Plates) $521.00
  • Bartending Service $818.00
  • Alcohol $1,475.71
  • Lighting $624.00
    • My husband is in the production industry so we rented our own lighting and had a friend set it up.
  • Candles/Table Decor $610.88
  • Custom Matchbooks $205.00
  • Florals (Just my own Bouquet) $120.00
  • Misc Printing (Table Notes, Signage, Seating Chart) $264.59
  • Cake $73.48
  • Sketch Artist (Friend) $300.00
  • Piano Player $322.00
  • Permits/Insurance/Liscenses $272.00
  • Misc Last Minute Items (Scissors, Lint Roller, Tape, etc.) $287.47
  • U haul $400.00
    • We used this to move/store all decor items from my mom's house to the venue where friends did set up under the coordinator's supervision.

Grand total: $30,227

Happy to answer any questions!!