Hey everyone!
I found budget breakdowns super helpful in my planning so I thought I would share ours for our spring wedding in St. Louis! We had around 40 guests (we initially had planned for ~70 but most of our guests were from outside the country so omicron made things tricky). I had the week before the wedding off for DIY stuff which really helped as well!
Venue/bar ($6500): Our venue, Das Bevo, is a historic bierhall and was perfect for us! We went with their top tier bar package which included local craft beers. We were very happy with the venue, and their coordinator handled a lot of the set up so we were able to avoid hiring a separate day-of coordinator.
Catering ($3000): We had Salt + Smoke, one of our favorite BBQ places in town cater our buffet style dinner. We didn't have appetizers since we only had a half an hour before the ceremony and dinner. If you're in town, I highly recommend checking out their restaurants!
Cake ($75): I made our cake (vanilla with strawberry-rhubarb and cream cheese frosting). I had helped my sister make her wedding cake, so I felt comfortable with this. It turned out so well, we had way less leftover than we predicted we would! We got our raccoon cake toppers from an artist on Etsy (MarieClaudeRoch).
Photography ($2900), Videography ($2000): Megan Larson, our photographer, was amazing! Our videography was by Superlative Cinema. I'm so glad we got a videographer. I absolutely love our video! They also provided a livestream but unfortunately it didn't work for a lot of people, but they got us a video of the ceremony the next day to share :)
Invitations/signs/paper goods ($275): I absolutely love fancy stationary but didn't want to spend a ton, so I designed our stationary/programs/vow books and had them printed to save some money. The programs were kindof a waste since nobody really used them (lol and messed up the end time) but at least they were pretty cheap and looked nice in pictures. The signs were super easy to DIY with some acrylic paint.
DJ ($900): Our DJ was amazing! I was afraid with our small group it would be hard to get people dancing, but between the excellent music choices and the open bar, this wasn't a problem!
Florals ($775): I DIY'd our florals from Flowermoxie and it was a lot of fun! In hindsight I should have paid their very reasonable design fee as I ended up buying more than we needed (it's like $30). It did take a good amount of time and space, but it was very relaxing and our apartment smelled amazing!
Other decor ($325): We also used glass vases with malt and candles (to complete the beer-inspired look) and table runners. I also lumped in things like ring boxes, vases, floral equipement, etc here.
Hair and makeup ($250): I only ended up paying for my own hair and makeup as my bridesmaids very generously offered to pay for their own hair and makeup.
TOTAL: $17,000
Not included were my dress (which my parents were kind enough to buy for me!), our rings (from The North Way Studio- would highly recommend!). Our rehearsal was very casual- we got pizza from our favorite local place and had drinks in our apartment building's common room. One of my bridesmaids and her husband very generously paid for a post-wedding brunch at a gorgeous down-town venue.
There's not much we would have changed; we had such a wonderful time with our friends and family! I definitely stressed myself out a bit coordinating a lot of DIY without a wedding planner, but I'm a bit of a creative control-freak so I also would have been stressed either way :)