March 2026 wedding recap
Been meaning to make a recap post for a while - we just got back from our honeymoon, a couple months after the wedding, so now seemed like as good a time as any!
My husband and I got married in late March of this year! The wedding was overall a resounding success - a beautiful day full of love for each other and surrounded by our dear friends and family. Almost everything went off without a hitch. Figured I'd post both to share some lovely photos, and to break down the budget in case that's helpful for anyone!
Overall details: we got married on a Saturday downtown in a mid-size city with a medium COL (low for a city but higher than any rural area or small town). We got winter venue prices, which is the reason we chose March! Our overall budget was $40k and we slid right under the line. We are extremely fortunate that both of our sets of parents helped financially with the wedding, and the overall cost was divided into thirds; we are also both established professionals in our 30s so we had the money saved up. We also had some help from family and friends, as noted under individual items below; the day would not have been what it was without them. (I have given similar help to family and friends for their weddings and will do so in the future!)
Breakdown of expenses (tips, where relevant, included in cost):
Venue, including DOC: $8650
Bar: $5000
Catering (cocktail apps + dinner): $8600 \*this includes the cost of renting some glasses from a separate company so we could have water glasses on the table, plus renting napkins and cutlery from the catering company
Dessert bar: $530 \*pastries from a delicious local bakery, extremely reasonably priced! \*\*the cake was our wedding gift from my sister and brother-in-law!
Wedding signage: $200 \*my brother-in-law, who is a graphic designer, did this and did not want us to pay him for it, but he and my sister did SO MUCH else to help with the wedding - hence the great "price"
DJ (including uplighting): $1200 \*this was a steal, we could have easily spent twice this and he was great!
Stationery (incl. postage): $630
Florals: $1650 \*we used a local florist that has wholesale and workshop options so we also got a great price! my husband, sister, mom, aunt, one of my bridesmaids, and I spent three hours the day before making all of the wedding pieces under supervision. Genuinely really fun and saved so much money. Then we bought table greenery and bud vase blooms from them wholesale, and day of my sister (who has a gift for flowers), mom, cousin and multiple aunts, and I worked together decorate the tables. We included all of them in the getting ready lunch and mimosas!
Decorations and miscellaneous items: $1000 \*includes candle holders and some other bits of decor rented from the venue, candles, bud vases purchased secondhand, an Instax camera and film, our guest book, card box and some picture frames for the in memoriam table, and some other random bits and bobs
Photography: $5200
My outfit (dress + alterations): $3200
His outfit: $300
Professional hair: $500 \*used a hairdresser from the salon I've been going to for years. She charged $100 a head for myself and three bridesmaids, and my friends, she knocked it out of the park. My hair looked amazing and stayed up for 12 hours without coming apart at all. Still can't believe what a steal this was
Rehearsal dinner: $1450
Officiant: $100 \*my brother officiated our wedding! We did buy him a gift (included under bridal party gifts, below) and considered him a member of the bridal party. The $100 was the cost of getting him ordained online. He did a fantastic job.
Wedding insurance: $125
Gifts for bridal party (eight total people, including officiant): $1200
Not included in budget: wedding bands, honeymoon, day-of lunch and day-after brunch (hosted by my parents), tastings for caterers (we considered this the cost of a meal)
Overall experience: amazing! The ONLY thing I regretted was my dress alterations. The bustle did not stay up in spite of putting it up multiple times, so the hem got trod on and dirty and it was annoying to dance in. :( The bodice kept drooping and some of my pictures are way too booby to post or frame...I didn't notice how much I was hanging out until after cocktail hour photos. Fortunately my DOC (who did an incredible job, and she was worth every penny we paid for her) saved the day with some (read: a lot!) fashion tape so I could dance without a wardrobe malfunction. I wished I had a cheap second dress to change into for dancing or that I'd had more solid alterations. But overall, if something was gonna go wrong...it could have been so much worse. And the wrap that I borrowed from my sister saved the day with coverage in a lot of photos.
Some general advice:
*don't try to DIY everything, but know what you reasonably can do
*do as much as possible ahead of time. If you aren't sure if it's too early to book a vendor - it isn't! If it really actually is they will tell you so it doesn't hurt to ask
*don't be afraid to buck traditions you don't care about; at the same time, don't dismiss a tradition just because it's a tradition. Do what you actually want and what's meaningful for you on your day.
*if you want a dance party: trust the DJ! We gave him a playlist and he played a good chunk of it but also mixed in other songs that are his wedding go-to tunes. The dance floor was absolutely hopping until the last song. Also, if you're the bride, get out there. People will go where the bride goes. My husband and I did a quick round of tables after we ate, so we could say hi to as many people as possible, then after the rest of the pleasantries we just danced the whole rest of the night. Boy did it fly by.
I could say so much more about what went well and what choices we made that I'm so happy with (basically all of them!) but this post has already gotten very long. If anyone wants specific details about my vendors feel free to DM me.