Planning a wedding is challenging and stressful for anyone. You may start as a chill bride and by next week, you are unconsciously turning into a monster bride! From planning all the little details to overthinking—what if he gets cold feet? What if the dress does not fit? You have a lot on your plate to think about the budget. In this blog, I will try my best to present a cost breakdown and put some links so you can check them out.
For anyone else who planned a wedding in 2020, they may feel doomed because Covid-19 happened, but for us, we considered ourselves lucky. To say the least, this wedding was unplanned. This wedding was ultimately decided when we found out we were having a baby.
We found out I was pregnant August of 2020. Thereafter, we started to plan our wedding. (Sidenote: Check out my other post to read Our Wedding Story!) Since neither of us is a resident of the city we were currently in, we had to check if we can actually get married there. Fortunately, the local government considered us since we were both working there and renting an apartment.
We started processing documents for LGU and eventually decided to get married in a beautiful church near us. Due to restrictions, and how I always wanted a simple wedding, we did not think we’ll be overspending.
Church
When we finally decided on a date, we were asking about the needed decorations in the church. The lady suggested to have just a simple flower decoration at the altar. Since we both think that having decorations in the church would be wasted effort, we just followed the lady’s advise. We looked for a priest who can officiate our wedding and thankfully, my aunt who is a nun, helped me find one. We were also lucky because one of our godmothers offered to use her car as the bridal car.
For all those people who are thinking twice of getting married in a church, I’m here to let you know that it is not expensive to get married in a church! Here are the following expenses we had relating to our ceremony that will probably blow you away:
| Church | 5,000 ($87) |
| Wedding bands | 11,500 ($198) |
| Gown and suit rental | 5,300 ($91) |
| Flowers for altar and bride | 3,500 ($60) |
| Bible | 1,250 ($21) |
| Priest stipend | 3,000 ($52) |
| Offerings | 1,000 ($17) |
| Documents | 1,600 ($27) |
| Total (Church) | 32,150.00 ($553) |
Reception
We decided to have the reception in a garden restaurant near our place ( that has an open area for events. At that time, we were really cautious since I was pregnant, and no vaccine has been administered in our area that time—so an open area for reception was non-negotiable. We were able to book it to accommodate 20 persons. The food was amazing and I probably ate a lot. Although they say you can hardly eat in your own wedding. So I think it was a testament of how pretty chill our day was.
Big thanks to my officemates-turned-friends who designed the reception venue. I did not know what to do without them! I just hired a professional singer since it also my non-negotiable, and a photographer (not a team) to document our ceremony and reception. We opt out of the pre-ceremony photos because it will take a lot of time knowing I’m the only one in charge of my hair and makeup.
I tried my best to source the souvenirs for small business in Shopee and glad I was able to do just that. Scented candles were sourced from a vendor in the same province as ours, the ref magnets were sourced from a Manila vendor. For the sponsors’ souvenirs, we tried our best to make them personal so I crocheted some table coasters, sourced some macrame plant hangers, bought coffee beans, and liquor to others.
| Reception | 18,500 ($319) |
| Souvenirs | 5,000 ($87) |
| Photographer | 5,000 ($87) |
| Singer | 4,500 ($77) |
| Cake | 2,500 ($43) |
| Total (Reception) | 35,500 ($613) |
Pre-Nuptial Photos
We were lucky because our godmother has a daughter who loves photography as a hobby. We were able to go out of town to shoot some photos. Although, we made a little effort in finding clothes to wear and finding the right venue, the photos turned out just as we want them to be—not over the top. I think they best describe our love as a couple also—simple and easy.
Miscellaneous
For the invitations, I just printed a few copies for our sponsors who will actually be there and sent digital invitations to the rest who can’t make it. I just designed the invitations and ceremony guide using Canva. I rented a room at a nearby hotel—literally walking distance from our apartment—because they say it’s bad luck for the couple to see each other before the wedding. I have not indicated the cost of some items since they were sponsored, including the hotel accommodation and of course, lechon!
I have always wanted a small and intimate wedding which I think most of you will disagree and say that every girl has that dream grand wedding. Nah-uh, not for me. That dream is for my husband. He would always postpone our wedding plans because in his head, he wanted a grand celebration. In hindsight, I would not change a thing about our wedding, except the attendance of our family members. So if you’re afraid to break the bank, break your perception that weddings should be huge. Remember this day is to celebrate your love, not a showcase for anybody else.