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Budgeting for a wedding can be a ton of stress. Especially when you are hit with the cost of everything that goes into a wedding. Who knew it could cost so much to have something so simple like food at your wedding? It is important to take a step back and figure out your priorities. What do you want to splurge on or save on? That way, you can figure out what a realistic budget looks like for you. In this blog, we dive into a realistic budget for Chicago, because as you can probably imagine...Chicago is pricey! We want all of our clients to have the best experiences and have an overall beautiful wedding day, so we want to give you all the best tips on your budget!
First things first. Understanding what is costing you money. Well, to put things simply, the day & time of year you choose to have your wedding is actually a big factor in cost. If you choose to have your wedding during summertime chi or the fall on lets say a Saturday, you are looking at a way steeper cost for a venue rental compared to a Friday/Sunday in off-seasons months! That is the first way you can save money. You can also find venues that have catering in house to save a little bit of money. For example, one of my favorite venues, Lacuna Lofts has catering and a beautiful event space at a great price! It is all about research! It is always possible to have a wedding in Chicago, with the right budget!
To put things simply, it is going to depend on a lot of different factors! It depends on your floral vision, your taste in food, but to put in perspective.... let's say you have a 150 person guest list and want to get married in September (peak wedding month) on a Saturday. In Chicago, with standard wedding expenses you are looking at about 60k.... This is also assuming things like photography (maybe videographer), seated dinner, floral, and a DJ are your biggest priorities and you want them to be as good as it gets! Fun fact, catering is a big cost point & a lot of time the most important to clients because they want their guests to have a good meal! (Can be over $100 per plate!!) It is important to understand the costs of each things and then decided where you can save in each vendor section!
The best tips I can give you is it is important to take a step back and 1. Figure out your priorities (what is the most important to you!) 2. Figure out your guest list! (The more people you have the more $$!) 3. Hiring a wedding planner to help you :)! We are there to help you and even offer to work on a budget tracker with you or for you depending on your package!
It is hard to answer the questions "What is A Realistic Wedding Budget in Chicago?" because it is SO dependent on all of these factors and what YOU want as clients. Vendors are there to help you and find the best ways that you can maximize your budget and hiring a wedding planner is key if you want to get the most assistance on how to save money!
Wondering if you need a Wedding Planner?