How much did you spend on your wedding? 8 Fashion Journal readers tell all

“We had the wedding we wanted, and we didn’t borrow or do without because of the cost.”

Realistically, a wedding can be as simple as a courthouse appearance or as extravagant as spending $75,000 on florals alone. But these days, the average Australian wedding (according to Moneysmart) costs $36,000, with 82 per cent of couples dipping into savings to pay for the celebration.

Interested to hear how others navigate the world? Head to our Life section.

The nuptial budget (and how it’s spent) really dictates the day, and accounting for all the hidden costs is no easy feat. Below, eight Fashion Journal readers share how much they spent on their big day.

Faye*, 32, she/her

$45,000, [with] most going to the venue, as we are having a fancy dinner and drinks. Then [a portion of the rest to the] photographer and DJ. We had no bridal party, and spending was under $300 for flowers. We had a registry wedding and I wore a secondhand dress, but my fiance bought a new suit. Everything adds up!

Ellen*, 33, she/her

[We spent] $15,000 from personal savings and family contributions.

Sylvie*, 44, she/her

We spent $12,000. I read the average wedding costs $30,000, so my goal was less than half that. We had the wedding we wanted, and we didn’t borrow or do without because of the cost.

Andile*, 33, she/her

We ended up spending just under $12,000 or so. Our main expense was the reception (really just a party at one of our fave cafes) which cost $7,000. Everything else we tried to do fairly simply (registry office ceremony, playlist instead of DJ, no bridal party, did my own hair and makeup, etc).

Florals for the party were important to me, so we spent a fair chunk on those ($1,500), as was photography ($1,500 – but turned out to be a disaster). We spent the most money on things that mattered to us and that seemed to work in our favour. I do lol when I remember that my husband and I thought we could do it all for under $5,000, though.

Lucienne*, 27, she/her

$7311 is the figure in our budget, which includes the registry application, service and our accommodation for two nights for the wedding. But that figure doesn’t include our outfits or miscellaneous things like getting my nails done, going to the barber or replenishing some of my makeup supplies early. I spent $1000 on my outfit, and my partner spent half of that – all pieces we’ll continue to wear, though!

My parents also contributed $3000 towards the wedding, which was amazing. It was a bit ad hoc how we allocated the budget… we initially had a different idea for where we’d have our wedding, but realised it would be too expensive and then a friend offered for us to have it upstairs at the pub she manages. The cost of food and drinks was super reasonable!

And from there we kinda just figured it out. I had a photographer I really wanted there and asked her for a quote as soon as we were engaged ($700). We also decided to trim the budget in some areas. I didn’t get a wedding band, [I] just stuck with my engagement ring and we got a nice ring for my partner since he didn’t have one.

It was about $300, and we kind of plan to get wedding bands in the future. And we stuck to our $200 budget for flowers. Flower markets are amazing! Overall, we did have to trim our guest list but there were no big dramas there.

Hila*, 29, she/her

We allocated $25,000 and spent $32,000. Most of our money went to the venue, food and drink. I bought a $2000 Zimmermann outfit for my dress, did my own hair and makeup and didn’t have an engagement party. It truly escalates though, and there are heaps of surprise costs like buying makeup, taxis for grandparents, hotel on the night, etc.

Gwen*, 24, she/her

$35,000. The bulk was the venue, with an open bar and sit-down dinner for 100 people, which was $22,000. We then tried to rank what was important to us and prioritised those things. For us, that was the florals ($2,500), a gelato cart ($1,000), a gin bar ($1,000) and dancing (the DJ was $800).

We had friends do the photography, [and got the] hair, makeup and cake for free or much cheaper. And I (the bride) made all the dresses and decorations, still spending around $2,000. We chose to pay for all the groomsmen ($2,000) and bridesmaids’ outfits (or materials), as we didn’t want them to wear costs.

Printing costs the earth and there seem to be endless expenses, particularly at the end – we threw the budget out the window. Overall, we were chuffed with the whole day and thought it was 100 per cent worth it. Our parents also helped out a lot and were very generous, so that was such a blessing.

Lena*, 32 she/her

The budget was $45,000, [and we] spent $55,000. We don’t regret doing it the way we did, though I wish we had been more cut-throat with the guest list… [we] had 115 people, [and it] could have been 100. You also don’t need a videographer – our photographer did a highlights reel (four minutes long) and it’s perfect! If you want someone to film all the speeches, get a friend to do it! You’ll save around $6,000 doing it this way.

*Names have been changed.

For more on wedding budgets, head here.