I had a list of expenses from our wedding started in my notes, as I was thinking of writing it up in a post of my own already.
Our city hall wedding ceremony was last year. In attendance were five of my family members, as witnesses. My dad and mom paid for all of the day’s food and drinks, which was very kind of them. The rest was paid for by my husband and me. Our wedding expenses were about $1,990.
We didn’t have anything as sophisticated as a wedding spreadsheet going throughout, but, thanks to the magic of my Amazon order history and my husband’s Uber account history, I retroactively compiled a list of our wedding day expenses that’s probably accurate. Nothing was paid for with credit cards.
Clothes and shoes
Wedding dress, Modcloth: $200
Groom’s suit and tie, Next: ~$420, converted to USD from GBP
Groom’s shoes, Clarks: ~$80
Decorations
Random items like these signs, Amazon: $60
Custom guestbook, Etsy: $33 (honestly, I didn’t really like the final product)
Flowers
Half crown, bouquet and boutonniere, Ampersand: $160
Makeup
Waterproof mascara, CVS: $9
Alterations
Hemming the groom’s suit, laundromat: ~$20
Jewelry
Earrings, Macy’s: ~$20
Transportation
Car rides from place to place, Uber: $105
Afternoon refreshments
Champagne, W Hotel: (parents paid for this, but $300 is my guess)
Evening meal
Dinner, Piccino: (parents paid for this, but $350 is my guess)
Dessert
Cake, Miette: $35
Fees
Marriage license: $100
Marriage ceremony fee: $78
Other stuff
Thank you cards, Etsy: $20
A little note on free things: our videography and photography was left up to my family, with whatever devices they happened to own. Like so many married folks who I have seen writing about planning their wedding day on a budget, I do wish that we had invested in booking a professional photographer to handle it. It was a little awkward to have to remind my family members to shoot me while they were so wrapped up in being emotional about my big day. It was even more awkward to find ourselves begging them to send over their many disparate photos afterward.
I had trouble finding white shoes that fit me, so I wore the same old black flats from J.Crew that I would wear all the time in my daily life. (I then counted them as my “something old,” after I realized that I’m a secret traditionalist who actually cares about that stuff!) I should have hung in there on the shoe search more, because I can’t help but notice how out of place my black flats look now in our photos.
I don’t think there is much slimming down that could have happened in terms of budget without resulting in a day we would have both liked less. Uber costs did add up, and that somewhat took us aback. Booking our accommodations at the same hotel where my family was staying could have lessened those costs a bit. In fact, renting a car might have been wise.
If you’re thinking of planning a San Francisco City Hall wedding, but haven’t started yet, do what we did and Google it. There are good guides out there. This one from A Practical Wedding is pretty good. I also watched a few videos that have been uploaded to YouTube of other San Francisco City Hall marriage ceremonies so I could get a better feel for how it would go down, because that’s the sort of preparation that makes me feel more comfortable.
