How Much Does a Frugal Wedding Really Cost?

To Wed or Not to Wed?

I remember googling how much does a frugal wedding cost? How much do you spend on a wedding? What is the average cost of a wedding? Like most things it’s a personal choice. It all depends on your values. Being The Frugal Doctor I had been content for The Handsome Surfer and I to live in sin. After all we are committed to one another do we need to have a wedding?

Love Compromise and a Spreadsheet

We had got engaged and were deciding on when to set the date. I was content enjoying being engaged but it seems as though the next question after congratulations was when is the big day? Weddings cost a lot of money, that’s money that could go towards the Financial Independence (FI) portfolio. I am practical, The Handsome Surfer is the romantic. Marriage is all about compromise. So let’s get the wedding spreadsheet going, how I love Excel (let’s get those tabs going)!

Doing It Our Way

We talked about what mattered to us, what did we not care about, what would be a non negotiable? At the end of the day this was us declaring our love for one another, with our loved ones what would we want that to look like? I am so glad I discovered the podcast Unbridely it gave us the impetus to do it our on way!

Frugal Florals: Beauty on a Budget

The Frugal Doctor was not going to spend thousands of dollars on flowers. So what does one do? Collect natives and dry them, scavenge from local bushes, collect rose petals from our garden and our neighbours. Make the bouquet (was not going to have one initially), make boutonnières. Buy flowers from local markets and dry them. Total cost of flowers $184, that’s winning!

The Dress Dilemma

What about the dress? There was no way The Frugal Doctor was going to spend more than $1000 on a dress. Apparently the average Australian spends $2637 on a dress. So what does one do. Frugality was getting the better of me how do I get quality for great value? Was lucky to stumble across this now we are talking quality, local (Australian) and designer dress for a steal. I had been content to wear a dress I had in my wardrobe (my sister who is always laughing about my “cheapness” would have been vindicated). I am not cheap, I am frugal those are two different things!

At the end of the day, our wedding reflected who we are — practical dreamers with a shared vision of freedom. It wasn’t about cutting corners; it was about aligning our spending with our values. Every dollar we didn’t spend on the wedding became another brick in our Financial Independence foundation. And that, to me, is the real happily ever after.

(To be continued)