Average Cost of NJ Wedding vs. Budget NJ Wedding and How You Can Save or Cut Corners

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I came across a really comprehensive list of NJ Wedding Expenses in this article. I was shocked at the amount of dollars NJ brides, grooms and their families typically shell out to create the wedding of their dreams.

As I repeat throughout this blog, we were totally frugal in our efforts to have a nice, simple and tasteful wedding.

I wanted to do a comparison of the "typical" NJ wedding vs. our budget NJ wedding and what you can save on/eliminate in the interest of keeping wedding costs down.

So here is a breakdown of each aspect of the standard NJ wedding. Under each heading, first you'll see the costs of what the average NJ bride and groom spend. Then below it you'll see what we spent (or opted to NOT spend at all) on our wedding.

Hope this gives you some good ideas of how much you can chisel off the total cost of your NJ wedding, simply by being practical and sticking to the essentials!

Attire

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Bride accessories: $367 to $569
Groom accessories: $193 to $300
Groom suit/tux: $265 to $412
Hair/makeup service: $193 to $300
Headpiece/veil: $344 to $534
Wedding dress: $1,524 to $2,367 

Attire Total: $2,886 to $4,482

OUR WEDDING:

Bride undergarments: $100 (bought imitation Spanx at JC Penney)

Groom accessories: 0

Groom suit/tux: $120

Hair/makeup: 0 (Friend helped with makeup and hair)

Veil: $30 (purchased on Etsy.com)

Shoes: $40 (Etsy.com)

Wedding Dress: $248 (Ebay.com)

Alterations: $100 (local seamstress)

Child's suit: $30 (Ebay)

Child's shoes: $15 (Ebay)

Attire Total: $683.00

Ceremony:

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Ceremony accessories: $215 to $334
Ceremony decorations: $640 to $994
Ceremony location: $748 to $1,162
Officiate/pastor/priest: $268 to $417
Rehearsal dinner: $1,453 to $2,257

Ceremony Total: $3,324 to $5,164

OUR WEDDING:

Ceremony deco: $50 (We had minimal decor – just the arch)
Ceremony location/chair setup/runner: $500
Officiate/pastor/priest: $400
Rehearsal dinner: $0 (We opted to NOT have a rehearsal dinner)

Ceremony Total: $950

Music/Entertainment

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Ceremony/reception band: $2,184 to $3,392
Ceremony/reception DJ: $834 to $1,295
Ceremony/reception musicians: $688 to $1,068

Entertainment Total: $3,706 to $5,755

OUR WEDDING:

Ceremony/reception band: $2,900
Ceremony/reception DJ: included in above
Ceremony/reception musicians: $0 (We had friends perform our chamber music in lieu of a wedding gift)

Entertainment Total: $2,900

Flowers:

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING: 

Boutonnieres/corsages: $203 to $316
Bride bouquet: $174 to $270
Bridesmaid bouquets: $278 to $431
Ceremony flowers: $497 to $772
Flower girl flowers: $56 to $87
Reception flowers: $1,122 to $1,742

Flowers Total: $2,330 to $3,618

OUR WEDDING:

Boutonnieres/corsages: $0 (We did not have these at all)
Bride bouquet: $0 (Maid of honor put together bouquet from her family greenhouse flowers)
Bridesmaid bouquets: $0 (Only had maid of honor and best man to keep costs down)
Ceremony flowers: $0
Flower girl flowers: $0
Reception flowers: $0

Flowers Total: $0

Gifts

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Gifts for attendant: $541 to $841
Gifts for each other: $436 to $678
Gifts for parents: $192 to $298
Gifts and Favors Total: $1,169 to $1,817

OUR WEDDING:

Gifts for attendant: $0
Gifts for each other: $0 (Who does this??)
Gifts for parents: $0 (We technically still owe our parents a nice dinner out as a thank-you!)

Gifts and Favors Total: $250

Invitations and Other Mailings

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Bridal shower invitations: $115 to $179
Guestbook: $56 to $87
Invitations & reply cards: $50.00
Personal stationery: $154 to $240
Save the date cards: $188 to $293
Thank you cards: $101 to $156

Invitations and Stationery Total: $1,103 to $1,714

OUR WEDDING:

Bridal shower invitations: $0 (I did not have a bridal shower)
Guestbook: $0 (No guest book at our wedding)
Invitations & reply cards: $50 (ordered online)
Personal stationery: $0
Save the date cards: $0 (Did not have these)
Thank you cards: $20?? (Purchased at Staples)

Postage: $100.00

Invitations and Stationery Total: $170.00

Rings

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Engagement ring: $5,271 to $8,187
Her ring: $1,063 to $1,652
His ring: $749 to $1,164

Jewelry Total: $7,083 to $11,003

OUR WEDDING:

Engagement ring: $0 (My ring was passed down from husband's grandmother)
Her ring: $200.00 (Found antique wedding band on Ebay)
His ring: $300.00 (Had his ring crafted at local jeweler)

Earrings for Her: $50

Jewelry Total: $550.00

Honeymoon

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Honeymoon: $4,244 to $6,592

Bridal consultant/planner: $1,525 to $2,368

Honeymoon/Planning Total: $5,769 to $8,960

OUR WEDDING:

Honeymoon: $0 (We did not take a honeymoon after our wedding)
Bridal consultant/planner: $0 (No wedding planner)

Honeymoon/Planning Total: $0

Photography

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING: 

Photographer: $2,328 to $3,615
Videographer: $1,691 to $2,627

Photographer/Videographer Total: $4,019 to $6,242

OUR WEDDING:

Photographer: $600.00 (Found our guy on Craigslist)
Videographer: $0 (Did not video our wedding)

Photographer/Videographer Total: $600.00

Reception

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Reception beverages/bartender: $2,537 to $3,940
Bride/groom hotel: $319 to $495
Cake: $613 to $953
Cake knife set: $49 to $76
Cake topper: $47 to $73
Reception decorations/centerpieces: $1,225 to $1,904
Favors: $409 to $635
Reception food service: $8,637 to $13,415
Reception location: $2,808 to $4,362
Reception rentals: $1,257 to $1,953

Reception Total: $17,901 to $27,806

OUR WEDDING:

Reception including food and service: $11,250.00 (November day wedding at Somerville Elks with buffet dinner and open bar)

Reception beverages/bartender: INCLUDED
Bride/groom hotel: $??
Cake: $535 (local bakery)
Cake knife set: $0 (Why do we need this again?)
Cake topper: $0
Reception decorations/centerpieces: $0
Favors: $0

Tips: $280

Reception Total: $12,065.00

Transportation

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Car rental: $346 to $538
Limo rental: $763 to $1,185

Transportation Total: $1,109 to $1,723

OUR WEDDING:

Car rental: $0 (Father in law drove us to the hotel from the reception)
Limo rental: $0

Transportation Total: 0

GRAND TOTALS

Average NJ Wedding, Grand Total Low End: $68,567.00

Our Budget NJ Wedding Grand Total: $18,168.00

Source of Average NJ Wedding Costs: CostofWedding.com