Elopement Budget Spreadsheet
Elopement Budget vs. Traditional Wedding Budgets
Now we would like to share with you a side-by-side comparison using an Elopement Budget Package versus a Traditional Wedding Budget. This line item comparison* will assist you in recognizing items in your elopement budget where eloping can save you 90% or more off the cost of your traditional wedding. And you can still have a short honeymoon aka minimoon.
Comparing the Costs-Big vs. Tiny Weddings
You can see that traditional wedding venue and all that comes with it, the catering and rentals, is the first of the potential big cost savings on the list. Next is jewelry; the ring(s), men are usually content with a band, and women who prefer to elope usually would rather spend less on a ring than they had spent on the entire ceremony. Photography is important at all wedding ceremonies, be they big weddings or small weddings or elopements. Make sure you have planned for pictures and possible videos.
You’ll see that a short professional photography session is listed as a part of the elopement package. Attire and décor are very similar in savings potential. Wearing the big flowing wedding dress for the elopement ceremony is an individual choice; but typically eloping couples opt for wedding attire that is easier to pack, travels well and costs less. Your bouquet and boutineer for the groom are perhaps the only semi-necessary floral arrangements needed; thus, another expense where the elopement budget wins out big since you don’t need to decorate a chapel and/or reception hall with costly flowers.
You may also notice there are a few extra expenses for elopers that are not necessarily on the traditional wedding list; this is due to the fact when eloping you often travel to a different location. If you’re traveling you’ll also want to select an elopement package that includes a place to sleep, and you will want budget for meals and other travel expenses. But when you are comparing numbers, remember, that Traditional Wedding Budget doesn’t include the average $5,000 price tag for a week long honeymoon.
Minimoon vs. Honeymoon
WhereToElope.com has over 1,400 vendors to choose from that offer an assortment of affordable elopement packages mostly under $2,500. Plus, when you purchase an elopement package you have basically purchased all necessary aspects of your small or tiny wedding at a fraction of the cost of a big traditional wedding. And if you travel to a romantic location for a destination elopement the money you saved by eloping may be spent on the down payment toward your new home or a honeymoon later, some of it now on, as we like to call it, a 2-3 day minimoon. Perhaps you are eloping locally and are using your savings to travel to a romantic destination. Either way the savings you incur from eloping is a boon for a wonderful destination honeymoon.
*This line item comparison budget is found on page Six of our eBook How to Save 90% on Your Wedding And Still Have a Honeymoon. It is also found on our recommended reading page.
Please let us know if this comparison of an elopement wedding versus a traditional wedding budget has helped you?
Use this Elopement Budget spreadsheet to customize and easily organize the expenses associated with your elopement/small wedding.
Just enter your total budget in cell B6 and start entering the other budgeted expenses in the other rows. Enter zeros for items included in your Wedding Elopement Package. The spreadsheet will total your budgeted expenses so you can see if you are staying on budget. Then when the time comes, simply enter your actual expenses in the column C. In this sample Elopement Budget scenario, shown below, the couple spent $640 more than their original $995 budget. For example, the extra expenses were for gifts and souvenirs, two tanks of gas instead of one to drive 2 hours further to a more romantic destination, staying in an upgraded room with jacuzzi tub versus a standard room, plus out of pocket expenses for meals and entertainment that weren’t included in their Elopement Package plus that special wedding night dinner with a nice bottle of wine. In this example those additional expenses were partially offset by buying their small wedding cake locally and taking it with them. This budget spreadsheet is very flexible and additional rows can be easily added or rows deleted to customize it to fit your small wedding.
How can you keep your Elopement on Budget?
According to our ongoing survey regarding why couples choose to elope, the number one reason for choosing elopement is that this type of wedding can be pulled off for around 10% or less of the cost of a traditional wedding. It could be that you do not have the money to spend on a lavish wedding, which with many couples footing the bill for their own nuptials is perhaps more common than you might think. Alternatively, you may be one of those couples who just does not see the point in spending vast sums of money on a wedding ceremony when it could be used to buy your first home! Whatever your reasons for wanting to spend less on your wedding, it is important to decide on a budget and stick to it. That’s why the elopement budget spreadsheet is part of our commitment to the easiest way to “just married”.
When planning a wedding, even an intimate elopement, it is easy to get carried away. There are hundreds of couples out there who started out thinking that they only wanted a basic courthouse wedding with just the two of them and end up with a much more lavish affair because they got carried away once they saw some of the services being offered including cakes, flowers and romantic carriage rides! We totally get it! Weddings are exciting and everyone wants a special day and with so many romantic places to elope listed here on WhereToElope.com it is very easy to get carried away!
That’s why we have created the elopement budget spreadsheet. Once you have figured out exactly how much money you have available in your elopement budget, you can use our helpful spreadsheet to decide how much of your money to allocate to each area of your wedding. That way you can budget for the essential items and then in the event that you overspend on any area you will be able to clearly see where adjustments can be made.
Why not download our budget spreadsheet today and start planning your elopement?
Please use the Contact Us page to let us know if you have any questions on how to adapt the Elopement Budget spreadsheet.