by Kelley Gecik

Created on: July 05, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

As a young woman growing up, I never really imagined what my wedding would be like. I knew there would be a white dress, a cake and dancing. I also knew that the average wedding budget is $20,000. My idea of a dream wedding was one where you didn't go into debt. What a bad foot to start a marriage off on. While I was planning my personal dream wedding, I keep in mind my ultimate wedding dream: having it all paid for.

I started by calculating how much money we had, what our parents were willing to contribute and how much we could save in the meantime. Then, I created a budget. After the price limits were all set, I realized there were a hundred other little things I'd forgotten about. That's the thing with weddings. Sure the reception is expensive, but all of those little things (limos, cake serving, bridal party gifts) really add up. Budget right alongside me, I started calling, reserving, negotiating and bargaining.

Our first victory was scoring an oceanfront reception venue. It had beautiful views of the city and water. We planned our wedding so far out, that we were able to reserve it for a Sunday night-luckily, the Sunday night before Memorial Day, thus cutting our cost by about 40%. We planned the ceremony to be at a seaside park just a few hundred feet down the road. The natural outdoor setting could be simply decorated with a few sprays of colorful flowers. Everything else fell into place, and by following our budget we knew where our boundaries were.

After the frenzy of planning, the days slowly ticked away. Soon, friends and family were rolling into town. We went through the bridesmaids lunch, bachelor/bachelorette parties, rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Finally it was the big day. Where the weather had been cold, windy and cloudy the day before, the sun had finally triumphed. We had hired a wedding planner to assist only for the day, a move that I would recommend to anyone who wants to do nothing but show up and have everything done. She took care of everything, which meant my bridesmaids and I could enjoy the morning. The ceremony went off without a hitch and everyone seemed to enjoy the beautiful location. The reception was wonderful, especially the dancing that I always knew would be there. The day was ours and tailored to us.

$20,000 sounds like a lot of money. My friends and I could certainly hold a fabulous BBQ for $300, so I didn't think a wedding without any extravagant extras would even cost that much. I was wrong though. All of the money we had budgeted was spent and we were down to the last penny. A few days after returning from our honeymoon, I received the credit card bill. I knew it had been my dream wedding when I saw that the amount due had only decreased.

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