it of course depends on what all you feel like you need/want for your wedding. we are getting married on a beach in St Thomas and there will basically just be us, my parents, a few friends, the officiant, and the coordinator, who is also our photographer. I figure the scenery will be decoration enough, so I'm not paying for any flower petals or arches or music or anything like that. we'll have the sky and beach scenery and the ocean waves crashing, I feel that's all we need to make it perfect! so our ceremony will be about $400 (plus $100 for the marriage license). I'm thinking we'll pay for an island tour for our guests after the ceremony, so that will run $25ish per person. we're just there for the day as our cruise ship docks there, so we won't have to provide any meals or party, it's all on the ship. so there's that cost... but we're just paying for ourselves, and our guests pay their own way... after all, they're getting a week-long vacation out of it, it's not just for our ceremony! we've gone frugal on rings: I scoured ebay until I found and engagement ring that I felt was perfect for me, and it was less than $100. I'm sure our bands will be in the same range. I'm looking at dresses (won't buy for several months) but have already decided to spend no more than around $200 for that (ebay is my hero!!). our formal reception will be held in our hometown a few weeks after our cruise. that will be the heftiest part of the budget b/c I hope to rent a place, have a catered meal, open bar, etc. but I think it'll only be 50-75 guests, so I hope not to go too overboard there. I'll be searching ebay, after holiday sales, etc for decorations and other needed items for our reception, and will do my best to find inexpensive, quality vendors. I'm sure that overall, I may spend around the same if I'd gotten married in our hometown, because I know I'd be frugal either way, and would probably do a cruise honeymoon anyway... but it won't be nearly as fantastic of an experience as getting married on a tropical island! plus, our photos will be incredible, I'm sure!!
Have a great day! and Congrats to you
