8 Tips for a Destination Wedding at US$10k or Less

Weddings celebrate one of the most exhilarating and monumental occasions we know in life. A true once-in-a-lifetime event, a wedding gives the opportunity to spend time with loved ones and to create unforgettable memories. But having a dream wedding is often an expensive affair. It doesn’t have to be.

Here are our 8 tips for keeping your destination wedding budget at US$10k or less.

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Table of Contents

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8 Tips for a Destination Wedding Budget at US$10k or Less

1. Limit the Number of Guests to Less Than 20

First up, let’s be realistic: at US$10,000 you are not going to throw a wedding party for hundreds of guests. Your two biggest wedding expenses are the wedding venue and catering. And both tend to get more expensive, the more guests you have.

To keep your costs in check, plan a wedding with a limited guestlist from the very start. Only invite your loved ones and closest family and friends.

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2. Don’t Pay for Your Guests’ Accommodation

Secondly, it is important to define what you pay for and what not. Most importantly, decide how to handle your guests’ accommodation. For destination weddings, guests typically pay their own travel and accommodation expenses (but are not asked to bring a gift).

If you decide to pay for your guests’ accommodation, make sure to find a venue that offers on-site accommodation for all your guests, which is typically cheaper than booking separate hotel rooms.

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3. Pick an Off-Season Weekday Date and Book at Short Notice

Italian and French wedding venues are significantly cheaper on off-season weekdays.

If you have the luxury of choosing your dates freely, go for May, June (our recommendation), or early September, and celebrate your wedding on a weekday. Weekday weddings are significantly cheaper than weekends when venues tend to get busy.

Booking at short notice might not be possible for many couples, but if you can be spontaneous about your wedding, then you can typically get great deals on even the most exclusive venues.

Admittedly, the words “wedding” and “spontaneous” do not often get uttered in the same sentence. But booking a destination wedding venue just a few months (rather than the typical two years) in advance can give you access to great deals.

For example, it’s not unusual for even the priciest wedding venues to offer up to 50% discount on venue fees and accommodation for same-year bookings (such as booking a September date in May). Even for next year’s bookings, discounts are possible. Up to 20% or more are common.

Typically these discounts are only offered for off-season dates, which in Italy and France is any date that does not fall into their summer school holidays.

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4. DIY Your Wedding Brunch

Usually, a wedding brunch is organized on the day after. During our wedding, we found that the wedding brunch was a nice way for people to come together in a more informal, less structured setting. Nevertheless, it is not worth spending too much on your wedding brunch because:

1. Some guests need to leave already: expect some of your guests to rush off as they need to catch trains or flights or have made other plans for the day after your wedding.
2. Some guests would like to sleep in and are fine with just a cup of coffee or tea. In our case, we celebrated until 3 am on the day of, and not everyone made it to the wedding brunch or had an appetite for a sumptuous meal.

In short, DIY’ing your wedding brunch is a great way to save money without impacting the overall experience of the wedding.

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5. Pick Food Trucks Instead of a Caterer

Wedding caterers are not cheap. In Europe, the typical wedding caterer offers canapes for the wedding cocktails, a 3-course meal for the wedding dinner, and a cheese or charcuterie board for the late evening. Expect to spend a minimum of US$100 per person on food (excluding alcoholic drinks).

A charming (but more casual) alternative to having a wedding caterer are food trucks. In France, there are a lot of food trucks that serve paella or crepes, for example. In Italy, plenty of food trucks serve excellent pizza or pasta.

To find food trucks, visit a market and speak to the vendors on the spot. Many are open to catering for your wedding or can point you to other vendors who might be available (don’t leave finding food trucks to the last minute, however). Again, you are better off and get cheaper rates if requesting a food truck on a weekday.

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6. Ask a Friend to Be Your Celebrant

There are official celebrants in France and Italy, but they usually charge dearly for their services. Instead of choosing an official celebrant, we recommend asking a friend or family member to be your celebrant instead. This adds a more personal touch to your ceremony (and is cheaper).

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7. Take Charge of Your Decorations and Flowers

This might not be for everyone, but if you or your friends have an eye and a hand for decorations and flowers, a great way to save money is to buy and DIY your wedding flowers and decorations.

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8. Contact As Many Vendors As Possible

For those who don’t like a DIY approach to their wedding, reach out to as many wedding vendors as possible. Make sure to use this ultimate trick for finding wedding vendors when you do so.

Aim for at least 10 wedding vendors per category (photographer, DJ, caterer, florist, band, equipment supplier). For example, our DJ was not a “wedding DJ” but just a “normal” DJ. He charged significantly less than all of the wedding DJs that we spoke to (and the music was just as good).

Similarly, we identified a wedding photographer who lived in a village not far from our wedding venue. She charged much less than other photographers from larger towns.

For those who are really on a tight budget, skip the DJ and photographer entirely.

There are plenty of excellent wedding-related Spotify playlists for the wedding reception, wedding entrance, and wedding party. For photos, ask a friend to be your wedding photographer and brief guests upfront that photos are important to you!

Bear in mind, however, that saving money on these smaller items does not move the needle significantly. As mentioned at the start, the two biggest expenses are the price of the wedding venue and catering. That’s where you can save (or spend) the most!

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