Editor's note: This wedding occurred in 2015, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. While big weddings may be on hold for now, we hope this serves as inspiration for the future.
When my husband proposed, I had no idea how involved planning a wedding could get.
This is how I planned mine for less than $10,000:

1. First thing's first: I started by writing the guest list so I could estimate how big a venue I'd need.
2. I dedicated most of my planning time to finding the right venue and caterer.

Here's what I ended up picking:
3. We had our wedding on a Sunday.
4. Sadly, we had a cash bar.
Not getting married until I can afford an open bar.... I’m not disrespecting my friends like that
The cost of alcohol would've tipped me way over $10,000 for the entire wedding. Since we didn't want to cut out guests, we ended up just doing a cash bar. But I'll admit it: If we're talking about wedding regret, I regret this decision. I wish I had at least supplied some wine and beer or something. Luckily, since we got married at 21, an open bar definitely wasn't expected.
If you decide to go the cash bar route, just make sure to tell your guests ahead of time.
5. I bought my wedding dress online.

6. And my husband bought cheap groom attire.

7. In the name of efficiency, I opted to do a first look.

8. For each purchase, asked myself, Will this be noticed?

9. I decided not to include wedding traditions I didn't care about.
10. I used a fake cake for ~the look~ but served Costco cake.

11. When possible, I borrowed things instead of buying things.

12. We hired a photographer from Craigslist and the videographer was a friend's coworker.

13. I sent online invitations instead of mailing them out.

14. Ultimately, I focused on the most important things I wanted to remember.
