What did you budget for your elopement/intimate wedding?

Not sure about alberta but you could do that for less than 5k in ontario for sure. of course just depends on the restaurant you pick! but just stick to your budget and dont go over board. a nice resaurant will have nice decor so that you could cut out

Our original wedding budget was $15,000 but now that we are eloping it will work out to about $6,000. We decided since we were already saving so much money to have a bit of a fancy elopement. Our photographer was probably the biggest cost, followed by flights and a helicopter ride. I would estimate a small wedding close to home could be done really nicely for $2,000 to $3,000, maybe even less. Biggest cost would be dinner, but for 6 guests it would not end up being too much.

View quoted message I'm not very familiar with that area. Is it the restaurants for the reception that is more expensive or is it just everything has a higher price tag?
A mountain wedding would be beautiful!

View quoted message I really had my heart set on Banff or Canmore. Somewhere outside in the mountains for our ceremony and photos. But going out there already spikes the costs up.

View quoted message Absolutely. Keep in mind that didn't include our attire (together cost an additional $2100), but keeping it under $5000 but still beautiful and special should be very do-able.


We got married on a deck in a city owned butterfly garden. The permit cost $75 (it was supposed to be $150 but I actually negotiated them down lol). We had so few people and the ceremony was quick so I didn't bother with ceremony chairs. We just had people sort of around us and it was really nice. A trail leading to the deck acted as aisle and my officiant brought a table with tablecloth and chairs for signing. I thought the scenery around us was enough decor.
I found my classical guitarist for the ceremony on GigSalad. If you aren't familiar with them check them out. Great way to get really fast, competitive quotes
Then we had dinner in a private dining room at a restuarant. We had a single hors deurvres upon arrival (grilled mushroom bruschetta) followed by a 3 course meal. We bought some bottles of wine for the table.
We only had our photographer for 1 hour, at the ceremony and then some pictures afterwards.
I splurged on my limo because it just felt very special ($500).
We kept florals to a minimum (my bouquet, my daughter's bouquet, boutonniere for each of my husband and son, and a corsage for my mother). I didn't bother with decor for the restaurant.
I just went to my usual hair salon for hair and makeup.
Do you have a ceremony place in mind? Is there someplace special you want to be when you get married? With a tiny group you likely have a bunch of different options.

View quoted message That’s awesome! I really had no idea where to start in my planning of a budget lol. I just know I cannot fathom spending more than $10,000 on 1 single day but this is great to hear it can be done for much less ! Where did you get married ?

The thought of having an elopement wedding can range from $1000 - $3000 depending on what you want to get done and vendor wise. Photographer, rings and Officiant are enough to have with artificial flowers.

We had a wedding very much like this.
We spent about $2500 on everything other than attire and jewellery. That included officiant, flowers, photographer, limo, permit for ceremony location, ceremony musician, and restaurant reception for 9.

I feel like the budget can still be very flexible depending on what you want. Like if you still want a drop dead stunning dress, or an amazing photographer, and where you want that dinner to take place. You can spend as much or as little as you want!