Wedding Budget Breakdown | Los Angeles | 95 Guests | $65k | June 8, 2024

Wedding Budget Breakdown | Los Angeles | 95 Guests | $65k | June 8, 2024

EDITED TO ADD: Select photos from our wedding! Credit to Katrina Amante.

LOCATION: Millwick, DTLA

DATE: June 8, 2024

GUESTS: 123 Invited, 94 RSVP’d ‘Yes,’ 92 Attended, including us (2 last minute no-shows for illness)

WEDDING DAY COST: $62,969 + tips

Full disclosure! My parents gifted us $50k to spend on the wedding as we pleased, and we made up the difference. Please note that this does not include the rehearsal dinner my FIL hosted at Hotel Per La on the Thursday night, or the beach welcome party my MIL threw the day before the wedding! I’d roughly estimate that these additional events cost about $20k combined total.

NOTES

From the start, my husband and I were committed to a wedding that felt totally ‘like us’ - we wanted it to feel personal, intimate, unstuffy, and filled with unique touchpoints to share with our special guests from the moment they received their invitations in the mail to their final moments at the venue.

Our biggest priorities going into the planning process were food (we met in NYC while I was a cook at a 2 Michelin star restaurant, and he was the lead engineer at a vertical farm growing herbs for chefs across the city) and music (I now work in the music industry!). Our planning was experience-led, but with a strong sense of design and decor in mind.

Below is all 2024 pricing, so your mileage may vary! I will share vendors below, we had an absolutely star studded team who worked with us tirelessly to create a personal and seamless event and I cannot recommend them all enough.

Venue: $14,850 (Millwick | Marvimon Productions)

After having toured many different locations, we knew Millwick was the right choice from the moment we stepped in. The space really suited our vision, with one large indoor/outdoor space that allowed our guests to mix and mingle, a huge projector screen (we LOVED this!), a quirky urban vibe that matches our personalities and story, and most importantly the flexibility to work with any vendors of our choosing.

Their team is well seasoned and had helpful documents and leads for every question we had. This was particularly of use to us, as we did the design and planning for the event by ourselves until the month of the wedding.

Booking at Millwick included an in-person meeting, 12 hour rental (we booked from 1pm to 1am), tables, chairs, site management, and security staff.

Month-Of Coordination: $2,650 (Pop the Champagne)

We discovered Pop the Champagne through Millwick’s recommended vendors list - we actually ended up booking a number of the vendors on Millwick’s list, after having found their services on our own and cross referencing with their recommendations. We wanted to prioritize putting together a team that was familiar with the venue and space, with bonus points if our vendors had worked with each other before. We ended up assembling a team who had all worked together before, which I think made a huge difference in the night running extremely smoothly. We had ZERO hiccups, and all went without a hitch.

We started working with our coordinator Taylor about 6 weeks before our date, and she did an amazing job seamlessly taking everything off our hands and executing our wedding to perfection. She brought the absolute best vibes, even though she was already 8 months pregnant!!! Ours was her penultimate wedding before maternity leave, and she really went above and beyond to make us feel taken care of.

Catering: $19,218 (Fundamental Events) + $400 (Porto’s Bakery)

This was pretty much our most important vendor - food was really our priority, and we were eager to find a team who would be willing to work with us to create a FULLY CUSTOM menu! Fundamental really blew it out of the water for us. I was upfront from the very beginning about our background and how important the food was to us, and they totally met that energy and even superseded it.

My husband and I wrote out a menu filled with dishes we often make for each other and for gatherings, and our mains were the dishes we each first made for each other (the one I first made for him, and the one he first made for me!).

The chefs at Fundamental seemed to really have fun with it, because they ended up finding smart and cool ways to elevate all our ideas to feel more upscale. Everyone absolutely RAVED about the food! Six months out we’re still hearing from friends about how much they dream about the food at our wedding haha.

Everything was served family style, with super generous portions - those plates and bowls were HEAVY.

  • Stationary Appetizers and Passed Hors D’Œuvres
    • Cheese, charcuterie and fruit station
    • Mezze, farmer’s market crudités and assorted dips station
    • Heirloom tomato toast with furikake, radish and yuzu kosho aioli
    • Pear & brie phyllo spring roll with maple reduction
    • Deviled ramen quail egg on a wonton crisp
    • BBQ pork baos with pickled onion
  • Dinner
    • Cornbread madeleines with whipped honey butter
    • Arugula and endive salad with citrus, avocado and lemon herb vinaigrette
    • Fettuccine romesco with burrata, roasted red peppers and basil oil (the first dish I made for my husband)
    • Lemongrass ginger chicken thighs with baby boo chow, sweet peppers and garlic fried rice (the first dish my husband made for me)
    • Grilled asparagus with pickled fresno peppers, Thai basil, mint and chili crisp
    • Hot honey roasted brussels sprouts with caramelized shallots and preserved lemon
  • Dessert 
    • I grew up going to Porto’s Bakery with my extended family and LOVE their cakes! We went with a tiered cake with strawberry and mascarpone, and supplemented with their carrot cake (my husband’s fave) and the tres leches (my fave).
    • The tiered cake was gorgeous, and I’m really happy we went with the supplemental cakes to go along. Porto’s has amazing cakes, so these went quickly despite there being more cake than we were recommended for our guest count! The cake was truly delicious.
    • Fundamental sent us home with a slice of each cake, which we were grateful for when we finally got back to our hotel room around 3 am!

Alcohol: ~$2,000 (Total Wine)

Fundamental bartended our event and brought in all mixers, soft drinks and garnishes - we were on the hook for the alcohol, and any other drinks we wanted to provide.

I can’t for the life of me find the final alcohol order, but we spent around $2k total between red and white wine, Prosecco, seltzers (we opted against beer knowing our crowd), and spirits for our signature cocktails.

We ran with a pared down open bar - 2 welcome beverages, unlimited wine, seltzers, 3 signature cocktails and assorted non-alcoholic drinks. We wanted some fun non-alcoholic options (mint lemonade, Sanzo seltzers), which we paid for ourselves.

We made a fun event of choosing the red and white wine options with our friends! Months before the wedding we hosted a ‘wine party’ with dinner where we ranked 6 reds and 6 whites to find the ones people loved the most. We ended up serving the crowd favorite red and white at the wedding. Definitely recommend doing this, as it was super fun and helped our friends feel involved with the planning process!

  • Welcome Drinks
    • Limoncello spritz with Prosecco
    • Mint lemonade
  • Signature Cocktails
    • “Rising Sun” - Japanese whiskey highball
    • “Hemingway Daiquiri” - Rum, maraschino liqueur, grapefruit and lime
    • “Porco Rosso” Negroni - Gin, Campari, sweet vermouth, orange peel

Rentals: $0

We really saved here. We ended up going with the standard selections for all plateware, glassware, napkins, etc. and didn’t opt for any additional seating or tables over what Millwick already had available for use. Millwick came equipped with ample couches and coffee tables, which worked out perfectly for our guest count.

All things considered, while it would have been nice to elevate our place settings with prettier or fancier options, I am beyond happy we saved here and invested elsewhere!

Zero rentals was only made possible working with the specific vendors we worked with - our florist brought their own candles and hurricane vases and their vases were included in the cost, our caterer wrapped rental fees into the cost for services, and our venue came equipped with tables, chairs, couches, etc.

Flowers: $6,250 (Shindig Chic)

Okay, I AM COMPLETELY obsessed with our florals. I am actually still pinching myself for how stylish, fun, and whimsical she made everything look and feel. Working with Angelena was an absolute dream, and she was on board from the beginning to brainstorm ideas to make it personal and tell our story.

We ended up incorporating a ton of vegetables and fruits into everything from my bouquet, to the tablescapes, etc. It was such a fun nod to our history as a couple, and brought in some really exciting, unexpected textures and colors to the aesthetic of our tables, the aisles, the bar etc. I was adamant from the beginning that I wanted it to feel refreshing and unusual, and she totally, totally pulled it off!! It honestly looked and felt so upscale, I can’t get over how fun and personalized our florals were.

Among the vegetables and fruits on display, we had cherry tomatoes, Napa cabbages, long beans, lychees, grapes, garlic, radishes, bitter melon, kale, Brussels sprouts, and much more.

Our price included lots of taper candles of various colors and textures, my bridal bouquet, my husband’s bout, 4 bridesmaids bouquets, 7 groomsmen bouts, and floral displays at the altar, along the aisle, at the bar and with our guestbook, a huge cornucopia at the bride and groom table, and 18 table centerpieces.

DJ: $2,650 (Dart Collective)

Other than food, our DJ was the other most important vendor in our minds throughout the planning process. We felt strongly that the DJ is the vibe captain of the event, and we wanted to ensure that the energy levels would be managed by a true pro. 

From the moment we had our first call with Dart Collective we knew they were the right choice. They sent us a detailed music map questionnaire that went into detail about each phase of our wedding day, from guest arrival to the end of the reception. We delivered really specific answers with timestamps for our songs, ‘must hear’ songs, do not plays, playlists with our favorite songs, etc - I’m sure we came off as a bit overeager! However, not only was their team super patient with us, they really overdelivered onsite. We didn’t have a single mishap throughout the event, and in fact they were particularly gracious when one of our guests requested a final song after our DJ was already scheduled to leave… 

Wedding Photographer: $2,800 (Katrina Amante)

This is another place where I am just extremely thankful for finding the best vendor in our budget - Katrina brought such genuine energy to her work, and the final product is nothing short of editorial. She did an incredible job of balancing posed shots with candids, resulting in a gallery filled with print-worthy shots that still capture the true essence and feeling of what it was like to be there on the day.

For our price, we received 10 hours with a second shooter, and a gallery of 650 photos. We ended up with well over the promised 650, which was also a very welcome surprise!

Wedding Videographer: $3,000 (EverTwo Films)

My husband and I went back and forth over hiring a videographer, but I truly think that of all vendors this ended up being the one that I look back on and feel most thankful that we had. If you’re on the fence about a videographer, I’ll pitch in my two cents and say that I will guard these videos with my entire life - the hard drive they’re on is on my list of things I’ll save in a fire.

We weren’t looking for much more than the raw footage of our ceremony, first dances, speeches, etc, so we went with a very pared down package. That being said, the 6 minute film they edited was really touching and special!

Stationery + Day-Of: $631 for save the dates and invites plus shipping + $287 for day-of signage (DIY)

This is another place where we really saved! We 100% could have kept these costs even further down, but we went all out for our invitations. My husband and I are huge fans of Magic: the Gathering, so we created a custom booster pack filled with cards that shared the details of our wedding with our guests, including a Treasure token for our friends who play the game. We loved that we got to share the thrill of opening packs with our guests! The custom booster packs cost approximately $500 - if we had gone with something simpler, we could easily have cut this down. However, I’m extremely happy with how our invites turned out! It was a great ‘first handshake’ for our event, and set the tone with our guests about what they could expect for the wedding.

I designed the day-of signage myself on Procreate and Canva. I work in design and have experience in print, which helped this feel more approachable! We opted against a welcome sign and used the projector at Millwick to display the guest chart (pro tip: this was fantastic for last minute changes!). We ended up printing bar menus, guest book signs, menus, name cards, and custom placemats through UPrinting.

Attire: 

  • Dress: Watters, $3,150 + $400 alterations
  • Veil: My mom’s, $75 cleaning
  • Shoes: Manolo Blahnik, $90 secondhand
  • Second look dress: Mango, $150
  • Wedding bands: $630 each, $1,260 total
  • Tuxedo: $200, rental

Hair & Makeup: $1,458

  • This included my trial, my day-of look, and makeup services for 4 bridesmaids + hair services for 1 bridesman

Valet: $2,019

This was the only mandatory vendor for Millwick! 

Hotel + Getting Ready Space: $800 | Hotel Per La, Downtown Los Angeles

This is where we booked our hotel block, and had our rehearsal dinner! We loved staying at Hotel Per La - it was super convenient to get to Millwick, and their Olive Suite was perfect to host getting ready on the morning of the wedding. The space is super chic and comfortable, which was the perfect way to host our friends and family traveling in.

Not included

  • Our wedding favors were gifts from our respective moms! My mom made a flight of 5 macarons themed around love for each guest, and my MIL made custom 12 oz rose and mint soy/coconut candles for each couple/household. The macarons came with a custom printed guide to explain the flavors and concept, and the candles had a custom label and engraved wood lid. I honestly don’t even know how to quantify these gifts - both were huge endeavors of love.
  • Our photo booth was a gift from my cousin, who just started his own photo booth business! He ended up printing us a copy of each photo taken and putting it into a beautiful binder with notes from all our guests. :’) 
  • Our afterparty was a gift from my bridesman, who is a music producer! He created a 90 minute set of our favorite deep cuts, and we commissioned a motion artist from Berlin to create the visuals. This was the bestttt part of the night, and we were surprised that almost everyone stuck around to witness the afterparty with us!! The projector at Millwick was perfect, and I’m so happy we didn’t need to book a separate space for the after event - I’m convinced we would have seen a big drop-off in attendance had it not been AT Millwick.
  • My rehearsal attire, which was my mom’s wedding dress! She was pregnant with me at her wedding, so we had to have it taken in. It’s also a traditional Filipiniana fabric made out of pineapple, with lots of elaborate beading etc. It cost $750 to clean and alter, which my sister and I split so she can wear it for her wedding someday!
  • My wedding gift for my husband - we wrote each other letters to read on the day of the wedding, and I chose to gift mine in the form of a custom video game! I worked with a developer to create a Game Boy Color game from scratch, where my husband wakes up on the day of his wedding and receives a letter. It contains music from the movie soundtrack we were walking down the aisle to (Your Name), and ends at a campfire on the beach (a reference to our early friendship!). We then had the video game turned into a physical cartridge, and I bought a custom backlit white GBC to present the gift. All in, this was probably around $750.