How to Plan Your Dream Wedding
on Any Budget
At Carawood Lake, we believe that everyone can have a beautiful, joyful wedding without going into debt. And we also know trying to navigate the wedding industry can lead to burnout and breakdowns for something that should be exciting.
So we’ve put together some sample weddings, using real numbers from real packages available in our area to show you what a real wedding at Carawood Lake might look like AND cost.
These samples are designed to be starting points in your planning process. Feel free to swap and alter anything you see here to fit your priorities, preferences, and budget.
Budget
Breakdown Recommendations
(MATH NOTE: The low-end percentages add up to only 75% while the high end percentages add up to 125%, meaning if you use these targets, you’ll need to prioritize where to spend and where to save if you want to stay on budget!)
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Ceremony space
Reception space
Chairs & tables (included at Carawood Lake)
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Appetizers
Main course
Dessert
Drinks
Servers & bartenders
Serveware (plates, silverware, cups, napkins, etc.)
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Photographer
Videographer
Content creator
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DJ
Band
Games or activities
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Flowers
Table linens
Tablescapes
Ceremony arch/decor
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Attire for both partners
Alterations
Accessories
Hair & make-up
Personal flowers (bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages)
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Lodging
Transportation
Invitations / Programs
Signage
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Officiant & marriage license
Day-of-Coordinator
Favors and gifts
Tips and fees
Miscellaneous
Breakdown by Overall Budget
Choosing a Venue Package By Budget
Experts recommend the cost of your venues should total about 20% to 25% of your total budget. We have intentionally priced our packages keeping these expert recommendations in mind.
This category should include rental fees for all of your spaces. Because not everyone uses our space for ceremonies, an outdoor ceremony set-up is an additional $300 at Carawood Lake. However, indoor tables and chairs, plus picnic tables and standing cocktail tables outside are included in all reservations.
Overall Budget: 5K
Venue Budget: $1000-$1250
COMFORTABLE CHOICES:
Weekday Reception (Any time): $1200
Saturday Reception (next 6 months): $1200
Fri or Sun Reception (next 6 months): $1000
STRETCH:
Sunday Reception (Nov-Apr): $1600
Friday Reception (Nov-Apr): $2000
Sunday Reception (May-Oct): $2200
SAVE:
Basic Package (any date in the next 6 months): $100/hr
Overall Budget: 10K
Venue Budget: $2000-$2500
COMFORTABLE CHOICES:
Sunday Reception (May-Oct): $2200
Friday Reception (Nov-Apr): $2000
Sun-Mon Event (Nov-Apr): $2400
Thur-Fri Event (Nov-Apr): $2400
STRETCH:
Friday Reception (May-Oct): $2800
Saturday Reception (Nov-Apr): $2800
Saturday Reception (May-Oct): $3600
SAVE:
Sunday Reception (Nov-Apr): $1600
Weekday Reception (Any time): $1200
Sat Reception (next 6 months): $1200
Fri or Sun Recept. (next 6 months): $1000
Overall Budget: 15K
Venue Budget: $3000-$3750
COMFORTABLE CHOICES:
Saturday Reception (May-Oct): $3600
Thur.-Fri. Event (May-Oct): $3600
STRETCH:
Sat-Sun Event (Nov-Apr): $4200
Fri-Sat Event (Nov-Apr): $4800
SAVE:
Saturday Reception (Nov-Apr): $2800
Friday Reception (May-Oct): $2800
Sunday Reception (May-Oct): $2200
Friday Reception (Nov-Apr): $2000
REALLY SAVE:
Sunday Reception (Nov-Apr): $1600
Weekday Reception (Any time): $1200
Sat Reception (next 6 months): $1200
Fri or Sun Recept. (next 6 months): $1000
Overall Budget: 20K
Venue Budget: $4000-$5000
COMFORTABLE CHOICES:
Sat.-Sun. Event (Nov-Apr): $4200
Fri.-Sat. Event (Nov-Apr): $4800
STRETCH:
Sat.-Sun Event (May-Oct): $5200
Fri.-Sat. Event (May-Oct): $5600
Full Weekend (Nov-Apr): $5600
SAVE:
Saturday Reception (May-Oct): $3600
Saturday Reception (Nov-Apr): $2800
Friday Reception (May-Oct): $2800
Sunday Reception (May-Oct): $2200
REALLY SAVE:
Friday Reception (Nov-Apr): $2000
Sunday Reception (Nov-Apr): $1600
Weekday Reception (Any time): $1200
Sat Reception (next 6 months): $1200
Fri or Sun Recept. (next 6 months): $1000
Overall Budget: 25K
Venue Budget: $5000-$6250
COMFORTABLE CHOICES:
Sat.-Sun Event (May-Oct): $5200
Fri.-Sat. Event (May-Oct): $5600
STRETCH:
Full Weekend (May-Oct): $7400
SAVE:
Fri.-Sat. Event (Nov-Apr): $4800
Sat.-Sun. Event (Nov-Apr): $4200
Saturday Reception (May-Oct): $3600
REALLY SAVE:
Saturday Reception (Nov-Apr): $2800
Friday Reception (May-Oct): $2800
Sunday Reception (May-Oct): $2200
Friday Reception (Nov-Apr): $2000
Sunday Reception (Nov-Apr): $1600
Weekday Reception (Any time): $1200
Sat Reception (next 6 months): $1200
Fri or Sun Recept. (next 6 months): $1000
Overall Budget: 30K
Venue Budget: $6000-$7500
COMFORTABLE CHOICES:
Sat.-Sun Event (May-Oct): $5200
Fri.-Sat. Event (May-Oct): $5600
Full Weekend (May-Oct): $7400
SAVE:
Fri.-Sat. Event (Nov-Apr): $4800
Sat.-Sun. Event (Nov-Apr): $4200
Saturday Reception (May-Oct): $3600
REALLY SAVE:
Saturday Reception (Nov-Apr): $2800
Friday Reception (May-Oct): $2800
Sunday Reception (May-Oct): $2200
Friday Reception (Nov-Apr): $2000
Sunday Reception (Nov-Apr): $1600
Weekday Reception (Any time): $1200
Sat Reception (next 6 months): $1200
Fri or Sun Recept. (next 6 months): $1000
Determining your Food & Beverage Budget
Choosing your food courses:
During a typical event, many people include the following “courses”:
Appetizers
A main meal
Dessert
Depending on the event, some people also consider:
A rehearsal dinner
Late-night snacks (served during the event after dessert)
A farewell brunch
Catered food is typically calculated per person, so your guest count is the key determinant of your overall food cost.
The role of catering staff:
Having catering staff set-up and serve the food (either as a buffet or plated meal) costs more, but it also removes a significant amount of work from friends and family, who otherwise spend a lot of time in the kitchen before and/or during the event itself.
Catering staff is often calculated “per person” or as a 15-20% “service charge”. So basically take whatever you’re spending on the food itself and multiply it by 1.2 to estimate the cost of adding service staff.
How to select a food & drink plan within your budget:
Start by determining your overall budget for food and beverages. Then divide by that total guest count. This number will give you your total per person cost. This number should include all of the food and drinks you plan to serve, including appetizers, dessert, and beverages.
Total cost / person = (Total F&B Budget) ÷ (Total guest count)
Once you know your max cost per person, you’ll want to piece together your appetizers, dinner menu, desserts, drinks, and any extras so that your total stays under this value.
This may include a combination of DIYs, caterers, food trucks, and other professional vendors (like a baker or unique snack station).
One of the trickiest parts here is figuring out your drink budget, which we dive into more below!
Some Options…
Appetizers:
Nacho bar
City BBQ: $3/p
Popcorn bar
DIY: $1-2/p
Fruit, veggie, cheese & cracker, and meat trays
Fligners: ~ $1-$1.20/p per tray type
City BBQ: ~ $3/p per tray type
Sterks Picnic (App/Main combo): $20/p, includes veggie tray + fruit
Tasting cups (ex: soup + cracker stick; hummus + pita + celery)
DIY: $1-2/p
Professional caterer: $3-4/p
Skewers (ex: cheese + veggie + meat)
Fligners: Swedish meatballs $1/p
Dips + dippers (ex: spinach & artichoke dip; warm buffalo ranch chicken dip)
DIY: $1-2/p
City BBQ: Hot chicken dip $3/p
Mains:
Classic buffet
Fligners: Starts at $10.25/p
Sterks: Starts at $16/p
Taco / fajita bars
Fligners: $10.25/p*
Sterks: Starts at $17/p
Pasta bars
Fligners: $8.50/p*
Sterks: Starts at $14/p
BBQ pulled pork / shredded chicken
City BBQ: Starts at $15.50/p
Burgers & hotdogs
Sterks: $20/p (app/main combo)
Fligners: $9.15/p*
Chili bar
Fligners: $5.25/p*
Rice / noodle bowl bar
Food trucks
Soups & flatbreads
*Fligners prepared foods are available in increments of 25 people.
Desserts:
Classic multi-tiered wedding cake
Small “cut cake”
Sheet cake
Fligners: $0.50-$1/serving
City BBQ: Triple chocolate cake $2.33/p (24 servings/cake)
Cupcakes
Cookies / Brownies
Fligners: $50/72 cookies
Fligners: $50/96 brownie bites
Sterks: $2.75/p
City BBQ: $45/24 cookies
Cobblers and Pies
Sterks: Pie or strudel $2.75/p
City BBQ: Cobbler with whipped cream $3.50/p (16 servings/pan)
S’mores (over an open bonfire at Carawood Lake!)
Ice-cream
Candy bar
Figuring Out your Beverage Needs
This is one of the most complicated parts of a budget to estimate because there are so many different options and variables.
Use the information below as a guide, and adjust based on your preferences, overall budget, and what and how much your guests like to drink.
How many drinks should you plan on serving?
Use this formula to estimate the number of drinks you’ll need so you don’t over- or under-buy.
Total drinks needed = (# of drinking guests) × (hours of reception) x (buffer)
A few notes about the formula:
Count only adults who drink alcohol. A decent default is 80% of adult guests, but adjust this if you know your people skew higher or lower.
Guests drink faster in the first hour of a reception (cocktail hour ≈ 1.5–2 drinks), but slower after dinner. The 1 drink/hour average washes out over a 5- to 6-hour reception.
People drink more during hot outdoor summer weddings, so increase your total drinks needed by ~10–15% and double or even triple your water. (At Carawood Lake, we have municipal water with a pleasant taste right out of the tap. Many of our hosts simply fill carafes or drink dispensers with tap water and add a garnish like sliced lemons or cucumbers rather than buy gallons and gallons of bottled water.)
A good buffer number to use is 1.2, which gives yourself a 20% buffer. To reduce this to a 10% buffer, multiply by 1.1; to increase to a 30% buffer, multiply by 1.3, etc.
For example, with 100 guests, assume about 80 drinkers. Over 5 hours, that equals 400 drinks + 20% buffer ≈ 480 drinks needed.
What do you want to serve?
The simple truth is that more choices = higher cost. Limiting options can save significant money. But you also know what your guests like to drink. So consider your options…
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Water, lemonade, tea, sparkling water, soda, etc.
Cups, cocktail napkins
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Typically limited to 3-4 options
For example, 1 light beer, 1 craft/amber beer, 1 style of seltzer (but you can chose a “variety pack” pack here to get multiple flavors)
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Typical split would be 60% beer/seltzer + 40% cocktails
Think “His and Hers pre-mixed signature cocktails
Signature cocktails are usually a touch cheaper per drink than a can of beer/seltzer or glass of wine… by adding signature cocktails, you typically lower your overall bar cost!
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Typical split would be 60% beer/seltzer + 40% wine (1 red, 1 white)
Wine costs more than signature cocktails.
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Typical split would be 40% beer/seltzer + 30% wine + 30% cocktails
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Includes beer/seltzer, wine, plus 5-7 spirits (vodka, whiskey, bourbon, rum, gin, tequila), mixers, and garnishes.
Typical split is ~35% beer/seltzer + 25% wine + 40% cocktails
Cost is higher than a limited bar because you need to buy more spirits, mixers, and garnishes that may not all get used. Typical cost is about $10-12/guest PLUS the cost of bartenders
How much should you buy?
Once you decide what types of drinks you want, you’ll determine how much of each item you should buy.
Take the number of total drinks you need and start splitting it up based on what you want to serve.
For example, in our 100 person wedding above, we calculated we would want about 480 drinks. The dropdown menus in this section break down the calculations and total estimated costs, based on what you plan to serve.
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Assume 2-3 glasses/bottles of water per guest (more in hot weather)
Assume about 1.5 soda/sparkling water drinks per guest
Assume about 50% of guests will have a glass of pre-mixed lemonade or tea.
1 gallon = about 15 servings
100 person wedding example:
Water: 300 12-oz cups of water = 20 gallons
Sparkling water/soda: 150 total cans = 5 30-count cases ($22.50 each at Costco = about $120)
Pre-mixed lemonade/tea: 50 cups = 4-5 gallons
Ice: 1-1.5lb / guest = 120 lb = 6 20-lb bags ($10/bag at Walmart = $60)
Cups
Approx. $200
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480 cans = 20 24-count cases → 7 cases light beer + 7 cases craft/amber beer + 6 variety packs of seltzer
(480 cans x $1.25/can) + ($200 for N/A drinks) = $800 total drink cost
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Beer/seltzer (60%)
Ex: 480 × 0.6 = 288 cans → 96 cans light beer + 96 cans craft/amber beer + 96 cans seltzer (4 24-cases of each)
Cocktails (40%)
1 handle of liquor + 1 gallon of mixer (eg tonic water) + 1 cup flavor (eg simple syrup, juice, etc.) = about 32 6-oz drinks
Ex: 480 × 0.4 = 192 drinks → 96 drinks Cocktail A + 96 drinks Cocktail B
96 6-oz drinks = 3 handles of liquor + 3 gallons of mixer + 3 cups of modifier per recipe
Sample breakdown: (288 cans beer/seltzer x $1.25/can) + (6 handles x $20/handle) + (6 gallons of mixer x $10/gallon) + (6 cups of modifier x $3/cup) + ($200 N/A drinks) = $758 total drink cost
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Beer/seltzer (60%)
Ex: 480 × 0.6 = 288 cans → 96 cans light beer + 96 cans craft/amber beer + 96 cans seltzer (4 24-cases of each)
Wine (40%)
1 bottle of wine = about 5 drinks
Ex: 480 × 0.4 = 192 glasses → divided by 5 drinks/bottle → about 40 bottles → 20 bottles red + 20 bottles white
Sample breakdown: (288 cans beer/seltzer x $1.25/can) + (40 bottles of wine x $12/bottle) + ($200 N/A drinks) = $1040 total drink cost
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Beer/seltzer (40%)
Ex: 480 × 0.4 = 192 cans → 64 cans light beer + 64 cans craft/amber beer + 64 cans seltzer (2 32-cases of each)
Wine (30%)
Ex: 480 × 0.3 = 144 glasses → about 30 bottles → 15 bottles red + 15 bottles white
Cocktails (30%)
Ex: 480 × 0.3 = 144 drinks → 64 drinks of Cocktail A + 64 drinks Cocktail B
64 6-oz drinks = 2 handles of liquor + 2 gallons of mixer + 2 cups of modifier per cocktail
Sample breakdown: (192 cans beer/seltzer x $1.25/can) + (30 bottles of wine x $12/bottle) + (4 handles x $20/handle) + (4 gallons of mixer x $10/gallon) + (4 cups of modifier x $3/cup) + ($200 N/A drinks) = $932 total drink cost
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This is more complicated and requires a bar tender. Talk to them about what you will need to supply vs what they will supply (mixers, garnishes, glasses, etc.). But assuming $10-12/guest plus the cost of your bartender(s), which will probably cost another $250-$500, you can estimate your total drink cost to be around $1500
What about bartenders?
You’ll definitely want a bartender if you are having a full bar. Anything below that and it’s up to you.
Guests are generally pretty good at serving themselves beer/seltzer, pre-mixed cocktails in a drink dispenser, and non-alcoholic beverages. A bartender in these settings is really helping to control consumption - making sure no one is over-served, and that all the options are cold and “fully stocked” at the bar at all times.
If you decide to hire a bartender, you’ll want to plan on 1 bartender per ~50 drinking guests for a full bar and 1 bartender per ~75 guests for Limited Signature Bar or beer/wine only bars.
The cost is generally $40-50/hr per bartender. So for the hypothetical 100 person party with a full bar, you’d probably want 2 bartenders for 4-6 hrs = $50/hr x 4-6 hrs x 2 bartenders = $400-$600
