So this Cost Breakdown is two parts – first we’ll showcase their amazing micro wedding at The Iron Horse Hotel and next week we’ll launch their Cost Breakdown of their second wedding at The Atrium. Note that the weddings may have some overlapping expenses (i.e. attire).
For just over $16k, we think this couple had a spectacular micro-wedding at the Iron Horse Hotel. Read on to see which vendors they used and their cost, and don’t miss the “Note from the Couple” at the bottom of the article!
Married In Milwaukee Family Used (both weddings):
We were super excited to see this couple used multiple MIM Family Vendors for both of their weddings! Below are the vendors that helped with their Iron Horse Hotel wedding and/or their wedding at The Atrium:
- Photos: Roost Photography
- Stationery: Bay View Printing Co.
- Venue: The Atrium (wedding #2)
- Catering: All Occasions Catering (wedding #2)
- DJ: Sound by Design (wedding #2)
- Transportation: Milwaukee Food Tours (wedding #2)
Quick Facts – Iron Horse Hotel Wedding:
- Guests: 25
- Ceremony/Reception: The Iron Horse Hotel
- Total Costs: $16,131
Wedding Essentials ($6,052):
- Cake: $90
- Photographer: $2,500
- Videographer: $2,500
- Stationery: $637 (save the dates, and a personalized guestbook)
- Flowers: $325 (gift from florist friend that included: bridal bouquet, table arrangement, bridesmaid bouquet, corsages for mother of the bride and mother in law)
Reception and Ceremony Costs ($3,329):
- Ceremony/Reception: $225 (room rental fee)
- Food: $1,477
- Drinks: $1,327
- Officiant: $300 (church donation)
Attire, Jewelry and Beauty ($4,825):
- Bride’s Dress: $1,500
- Bride’s Shoes: $25
- Groom’s Attire: $500
- Hair and Makeup: $300
- Rings: $2,500 (groom’s ring)
Other Costs ($1,925):
- Rehearsal Dinner: $1,000 (gifted by family)
- Limo: $325
- Wedding Favors: $80 (hand sanitizer and dog treats)
- Wedding Party Gifts: $160
- Dog Suits: $100
- Hotel Suite: $260
Honeymoon ($500 – Not Included in Total):
- Honeymoon in Door County: $500
A Note From The Couple
We asked the couple to tell us about their planning and budgeting process, and this is what they had to say:
When we got engaged in 2018, we had a pretty good idea of what was important to us, what needed to be included and how we were going to celebrate our wedding to one another in the fall of 2020-the universe obviously had other plans. Like many other couples we planned, unplanned and then planned again when it came to our original wedding slated for September 2020.
The Venue(s):
Our original plan was to have a large brunch themed wedding at The Atrium. The modern industrial feel of The Atrium, plus the AMAZING roof top garden were what immediately drew us to The Atrium.The Atrium provided such a gorgeous backdrop and we really wanted a space that could be used for both a ceremony and reception since we were having a Sunday wedding, so a church ceremony was most likely out of the question.
Another key in finding a venue was a space that would allow our dogs to be onsite for some of the day-they are key to our relationship so it was important to have them be a part of the day!
When it looked like we had to downsize we looked for smaller venues that would still fit our modern industrial feel, but would also allow us to not blow our budget out of proportion-Enter, The Iron Horse Hotel. We reached out to the Iron Horse about being able to host a scaled back micro wedding. They were incredibly accommodating, charged a small room rental fee, plus, they are dog friendly-It was the perfect “backup plan”.
The Photographer:
About a year before I was even engaged, I stumbled across Brandon (Roost MKE)’s Instagram. I knew almost immediately that I needed to have him capture my wedding. I knew that everything else wedding related could be budgeted or slimmed down if need be; but photos last a lifetime, so they have to be good. Brandon is a delight to work with and all of our pictures turned out better than I could have ever hoped for!We also stretched the budget and had videographers for 2020’s wedding. We had pushed most of our original vendors back to the reception in 2021, but we figured that this was our *official* wedding we wanted to capture that on film as well.
Since we had to push back our reception, there were a handful of things that we didn’t feel comfortable spending money on round 1: That included stationary-our only guest were our bridal party and immediate family (so a simple group text got the details across), a DJ-I spent a lot of time compiling a really thorough Spotify playlist that included all of our favorites, plus the favorites of our guests. We also saved money by crafting all of the signage and personalized items for the wedding.
There were a few vendors that were incredibly flexible with us and were able to work around our original visions. Bayview Printing Company created our original save the dates, and were going to create additional signs and possibly invitations. When it looked like our big ceremony was getting pushed back to 2021, we were able to utilize our prepaid contract to create a one of a kind guestbook that would have one side dedicated to 2020 and one to 2021.
Generally we wouldn’t have spent so much on a guest book, but the team at BVPC really put a lot of thought, detail and love into a very meaningful item that we were able to utilize two years in a row.
– The Happy Couple
A BIG thanks to the couple for sharing the Cost Breakdown of their awesome micro-wedding at The Iron Horse Hotel and to Roost Photography for the amazing photos!
If you’re currently working on your wedding budget, make sure to read through our previous Cost Breakdown articles featuring real Milwaukee wedding cost breakdowns.
