Books
The long versions
Almost everything on this site is free and will stay that way. These are the seven topics we had too much to say about for a blog post.
Feeding Forty People for $400
The food and drink chapter of a $1,000 wedding
Food is the biggest part of a $1,000 wedding, and it's the one couples worry about most. This is the full version: six menus that feed forty, with every item priced, how much to buy per person, a $300 bar, and shopping lists for all of it.
What's inside
- Quantity tables for 20, 40, 60 and 80 guests
- Potluck without chaos, including the assignment sheet
- Fill-in worksheets for your menu, quantities and shopping list
33 pages, PDF, print at home
Getting Married for $150
The ceremony and venue chapter of a $1,000 wedding
Ceremony and venue is the one part of a $1,000 wedding you can get close to free, which makes it the place your budget comes together or falls apart. You'll find license fees in twelve places, courthouse fees and the guest limits that catch people off guard, park permits, and what a backyard wedding really costs once you add up the rentals. Every fee is dated and sourced.
What's inside
- How premarital counseling cuts the license fee in four jurisdictions
- Elopement packages decoded, and how a $179 price becomes $512
- Fill-in worksheets, a venue comparison sheet, and a backyard true-cost calculator
42 pages, PDF, print at home
A Wedding Party for $200
And the $1,110 you're quietly asking each of them to spend
Bridesmaid dresses, groomsmen suits, favors and gifts don't show up anywhere in a $1,000 wedding budget. That money still gets spent, though, and mostly by your friends because you asked. This book puts a number on what each attendant is paying and walks through every fair way to bring it down.
What's inside
- What one attendant actually spends, and why the published numbers are all over the place
- The option of no wedding party at all, and roles worth assigning instead
- Scripts for lowering the ask, and the disclosure sheet you send before you ask
40 pages, PDF, print at home
Flowers, Decor and Paper for $125
And the six projects that cost more than buying it done
Flowers, decor and stationery are the two smallest parts of a $1,000 wedding, and they're where DIY advice leads people the most astray. We priced every popular project the way you'd actually buy it: the smallest pack a store will sell, tools at full price, your time counted, and shipping and order minimums included. Six projects cost more than buying them done. Three are worth every minute.
What's inside
- The $49.48 of hardware nobody counts before the first stem arrives
- Centerpieces five ways, and why a DIY aisle runner never pays off
- A $125 plan with every line of arithmetic shown, and what to do if a promotion ends
39 pages, PDF, print at home
One Hour of Photography for $300
The photography chapter of a $1,000 wedding
For $200 to $350 you can get one hour of professional coverage, as long as you book someone who sells short sessions. We found nineteen studios that list a price at or under $400 and named each one with its city and state, along with the minimum hours, travel fees, overtime and number of photos you'll get back.
What's inside
- Nineteen studios that publish a coverage price at or under $400, named with city and state
- What videography really costs, and an update to our own 2016 article about it
- A $300 plan that comes in at $274.26, plus six substitutions when it doesn't fit
41 pages, PDF, print at home
Both of You Dressed for $150
The attire and accessories chapter of a $1,000 wedding
The dress usually isn't what blows the budget. The alterations are. Nine retailers sell a white dress for under $250, and the cheapest is $9.97, but one hem at a real alterations shop runs $150 to $225. This book covers dresses new, used, thrifted and from charity shops, nine alterations price lists, a suit for the other half of the couple compared with every rental package out there, and the $82 of accessories nobody plans for.
What's inside
- Nine retailers that publish a white dress under $250, with the price read from each page
- The one decision that removes the largest cost in this category
- The $82 list of accessories nobody budgets for, and what to cut from it
44 pages, PDF, print at home
Cake and Dessert for $100
The cake and dessert chapter of a $1,000 wedding
You can buy a two tier wedding cake for $57.98 that serves fifty eight people. The cheapest bakery we found charges $3.50 a slice for the same thing, and the priciest charges $12. We went through every warehouse club and grocery bakery, fifteen bakery price lists, the cutting fee your venue probably hasn't mentioned, and what it costs to bake it yourself.
What's inside
- Fifteen bakery price lists, quoted line by line, from $3.50 a serving to $12
- The cutting fee, the delivery minimum, and the two clauses that decide both
- Cottage food law in four named states, for the friend who offers to bake
43 pages, PDF, print at home
All seven books, $63
All seven books together, which is cheaper than buying them separately.
What happens when you buy
The book arrives by email within a minute or two, attached as a PDF, with a download link as a backup. The link is good for three days. The PDF is yours to keep, so save it somewhere you'll find it again.
Stripe handles the payment, so your card details never touch this site, and your receipt comes from Stripe. If the email doesn't show up, check your spam folder, then reply to the receipt and we'll send the book ourselves.
If a book doesn't help, let us know within thirty days and we'll refund you. Keep the file, too. Life's too short to argue over twelve dollars.
Start with the free one
The $1,000 Wedding Starter Kit is 18 free pages: where the money goes, a budget worksheet, guest-count math, vendor email templates, how much food to buy per person, and a day-of timeline. Start there, and pick up a book if you want to go deeper on something.
The 18-page PDF lands in your inbox in a minute or two. A few days later you'll get one short follow-up with where to start. That's all, no list.