I recently shared a detailed breakdown of my $18,000 wedding for 80 guests on Reddit, and I wanted to dive deeper into the numbers and stories behind the data.
As a data enthusiast, I tracked every single expense and categorized them using SankeyMATIC.com and Excel graphs. I’m excited to share the results with you!
## The Background
My fiancé and I planned our wedding without expecting any financial help from our parents. However, they surprised us with generous contributions, which made our wedding planning journey much less stressful.
## The Data
Here’s a quick summary of our wedding expenses:
* Total headcount: 79 adult guests, 96 with vendors and children
* Most of our guests were married couples, with a few kids and 4 single people
* We had very few no-shows: one couple missed their flight, and one plus one didn’t show
* One coworker sent me $20 on Venmo the morning of my wedding, which I felt terrible about not inviting her!
## The Sankey Diagram
The Sankey diagram shows how our wedding expenses were distributed. We’re grateful for the contributions from our parents, which made up a significant portion of our wedding budget.
## Lessons Learned
Planning a wedding can be overwhelming, but having a clear understanding of our expenses helped us stay on track. Here are a few takeaways from our experience:
* **Track your expenses**: It’s essential to keep track of every single expense, no matter how small it may seem.
* **Set a realistic budget**: Determine how much you’re comfortable spending and stick to it.
* **Communicate with your partner**: Make sure you and your partner are on the same page when it comes to your wedding budget and expenses.
## Final Thought
I’m sharing this data to provide a realistic glimpse into the costs associated with planning a wedding. I hope it helps others who are currently planning their special day.
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*Further reading: SankeyMATIC.com for creating beautiful Sankey diagrams*