Real Los Angeles Wedding Budget Breakdown + 35 Tips for Saving Money

When I polled my audience, the most asked question was, “Can you share your wedding budget breakdown?”

And I get it. I can’t count the amount of times I Googled “Los Angeles Wedding Budget Breakdown” trying to find something helpful. In case you did that to find your way here, hello. 🥹 I feel you. And I really hope I can help.

But talking about money online is. so. scary.

Ryan and I had so many conversations about whether I should share exact numbers… he was on the side of keeping things private, but he supported me either way and wanted me to do what felt right to me.

I am scared and nervous for sure, but I leaned into the part of me that wanted to do the best I could — to make the video I wish I had, and to fill the gaps that I saw in wedding content that I’ve watched for the last 2+ years.

And thankfully, others feel the same 🥹

Without further ado, here’s Part 2 of my post-wedding Q&A and the last video of my wedding series. I only make a few dollars per video through ads if I’m lucky, so this truly is just for you + me. ☺️ Hope you enjoy!

If you don’t feel like watching the video, I’ll do a quick breakdown here. However, the video does go into detailed breakdown of what the cost covered per category and any discounts we received.

Context: We had 2 weddings - a Western Wedding Ceremony + Reception in Temecula, California (June 2025) and a Chinese Tea Ceremony + Banquet Dinner in San Gabriel Valley, California (March 2025).

The Chinese wedding was planned in 3 weeks when we found out my mom’s pancreatic cancer had spread… and we’re all SO happy we were able to do it because she passed away in May, a month before our wedding. 💔

Western Wedding Breakdown (92 guests)

Venue (including food/beverages): $33,123.07
Temecula Creek Inn - Stone House

Accomodations (our room + 6 rooms for family): $2,394.29
Temecula Creek Inn

Wedding Planner/Coordinator: $3,162
Helen / Ah, Love Events

Photographer: $6,000
Kami Arant

Videographer: $3,845
Amari Productions

Florals: $4,030
Allison / The Occupied Vase

DJ/MC: $2,150
David / HiFly DJ Events

Hair & Makeup (Bride, Groom, 7 Bridesmaids, 1 MOG): $3,602
Sarah / Leann

Content Creator: $1,034.41
Ivana / Ivy Content Co.

Dessert: $1,100
Yamanaka Family Store

Live Illustrator: $1,011
DeeryHill

Katrina’s Attire: $2,121.03

Ryan’s Attire: $1,073.92

Signage / Cards: $97.88

Wedding Weekend Food/Drinks: $3,094.67

Misc: $1,844.53

Total: $68,683.98

Chinese Wedding Breakdown (220 guests)

Restaurant/Food: $ 17,886.00
Longo Seafood Restaurant

Florals: Gifted by Florist
Hao To Make Things

Photography: Gifted by Photographer
Furious Photographers

Hair & Makeup (Bride, MOB, MOG): $829.50
Sarah Choi

Dessert: $2,080
Yamanaka Family Store

Alcohol: $616.11
Costco

Misc: $263.75

Total: $21,675.36

If you still haven’t clicked the video yet, I implore you to watch the last several minutes. I really think it’s an important message for everyone—those planning to splurge on their wedding and those who think spending that kind of money on a single day is ridiculous. I’ll link you to the time stamp here: 28:35 (just a few mins of your time).

And if you’re still not down to click, I’ll type it here.

The last question someone asked was, “Was it worth it?”

And our answer… 100% Yes. Both our weddings were so worth it and we’ll be reliving and relishing in the magic of those days for the rest of our lives.

I’m going to end with a snippet of my wedding welcome speech, because I think it really sums up why we feel it was worth it. Even though we spent a large amount, we’d do it again in a heartbeat—because this is what we feel life is really about.

Ryan sent me this reel where someone talked about the best moments in life and how they’re the moments when you have “everybody alive together.”

Everybody. Alive. Together. And weddings are such an incredible opportunity for that to happen—but they’re NOT the only time that can happen. You don’t need a wedding, and you don’t need to spend all this money, to feel love and joy and togetherness.

I once watched a video critiquing weddings, and one of the comments said something like: “The antidote to the wedding industry and these inflated prices is to just keep celebrating each other in the day-to-day. If we all celebrated ourselves and each other all the time, there wouldn’t need to be this extravagant, expensive day to do it.” And I loved that and totally agree. So if you feel like a traditional wedding isn’t for you—too expensive, not where you want to put your money—then don’t! Celebrate yourself and your loved ones in other ways.

That’s all. And here’s my wedding welcome speech <3

Thank you for making it this far ❤️

And if you’re a bride- or groom-to-be looking for more wedding planning tips, I think you might like Part 1 of the Q&A where I recap our wedding, what went well, our regrets, and share planning advice. I know these videos are long, but I truly (and humbly) believe they’re some of the most helpful wedding videos on the internet. 😄

And if you somehow want more wedding content, girl I gotchu 😂