I got married last weekend.
I would have been perfectly happy just to go to city hall, but she wouldn't hear of it.
We spent just under 6k, which was 1k over budget.
The original 5k came from an inheritance, so in a sense it "doesn't count" - it didn't come from our savings, and we didn't have to work for it.
It wasn't part of the plan (we asked for no gifts), but we got more than enough in gifts to cover the overage.
The biggest thing was we used a cabin in the woods that belonged to a family member, so there was no cost for the venue.
The families spent several days building and repairing and cleaning and decorating.
She got her dress on some kind of sale, I think it was around $120?
My tux I already owned, I got it for $30 at goodwill for a costume party.
The invitations were online only, "paperless post", no optional upgrades, so free.
The band was one which her father is the bassist for, so no cost for that.
Entertainment was provided by foam swords, a badminton set, and board games.
Dinner was a (prepaid) taco truck.
Our staff was a former personal assistant to a family member, and 3 assistants she choose.
Our rings were flashing multi-colored sparkle jelly rings. They were also the gifts we gave out to guests.
(well, ok, we have "real" metal rings too - they came from a pawn shop, and I believe were under $300 for both of ours)
Flowers were by a personal friend whose family owns a flower shop.
Cake and wine were donated by family who really wanted to help in some way (we would have just done without them)
Then there was chair and table rentals, and food (from Costco), the photographer (least expensive nearby on Yelp - he turned out to be AMAZING), and she got professional hair/make-up people.
We certainly could have kept it lower, but its hard to reign in excited family members. Her mom, in particular, was worried about not having enough of things, so we ended up with much more food, drink, and chairs, then we really needed.
But I guess I can take some comfort that at least we still kept it between 1/2 and 1/3 of the national median.
http://www.randomthoughts.fyi/2016/08/bakari-willsky-kafele.html