As the bills from June weddings pour in, let's take a moment to go over the budget for Amy and ED's nuptials. Ten grand, honeymoon included!

Amy is from Illinois, Ed from Wisconsin.

"When I married my cheesehead, we were both in our forties," says Amy. "We had a very tight budget. We were paying for this ourselves."

Amy originally wanted to get married in Illinois, but the banquet halls were too expensive.

"You can't get anything for under $30 a plate. We had a guest list of 160, mostly family. That would have meant more than half of our budget just for the food without tax and tip. It would have blown our budget. So I gave in and had it in Wisconsin.

"It was $12.50 for the two-meat-and-pasta buffet. I thought we'd have regular plates, but they were Chinette. I got over it. We had an open bar for two hours, then after dinner a cash bar with free beer.

"My groom's mother wanted a chocolate fountain and paid for it."

Being from out of state, Amy had to find a place to get dressed. "I wanted something that looked like a home, not the Holiday Inn." She found a manor house, under renovation, but a few rooms were finished. She could dress there and use the sitting and tea room for pictures.

"We also found a park with beautiful flowers. We had told the park custodians what area we were going to use for photos and the day before they cut the grass, raked the leaves and trimmed the dead flowers. For free!"

Amy was able to get the music, photography and videography, all for three was $1300.

"I couldn't have been happier with the video guy. He incorporated video we shot getting our license and different pictures of us. He was at the rehearsal and really captured our personalities."

Amy was pleased with the photographer as well.

"He did everything, but we made the formal wedding album. We took a scrapbook class and it was so much fun."

For all the little extras that really add up, Amy went to a website that recycles donated articles for free.

"Through them, I got my wonderful dress, table decor, wedding bubbles (instead of rice), pew bows, and silk flowers in the color I wanted. We gave back by free-cycling things we had doubles of and didn't need.

"I got other stuff on eBay, like my church runner for $15. The flowers were seasonal, which kept the cost down. The gifts we gave to our attendants were modest and practical, tackle boxes for the guys that we had personalized with their names ($15 each) and jewelry for the girls for the wedding (Wal-Mart $25 each). The bridesmaids wore two-piece dresses with tops they can wear again. They cost $85 and they paid for them themselves."

And then there was the honeymoon.

"Our bargain cruise was a disaster. With two hurricanes and very limited ports of call, it was not a good time. Cost $1600.00. We'll be making up for it in the very near future.

"Our total was $10,085, just $85 over our budget. It can be done. We had a great time doing it and I had my princess wedding."

Did your wedding stick to your budget or did you break the bank? Send your thoughts along with your questions and problems to [email protected]. And check out my new ebook, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front." COPYRIGHT 2016 CREATORS.COM

Photo credit: Maria Eklind