• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • Love+Life
    • Adulting
      • This is the Story of My Life
      • I Hired a Life Coach
      • Why is Making Friends as an Adult so Freaking Hard?
      • My Biggest Insecurity… Money
      • My First Experience Using the Grocery Delivery Service Shipt from Meijer
      • Reusable Solutions: 8 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Waste
    • Wedding
      • Our Destination Wedding at Flora Farms
      • Our Intimate Courthouse Wedding
      • The Real Reason We Got Married 3 Months Before Our Wedding
      • How Much Does it Cost to Get Married at the Courthouse?
      • Our Couple’s Shower at Chateau Aeronautique Brewery & Winery
      • Our Tropical Wedding Invitation Suite from Minted
      • Slow Down & Enjoy Your Engagement with Modern Wedding by Kelsey McKinnon
      • The Best Little White Dresses for Your Bachelorette Party and Bridal Shower
      • Moody, Tropical, Boho Wedding Mood Board
    • Marriage
      • Married to Medicine
      • 5 Books to Improve Your Romantic Relationships
      • What If I’m Not Made to be a Mother?
      • The Real Reason We Got Married 3 Months Before Our Wedding
      • A Letter to My Almost Husband
      • Our Engagement Story
      • We Met on a Double Date
      • Finding Love After Heartbreak
  • HOME DECOR
    • Home Tours
      • Modern, Vintage Victorian House Tour
      • Paint Colors: As Seen on Instagram
      • Naked (The house, not me) Tour
    • Makeovers
      • Mudroom Makeover on a Budget
      • Mud Room/Laundry Room Progress Update
      • Black Bathroom Inspiration + Updates on Ours
      • Black & White Kitchen Renovation Inspiration
      • My $500 Kitchen Refresh Reveal with Cost Breakdown
      • Entryway Makeover: A Before & After on a Budget
    • Seasonal & Holiday
      • Holiday Home Tour 2018
      • Black & White Christmas Decor
      • Seven Ways to Make Your Home Feel Like Fall Without Holiday Decor
      • Fall Front Porch: Modern, Creative Ideas
      • Thanksgiving Tablescapes: Unique, Modern & Moody Fall Place Settings
  • Lifestyle
    • Family
    • Health & Fitness
      • My Battle with Chronic Headaches & Migraines + How I Found Relief
      • May is Mental Health Awareness Month
      • Why Every Entrepreneur Should Workout
    • Travel
      • Three Days on the Amalfi Coast: Italy Trip
      • A Magical Trip to Tulum, Mexico: On a Budget
      • La Lastra Winery Tour Sienna Italy
      • Transportation in Italy: What I Would do Differently
      • Vacationing in Costa Rica: Everything You Need to Know
      • Our Lake Michigan Weekend Getaway in a Tiny Cabin
    • Style
      • Zaful Swimwear Review + My Cheeky Honeymoon Bikinis
      • Beach Honeymoon Style Inspiration
    • Beauty
      • My Simple Skincare Routine
      • Getting Hair Extensions? Here’s What I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me
      • My 5 Minute weekday Makeup Routine
  • Business
    • Blogging
      • Affiliate Marketing: Make Money with Your Blog
      • Six ways to Monetize Your Blog and Social Media
      • How to Make Money Blogging
      • How to Manage a Blog When You Work Full-time
    • Entrepreneurship
      • Four Ways to Nail Your Business Finances
      • How to Avoid Isolation When You Work from Home
      • Empowering Quotes for Your Phone Screen Background
      • 12 Books Every Female Entrepreneur Should Read
      • The Power of Batch Working & Time Blocking as an Entrepreneur
      • Stylish Laptop Bags: Weekly Round Up
      • Seven Chances to Email Your List That You Might be Missing
    • Social Media
      • 5 Steps to Getting Ahead of Content Creation & Planning
  • SHOP
    • Home
    • Maternity
    • Organization
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Sustainability
    • Workout
  • WORK WITH ME
    • Brand Collaborations
    • Wedding & Events
  • ABOUT

Miranda Schroeder

A millennial girl's guide to home, life & love.

How Much Does it Cost to Get Married at the Courthouse?

mirandaschro| Life+ Lifestyle+ Love+Life+ Wedding

Our Gorgeous Courthouse Wedding Only Cost $1,000 | Miranda Schroeder Blog

www.mirandaschroeder.com

This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for keeping my creativity afloat.

Let’s just cut to the chase. Weddings are expensive AF. You go to hire a vendor, get a quote in your inbox and cry. I saw a fellow blogger equate wedding planning to crying over spreadsheets, and I hate to say it, but I was in the same boat.

As soon as we got engaged, we decided on a destination wedding in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. When I would stress about the cost, people would say, “Oh, it’s just a destination wedding. It can’t be that bad.” Well, let me tell you. It was “that bad.”

I picked a stunning venue with delicious food & craft cocktails, beautiful wedding invites, all day entertainment, and a top notch photographer and videographer, and I paid the price.

The Pressure to Have the Perfect Wedding

There is so much pressure to throw a beautiful over the top wedding these days. We spend YEARS pinning lush flowers, 3 carat diamond rings, candlelit dinners, and chandeliers hanging from restored barn rafters. Here is my Pinterest wedding board for proof!

We build up this vision in our head, and then when the proposal comes and when we go to plan the wedding, there is a rush of disappointment.

My parents are helping us a little bit, but we are paying for about 95% of the wedding. I won’t lie to you, I’m spending way more than I can afford, and it has put a huge weight on my shoulders that never needed to be there.

Our wedding planner recommended we get legally married in the US before our destination wedding, so I started looking into what we needed to do to make that happen.

What it Cost to Get Married at the Courthouse

I scheduled our courthouse wedding ceremony for February. The ceremony cost $10.00. We will applied for our marriage license a week or so before that and it cost us $20.00. So there you have it. That is what it ACTUALLY costs to get married. It costs $30 to get married.

I decided to hire a local photographer, get a simple white dress to wear to the courthouse, a bouquet & boutonnière of greenery, and schedule a celebration dinner for our closest family and friends.

My dress was $86.00 from Lulus and the bouquet and boutonnière of simple greenery was $60.00. I got my hair and makeup done at the local salon for $100.00.

Courthouse Wedding: How Much Does it REALLY Cost to Get Married?

www.mirandaschroeder.com

We paid for dinner for 11 of us and I want to say the bill was around $600.00, and my mom brought a cake from the local bakery.

The photographer cost us a little over $400 for an hour & a half of coverage. We got a few shots getting ready at our house, and then downtown and in front of the courthouse!

I planned the entire thing in just a few short days and it turned out absolutely magical. All in, this perfect, little wedding cost us around $1,000.

Our Gorgeous Courthouse Wedding Only Cost $1,000 | Miranda Schroeder Blog

www.mirandaschroeder.com

Don’t Stress Yourself Out

Planning our courthouse wedding really put things into perspective. To all my fellow brides out there, follow your heart and choose what means the most to you, but don’t stress yourself out trying to live up to an unrealistic expectation.

I’ve heard a lot of couples say they are waiting to get married because they can’t afford it. You do NOT need to spend thousands of dollars to become one and have a special celebration!

In the end, all that matters is becoming husband and wife. That day at the courthouse was one of the best days of my life. Then, we got to celebrate like crazy with all our family and friends in Mexico, but that was just icing on the cake.

Courthouse Wedding: How Much Does it REALLY Cost to Get Married?

www.mirandaschroeder.com

More Blog Posts You Might Enjoy:

  • Plan a Unique & Romantic Valentine’s Day Dinner at Home
  • The Day I Found Out I was Pregnant & How I Told my Husband
  • We are Having a Baby! Little Schroeder Due June 2021
  • Natural Family Planning: Our Next Big Adventure
  • Married to Medicine: The End of an Era

Looking back, I could have avoided SO much financial stress by scaling back our destination wedding. I definitely would have stuck to a smaller budget and not let “Pinterest” pressure me to throw a gorgeous wedding that was way out of my budget.

Our Gorgeous Courthouse Wedding Only Cost $1,000 | Miranda Schroeder Blog

www.mirandaschroeder.com

All I wanted to do was become husband and wife! And for that reason, I was more excited for February 28th than I was for June 1st simply because we got married for real, real the first time! You can check out all the stunning photos from our courthouse wedding here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kelli says

    January 11, 2019 at 1:26 am

    Miranda. I am feeling this post SO HARD. I still have student loans, and I’m working for a start up company where I’m living paycheck to paycheck. Therefore- I’ve opted to do an alternative to diamonds. And I plan on working with a local vendor for a discontinued dress (a fraction of the price of regular gowns). I can’t imagine being able to have a crazy wedding like I see on Pinterest, so I may be following your lead. Hell- all I really want is a pizza party with an open bar! But I will be looking forward to reading about your destination wedding and seeing your plans next come to life!

    Reply
    • Miranda Allen says

      January 11, 2019 at 5:03 pm

      GIRL! Do not stress yourself out. It’s not worth it! Have the damn pizza party with booze! We are in the same boat & idk why I stretched us so thin over some extra AF party. I just want to be Andrew’s wife!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Welcome Friends

I’m a newlywed living in Indianapolis, Indiana with my hubby and two pups, Porter and Piper. I wear a lot of hats, like blogger, marketing manager and small business owner. I believe everyone has the power to create a home, life & business that they LOVE. Don’t forget to subscribe for all the juicy updates I send out each week!

Subscribe

Find Something

Blog Categories

rug source

The Latest

  • Spring Cleaning Checklist with Oreck
  • A Pro’s Guide to Refinishing your Hardwood Floors
  • Easy Dinner Recipes with Nakano Knives
  • From Weird TV Room to Guest Bedroom: This Room Got a Major Makeover
  • What’s in Baby Girl’s Closet

What I’m Pinning

No feeds available.

Spring Cleaning Checklist with Oreck

A Pro’s Guide to Refinishing your Hardwood Floors

Easy Dinner Recipes with Nakano Knives

Happy Saturday! 🌸 ⁠ ⁠ I have SO much to get Happy Saturday! 🌸 ⁠
⁠
I have SO much to get done today before we leave for the #babymoon tomorrow night. Not to mention, we are throwing a #babysprinkle for our sweet friends tomorrow right before we leave 🙃⁠
⁠
ALL THE BABIES.⁠
⁠
Our shower is next weekend, and I'm feeling more prepared for baby! In the end, I don't think there is anything that can possibly prepare you for bringing home a tiny human 😆⁠
A rare sighting of our kitchen 👀 I've talked ab A rare sighting of our kitchen 👀 I've talked about how I want to gut this room since before we even closed on the house 🙈⁠⁠
⁠⁠
But so many people keep telling me it's not as bad as I make it out to be... & some even have said they like it 😂⁠⁠
⁠⁠
It's FULL of cherry wood, and was all done custom in the 1980s. Some days I love it. Other days, I hate it. I want to know your thoughts 👇🏼⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠PS: We are loving our new @nakanoknives 👏🏼 They just launched their new IG page!⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
#thoughtfullythrifted #historichome #oldhouselove #kitchen #kitchenremodel #kitchenrenovation #paintedcabinets #sodomino #currentdesignsituation #apartmenttherapy #myhousebeautiful #finditstyleit #currenthomeview #mydomaine #mybhg #bhghome #myhomevibe #bohemianhome #ihavethisthingwithrugs #housetour #pocketofmyhome  #myeclecticmix #myhomevibe #homeblogger #mypinterest
I am SO torn on how to paint this room 😩 Do I g I am SO torn on how to paint this room 😩 Do I go bright and white or dark and moody? Do I paint the wood or keep it as is? Helppppppppppp.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
There is absolutely no question that we will be replacing the ceiling fan 😂 Holding off on ordering one until I decide on paint color.⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁣⁠
⁠
⁠
#finditstyleit #pocketofmyhome #showmeyourboho #inmydomaine #homerenovation #currentdesignsituation #hunkerhome #myhousebeautiful #simplystyleyourspace #mybohoabode #myvintagehome #livingroomdecor #apartmenttherapy #howwedwell #modernboho #showmeyourstyled #howyouhome #mydomaine #showemyourstyled #heyhomehey #ispyraddesign #myeclecticmix #theeverygirlathome #bohovibes #smmakelifebeautiful #realhomesofinstagram #makehomematter #thenewbohemians
We have been working so much lately & anytime we g We have been working so much lately & anytime we get together is such a treat 🖤 Pregnancy has brought a whole new set of challenges to our relationship + a whole lotta extra L O V E 🤰🏼⁠
⁠
I know things are going to change even more drastically when little miss Ryan makes her arrival. Thankful for a husband who is always so quick to forgive and even quicker to say sorry.⁠
⁠
Bring on the #babymoon hubs! Mama is ready for a break + some sand and sea 🌴🌊⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
#thoughtfullythrifted #posttheordinary #ownyoureveryday #girlshowyourface #seasonsofsimplicity #theartofslowing #seekthesimplicity #lifestylecollective #postwithpurpose #shedelights #relationshipgoals #Godisgood #marriagerocks #marriagematters
It's time for spring cleaning #sponsored We are th It's time for spring cleaning #sponsored We are those weird people who LOVE to clean - on top of it being a new season, we are officially in nesting mode 🤰🏼⁠⁠
⁠⁠
We have tried SO many different vacuums and this @oreckliving bagged vacuum is AMAZING on hard surfaces & carpet (especially for all the dog hair).⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Head to my stories to see it in action!⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠ #springcleaninghacks #springcleaningtime #springcleaningclosetremix #springcleaning2021 #spring #cleaningmotivation #springcleaningtips #springcleaningfever #homedecor #springcleaningsale #tidyingup #springclean #springcleaningcontinues #springcleaningmama
The sun is shining & there is a healthy baby in my The sun is shining & there is a healthy baby in my belly ☀️🤰🏼 Nothing to complain about here. We are so ready for you little Ryan 🖤 #nesting #29weekspregnant⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁠⁠
#thoughtfullythrifted #sodomino #currentdesignsituation #apartmenttherapy #myhousebeautiful #finditstyleit #instahome #currenthomeview #mydomaine #designsponge #mybhg #bhghome #myhomevibe #bohemianhome #persianrug #rugsnotdrugs #vintagerugs #thisiswhyihavetothriftshopeveryday #ihavethisthingwithrugs #housetour #modernhome #mydomaine #pocketofmyhome  #myeclecticmix #myhomevibe #homeblogger #mypinterest

Footer

Disclosure

This Site is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Subscribe

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Connect

hello@mirandaschroeder.com

Book a Call with Miranda

Copyright © 2021 · Florence Theme by Code + Coconut