For this couple, the single most important aspect of their wedding was hosting it at a unique wedding venue. They fell in love with the stunning Morikami Museum, especially the gorgeous gardens. They are the perfect backdrop for a beautiful wedding day!
For $50,000, they had a fun and unique wedding that was filled with personality, especially the glow stick grand exit!
Read on for the full cost breakdown of their stunning Morikami Museum Wedding. And don’t miss the “note from the couple” below for their thoughts on how they made this great day possible.
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Quick Facts – Morikami Museum Wedding
- Guests: 200
- Ceremony and Reception: Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens
- Total Costs: $50,395
Wedding Essentials ($4,700):
- Invitations and Stationary: $985
- Dessert: $315
- Photographer: $2,500
- Flowers: $900
Reception and Ceremony ($34,445):
- Reception and Ceremony Venue: $4,000
- Food, Drinks and Rentals: $27,500
- Officiant: $0
- Ceremony Musicians: $350
- Reception DJ and Uplighting: $1,500
- Photobooth: $1,095
Attire and Beauty ($3,050):
- Wedding Dress: $850
- Groom’s Attire: $0 (Groom received complementary tux due to number of rentals in the Wedding Party)
- Rings: $1,800
- Hair and Makeup: $0 (for Bride and Bridesmaids)
Other Costs ($8,200):
- Transportation: $2,400
- Wedding Party Gifts: $1,000 (Personalized Converse sneakers, Personalized totes, pearl earrings, and flip-flops)
- Wedding Favors: $800 (Customized Jones Soda Bottles)
- Hotel Suite: $395
- Rehearsal Dinner: $4,000
A Note from the Couple
We asked the couple to tell us about their planning and budgeting process, and this is what they had to say:
We wanted to have a wedding with 200 guests in Palm Beach County, but didn’t want the wedding to be at a hotel, on a golf course, or at the beach. Our options were limited, but we fell in love when we visited the Morikami! Its unique museum paired with the natural beauty of the Japanese gardens were the perfect backdrop to our wedding day.
In terms of budgeting, the things that were most important to us were the food and the music, and we were willing to spend more in those areas than in others. We didn’t want to splurge on flowers or an elaborate multi-tiered cake.
The Food: Cornell Café
The Cornell Café is phenomenal. The Morikami required that we use them for the event, but they pulled out all of the stops. We definitely went a little overboard with food – many of our guests filled up during the cocktail hour with the endless sushi buffet. They didn’t even realize there would be even more food at the reception! We probably could have saved some money by offering only one food station instead of two, and we definitely could have forgone the chocolate fountain. Maybe we were just really hungry on the day we finalized our food selections!The Music: Liquid DJs
Originally we really wanted a live band to play at our wedding, but we couldn’t find a band that we felt was the right fit for our style and budget. After a lot of research, we finally decided on Shannon from Liquid DJs. Shannon is the best. Period. Hands down! We really wanted our reception to be a party, with lots of dancing, and minimal cheesiness. We provided Shannon with a list of songs that we definitely did not want to hear, a few we HAD to hear, and other than that told him to just keep the dance floor jumping. Of course we may be biased, but we’ve never attended another wedding that had a dance floor that stayed packed from the beginning to the end like ours. We really had too much fun!The Photobooth: Shutterbox
We have always loved photobooths, so we thought it would be a fun addition to the wedding. We really enjoy looking at all of the photos that came from our wedding’s photobooth!
– The Couple
A big thanks to the couple for sharing their awesome Morikami Museum wedding! Also, thanks to Robert Madrid Photography for the photos.
If you’re currently working on your wedding budget, make sure to read through our other articles featuring real Palm Beach wedding cost breakdowns.
