Wedding budgets are under pressure. The 2025 Irish Wedding Survey, based on responses from more than 1,000 couples, put average spend at €36,641 excluding the honeymoon. Treat that as context, not a target: every category, venue, catering, flowers, music, has its own vendors competing for a share, and a smaller day can cost a fraction of the average.
This one is about where the rest of the budget goes. If you’re still working out what the photography itself should cost, what a wedding photographer costs in Ireland has the numbers, then come back here for the trade-offs.
Here’s our totally unbiased opinion (ok ok we are a little biased) we offer as a photographer/videographer duo: not all cuts are equal. Some things you spend money on will barely be noticed on the day. Others will be remembered by you and your guests for a lifetime. Photos you will likely print and look at almost everyday, the video will probably be more of an annual or special anniversary watch.
Please note this is just an opinion based blog post with hopefully some practical advice about where to trim without regret. It’s all ultimately subjective, what we consider optional items may well be your must haves so don’t feel like you have to cut something because we said otherwise.
The Things You Can Comfortably Scaleback
The Wedding Cake
A beautifully presented cake can cost €400–€1,000. Couples almost universally report that they didn’t eat a single slice, they were too busy, too full, or just forgot. A good artisan baker can make something beautiful at a fraction of a specialist wedding cake price. Or skip the formal cutting ceremony cake entirely and serve a dessert table instead.
In photographs: A €200 bakery cake photographed well looks identical to a €900 wedding cake.
Elaborate Centrepieces
Floral centrepieces typically cost €80–€150 per table, multiplied by however many tables you have. By 10pm they’ll be moved aside or taken apart by guests. They’re beautiful in photographs for about 30 minutes before dinner.
Alternative: Candles and greenery, simple wildflower arrangements, or non-floral decorations (books, lanterns, photographs) create character at a fraction of the cost and often photograph more interestingly than formal floristry.
The Late-Night Buffet
A late-night food spread is enormously popular, and enormously expensive for food that’s consumed at midnight by people who may or may not notice what it is. Many couples spend €1,000–€2,000 on a late-night buffet that goes largely uneaten.
Most guests are fine. Cutting this is almost never remarked upon.
Favours
The most consistently unused wedding expense. A small percentage of guests take them. An even smaller percentage keep them. Skip entirely or replace with something consumable (a small local jam, a seed packet) that costs pennies.
The Extra Tier on the Venue Uplighting Package
Venue coordinators are skilled at adding extras to the package. Uplighting, chair sashes, additional room dressing, these are often marked up significantly and contribute little that a photographer actually needs to produce great images. The room looks the way it looks.
Where Cutting Costs You More Than Money
The Photographer
Already covered in more detail in is wedding photography worth the cost, but the short version: photographs are the only thing from your wedding day that lasts. Cut here last, or not at all.
The Celebrant or Officiant
The ceremony is the point of the day. A skilled, personalised celebrant who knows you and reflects your relationship creates a ceremony that your guests will remember. A rushed, impersonal civil ceremony does not. The difference in cost is often surprisingly small.
Music
Live music during the ceremony, the drinks reception, and the evening creates atmosphere that no playlist can replicate. You can cut from a full 5-piece band to a duo or solo musician and still have live music, at a meaningful saving, without losing the human warmth that recorded music can’t provide.
Food Quality
Your guests will remember whether the food was good. They won’t remember the chair covers. Feed people well.
The Smartest Budget Reallocation
Before cutting anything, look at the date. The CSO’s 2024 marriage figures show that Friday was the most popular wedding day and August the most popular month for opposite-sex couples. A less contested weekday or shoulder-season date can widen venue and supplier choice without reducing the parts of the day you value.
If you find yourself debating between a better photographer and more elaborate floristry, ask yourself: which of these will I think about in five years?
The flowers were beautiful. The photos are on the wall.
A practical reallocation that many budget-conscious couples don’t consider: elope or have a micro wedding, with a smaller guest list, and redirect the per-head catering and venue saving into a photography package that genuinely excites you. Twenty people who love you most, a spectacular location, and photography that reflects the day properly.
For more on this approach: micro wedding photography in Ireland and eloping in Ireland.
Whatever your budget, there’s a way to make it work well. See the pricing for an honest breakdown of packages, or get in touch to talk through what makes sense for your plans.