We were married two years ago, when I was 22 and DH 24. I started my first job three weeks before the wedding, and DH started his first real job three weeks after the wedding. He had been working doing renovations for family friends to earn money before that. I am an only child and my DH has one older brother who does not seem like he will get married.
At the beginning, my parents came to us with a plan for how to pay for things. They would pay 60%, my inlaws 30% and us 10%. We talked to my in-laws and they agreed. From that point, we used that as a guide for deciding who would pay for what. Our portion came down to the photographer and the videographer, my in-laws paid for the rehearsal, the venue, flowers and the bar, and my parents basically paid for catering, my dress and a small dinner for out of town family. We had a kosher catered (something that was important to everyone involved) wedding, so that cost was significantly more than it would have been for a non-kosher wedding so it came to about 60% of the budget.
The total was approximately 11K. Our starting budget was 10K. We have beautiful photographs & video, including a great panoramic shot of the family and one with my MIL and 5 of her 7 siblings, and lots of great memories.
Because we couldn't take a honeymoon right away because of the new jobs, we waited until we had saved enough to pay for something we really wanted, which will be our Disneymoon in 26 days. We are thrilled to be going finally, for our 2nd anniversary!