Wedding Budget Thoughts

notquiteblushing

So I'm just working on my good old wedding budget, trying to figure out how much more I can scrimp and save or beg, borrow and steal in the next couple of months.  What do you guys think?

Church - $300 - my grandfather negotiated this down from $800, bless him, seriously.
Reception Food - Free, courtesy of my little sister's college fund.  Oh don't worry, she's not that smart!
Dress - less than I feared but enough to make me want to cry.
Pretty Pretty Princess Pictures - more than a month's salary!
Transportation - actually not all bad.  Let's hope it's not too hot though because there's no air conditioning!
Rehearsal Dinner - whatever the FILs decide they don't want to pay at the last minute!
Band - Beyonce means business!
Wedding Rings - hopefully some 0% financing!
Tuxedo and two tuxedos and a BM dress we got suckered into paying for - enough to make Baby Jesus Cry
Invites - screw it, there's free booze, people will find us
Honeymoon - mostly on points and probably whatever Amex says we can spend



Can I move in with one of you when I become homeless?

loopy82

Your descriptions did get a chuckle out of me if that helps any.

PaigeMcC

Atleast if it's hot you can put the windows down in the car...?

We have a spare bedroom/computer room you can crash in if you need it, when all is said and done.  lol

Button5807

It's not a car she's using the LG trolly's I've been drooling over since I...well actually since I was so young it was socially acceptable for me to drool in public!

notquiteblushing

Yeah the trolley should be awesome but the one thing people say on the local board is "it was so hot without air conditioning."  Oh well, can't please em all.  We're not going too far.

I will probably book a coach bus to take people to/from the reception but I haven't even priced those out yet.  I feel like I am hemorrhaging money.

Button5807

Hemorrhage some thisaway

loopy82

I really wanted to rent a trolley too! However all of them around here are all tied up for the state fair. GRR!

notquiteblushing

Oh and I forgot flowers!  We're going to get some quotes this weekend.  Cross your fingers I don't need to take to the stripper pole!

PaigeMcC

I want a trolly! That sounds soooo cool!

loopy82

I know its not as fancy as a coach bus.... but we are renting a 15 passenger van for 24 hours and will be using that to shuttle people to the hotel. Luckily one of our 23 year old ushers doesn't drink!  That might be a way to save on money if you are wanting to shuttle people. We are getting a great deal on it. $75 for the day.

Soon2BJeter

Hah.  I got a good laugh out of your descriptions.  I have a place you can crash, well, until the house sells then you'll be SOL. 

At first when you said the transportation had no AC I was worried, but the trolly ride will be SO worth it and I'm sure everyone will love it!!

jeanacorina

Aww, NQB! Join the club!

We've actually been feeling better about money lately, if it's any consolation. Everything seems like SO MUCH at first. Then you start making payments here and there, and it gets less stressful.

We made sure everything we booked accepts payments in ANY AMOUNT (even $20) anytime until the due date.

Also, flowers weren't as expensive as I thought. Shoot for something in-season and locally grown. Ask the florist for suggestions.

My wedding band was more than I expected ($130 as opposed to $100) and FI's was much less ($90 as opposed to $120). His sister works at Zales and gave us her discount, so that helped A LOT. But overall it wasn't terribly painful. I have a plain yellow gold band, and he got a tungsten band (and LOVES it, because he thinks it's SO MANLY).

You can shave some dollars off here and there. But really, honestly, it just looks like a lot when you add it up for a total. Plot out your own payment schedule for each month up until everything's due. See how much you need to pay, which months you may have a bit extra (tax returns?), and go from there.

We're working it out, and we had nothing saved up to start with. It's okay.

And I have a spare bedroom with a queen-sized air mattress. I got your back, girlfriend.

hetshup

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_wedding-budget-thoughts?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:c4098ac9-d943-4a75-8126-6eeb2ffbe7ddPost:ca6663f8-17c0-4911-9ca4-473bf7ddaac9">Re: Wedding Budget Thoughts</a>:
[QUOTE]  I feel like I am hemorrhaging money.
Posted by notquiteblushing[/QUOTE]


I actually said that to FI earlier today when he came back with reception music at $560 plus 200 for a vocalist. You can stay with me, I'll even let you pick a room, I will have two guest rooms.


Jeana-- Did you FI ever get to the "i'm stressed like you over the budget". I'm waiting for that moment.

notquiteblushing

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_wedding-budget-thoughts?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:c4098ac9-d943-4a75-8126-6eeb2ffbe7ddPost:54c338a2-f34c-45ec-b9b8-0b9feff12c3b">Re: Wedding Budget Thoughts</a>:
[QUOTE]. Plot out your own payment schedule for each month up until everything's due. See how much you need to pay, which months you may have a bit extra (tax returns?), and go from there. We're working it out, and we had nothing saved up to start with. It's okay. And I have a spare bedroom with a queen-sized air mattress. I got your back, girlfriend.
Posted by jeanacorina[/QUOTE]

Thank you!  This is great advice.  I've just been saving so much money every month since I moved in with FI - like an insane, pay for kickass trip to Hawaii amount of money - and I still don't think it's enough.

We've paid for half the band, 1/3 of the photographer, half of the trolley, and half of my dress.  Now I just have to add up the rest I guess and go from there.

babybchbum

Kay Jewlers often does 0% financing for 1 year (if you really want to finance your ring)

Check out a Publix( or your local grocery store.. since you are up north) and talk to their florist. Many times you can pay less by not using a traditional florist (that is all they do) and go with someplace that has other means of getting money.

For the tux's and dresses, I would put $20 down every now and then to help whittle away the amount due. Hey that is less than a nice night out at dinner for two. the idea of spending your tax refund on wedding stuff may not seem like so much fun but it will be a benefit to you when the final payments come due.

Best of luck to you. I feel your pain on the budgeting.

jeanacorina

See? A lot of it is already PAID. Get yourself a notebook or an excel spreadsheet or whatever and plot it all out. You're going to be fine. If it starts looking really close at the end, then maybe you need to scale back on the flowers or cake (by the way, you can save a bunch by getting a smaller decorated cake and having an undecorated sheet cake to serve from).

Move your ceremony flowers to the reception, use all one type of flower in many colors (I think I have a pic of my bouquet in my bio... that's all dahlias with some roses and berries sprinkled in), toss a bridesmaid bouquet instead of having a seperate toss one.

We got our favors from www.weddingfavorites.com. I got very nice sandalwood fans for 89 cents each.

You can do this. You can save money in lots of places, but you can also have everything you want (within reason) without shelling out $5,000 at a time. You just have to be organized.

Good luck, and glad I could help. I may need you to return the favor when everything comes crashing down on me.

Hetshup-- he's just as stressed about money as I've been, he just doesn't talk about it until I ask for more money for the wedding. BUT he'll buy $100 board games with no problem. He's funny about that sort of thing. Planning out our monthly payment schedule really helped us both. We already had a payment schedule/budget for everyday expenses and bills, we just added wedding stuff in there.

We owe $1,000 to the photographer. We're paying $800 this month (thank you, tax return!) and the rest in April. We owe $500 to the florist. We're paying $250 this month and $250 in May. I paid for half of my invitations when I ordered, and the other half two weeks later when they shipped. I paid half my dress when I ordered it, 1/4 when it arrived, and 1/4 when I picked it up. Same with makeup & hair. Half up front, a quarter in a couple of months, the last right before the wedding.

Even my alterations--- only $60, but I paid $30 up-front and will pay the other $30 when I pick up the dress. I don't miss $30. That's dinner and a movie. No big deal.

I swear, it's just about being organized. Buying a wedding notebook with balance sheets and appointment pages was the best purchase I've made, and it was $15.

**Mutley**

Yes, it sucks.  I wish I had better news.  However, I still look back at what was spent and go WTF.  Sigh.  Then again, I think I would think that no matter the amount. 

I will say that I made DH wait to buy my wedding band.  It was far from inexpensive and I just wanted to wait till we bought a house before spending anymore money.  We used my e-ring during the ceremony.  It was more important for me to have the money in the bank than on my finger.  DH surprised me and bought it for my birthday.   

paintgirl

It's funny - bf is clearly more willing to spend money on a wedding than I am. Of course I'm also selling my house at a loss so ... He really wants me to be happy with the wedding (whenever it happens) and thinks I won't be unless it's just "so". But I really don't care much about the details so no need to spend a ton on purple calla lillies and rented gold-threaded linens. So your budget discussion is amusing! I feel your pain!

Oh - I won't have a room for you at my place, but I would at the new one!

Goldlie11

A family member emailed me a wedding budget spreadsheet.  FI and I started plugging in the numbers.  We're still have a relatively small wedding (50ish guests).  We really thought we could still keep the budget around $10,000.  We ended up with a budget of a little under $15,000 .  We might not even be able to go on our honeymoon until months after our wedding.  (end vent)

Seriously, thanks for adding some humor to an otherwise painful subject.  

202987

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_wedding-budget-thoughts?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:c4098ac9-d943-4a75-8126-6eeb2ffbe7ddPost:532572ca-31ef-4362-bd14-e7d10cb4fd6a">Re: Wedding Budget Thoughts</a>:
[QUOTE]Cross your fingers I don't need to take to the stripper pole!
Posted by notquiteblushing[/QUOTE]

My mom told me last night that some group in some other country (Japan maybe?) was petitioning to have pole dancing as an Olympic sport.  So maybe you can finance your wedding by selling your gold medal? 

Oh, and product endorsements.  I think gold medal winners get those too.

jeanacorina

Dang, Goldlie. That sucks. Our original budget was $5,000 or so, and we had to stretch it to $10,000. It's a hard pill to swallow. I suppose we could have done it for less, but we're okay with it.

We'd always planned to marry in summer and honeymoon somewhere tropical in winter. It'll be okay. Just have a 3-day weekend mini-moon after the wedding.

tafft1

Thank you for the good advice Jeana - this is on reason FI and i insisted on a long enegagement - so we have time to make payments and save at the same time , etc. You have made some great suggestions and i am taking notes! It does seem overwhelming at first but taking one thing at a time and planning it out definitely helps as well.

Goldlie11

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_wedding-budget-thoughts?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:c4098ac9-d943-4a75-8126-6eeb2ffbe7ddPost:968c934f-9480-4af3-b410-aef68fe3e5f9">Re: Wedding Budget Thoughts</a>:
[QUOTE]Dang, Goldlie. That sucks. Our original budget was $5,000 or so, and we had to stretch it to $10,000. It's a hard pill to swallow. I suppose we could have done it for less, but we're okay with it. We'd always planned to marry in summer and honeymoon somewhere tropical in winter. It'll be okay. Just have a 3-day weekend mini-moon after the wedding.
Posted by jeanacorina[/QUOTE]
In a couple of months, we've been able to put aside a lot more money than I thought we would, so it's getting a bit better.  My mom offered to pay for a couple of things, so that should help.  Although I'm keeping those items in the budget until she actually pays for them (you never know).  If we don't go on a honeymoon right away, we'll either do something over winter break or go on trip on our 1 year anniversary.  It took some time, but I'm now finally able to digest everything.  

notquiteblushing

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_wedding-budget-thoughts?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:c4098ac9-d943-4a75-8126-6eeb2ffbe7ddPost:04c7006b-33be-4a33-b00c-5abba15649a9">Re: Wedding Budget Thoughts</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Wedding Budget Thoughts : My mom told me last night that some group in some other country (Japan maybe?) was petitioning to have pole dancing as an Olympic sport.  So maybe you can finance your wedding by selling your gold medal?  Oh, and product endorsements.  I think gold medal winners get those too.
Posted by 202987[/QUOTE]

That is most excellent news.  I've always wanted to be an Olympian.

loopy82

Get your wedding sponsered. I have heard of that happening. Although I am sure it is far far from anything common, but, well, its an idea.