Missouri-Kansas City

What are you doing to "trim the budget"?

I splurged on a couple things...
I hired Ron Ruth, for my DJ/wedding entertainer/planner...about a thousand over budget.
My cake is from the Bridal Kitchen, sooo tasty and other bakers said they weren't sure how they would build the cake I showed them. So...about $300 over budget.
And my flowers, I have pretty elaborate centerpieces and was quoted $1,000 each for them, of course I'm not paying $30k in floral arrangements so I'm making many of them myself. Even with doing it myself I'm about another thousand over budget...

What is possible to cut back on without it being noticable for my guests?
Buying A Home

Re: What are you doing to "trim the budget"?

  • edited December 2011
    What are you planning on doing for food? Are you planning to do just one course or are you planning on options? If you're doing options, I think it would be ok to just have one. I haven't actually been to a wedding where we had the option here in KC, and I've been to 7 weddings in the past 2 years. I didn't notice it at all.

    What about favors? I think it's ok to forego those as well. I don't think people would notice those much.
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  • kelleyku05kelleyku05 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I did options for food, but I actually did not to cut costs.  My orginal option was the most expensive and I added 2 that were cheaper.  We've done a few small things because I went over budget.  My parents are staying in a different hotel than they had planned to save some money, we cut out OOT bags, no limo, and our favors are very simple, only about $100 total. 
  • GreenDinosGreenDinos member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    $1000 per centerpiece?!?!?! That was my total for all my flowers!! That must be one impressive centerpiece!
    I saved money on the flowers though by buying my own pots online (and dropped them off with the florist) and half of the tables had english ivy which was only about $10 per table. The other half of the tables had my flowers in these mossy pots I got for $4 each online and all the tables had lots of candles. It really wansn't expensive but had a great look. We got married in front of this big window and put votives in there that was beautiful and only cost like $5.
    We also designed our own programs and brought nice paper to kinkos and they printed them and folded them for almost nothing.
    We also tried as much as we could to use thing we already had insteadof buying things new. Lots of little things like the basket for the programs, cake cutters framed sign for gift table, guest book etc are all things you probably already have and don't need to buy.  Instead of buying a guest book I printed pictures from our engagement shoot in a book on shutterfly and had blank pages for the guests to sign, I think it cost $7.
    I think a lot of those little things add up so you need to keep track of those.
    What are you planning for your centerpieces that are so expensive??
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  • edited December 2011
    I am planning to order all of my flowers wholesale and assemble them myself. Actually, my mom is very talented and creative, so she is doing all of the flower arrangements and centerpieces. This is cutting our expense for flowers by more than half. We are not planning to give out favors whici is another way to save money.

    The places we are considering for our reception all allow us to bring in our own alcohol and don't have restrictions on the caterer we use, which allows us to be much more flexible. Another suggestion would be to skip the ceremony programs or make them yourself (you should be able to find a free template online).

    Good luck!
  • edited December 2011
    Yes, I will definitely make my own ceremony announcements. Thanks!
    I think I will start looking online for small vases too. My florist is charging me quite a bit just to rent them...
    Here is a picture of my inspiration....of course I'm doing a smaller version :) It's like a topiary tree with roses and other flowers.



    Thanks again!
    Buying A Home
  • GreenDinosGreenDinos member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Wow that's spectacular looking.
    I got two of these at hobby lobby and they were at least 50% off of this price
    http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/polyresin-pedstal-bowl-with-handles-205757/
    so check for their sales (look for like 40% off coupons.)

    This is where I ordered my mossy pots for $4 each- amazing deal!
    http://www.save-on-crafts.com/vases.html
    They have a bunch to pick from and good prices.
    Anniversary
  • edited December 2011
    I trimmed my budget by getting married on a Sunday instead of Saturday. That took off $1000. I am also not doing favors or programs. I was lucky enough to find my invitations at Target on clearance. They were only $15 a box for 25 invitations and I purchased a few boxes. Great deal!! My FMIL offered to help with flowers. We will probably get them wholesale from Costco and arrange them ourselves.  We haven't signed yet, but we'll be getting our food from Affordable Elegance and they quoted us a great price for a 2 entree meal. For alcohol we're only doing beer, wine, and maybe a signature cocktail. Even with all of this I still can't believe how much I'm spending on one day. It's quite amazing the price of weddings! Although I'm sure it will be a day well worth the cost. :) 
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