How Much Should I Expect to Spend...?

Robyn-N-Josh · March 2010

We've got our date (20-May-11) and venue (Reflection at the Buttes) nailed down with a deposit, but in order to sign the actual contract (which needs to be done by 06-Apr-10), I need to have an estimated guest count. We've put a fair amount of work into our guest list, and have pared it down to the "must have's," but before we sign the contract, I want to have a better idea of how much I might expect to spend for the other "big ticket" items. Particularly alcohol (as we must provide our own for about 100 adults), photography, attire, and flowers.

If it's not asking too much, can some brides share with me how much they spent on each; if the wedding has already occured, some hindsight opinions would be great. (e.g., "We spent $1,000 on photography, but wish we wouldn't have skimped." or "I only spent $300 on my dress, but was lucky to find it during a mega sale.") It'd be great to hear Tucson vendor recommendations as well, along with your personal experiences.

Signing the contract with the "estimated guest count" seems to be a pretty big / stressful commitment because from what I understand, if you over-estimate, you still have to pay for the total estimated amount. I'm worried because our pared down guest count is a HUGE chunk of our budget, but I don't know how we can possibly cut it down anymore...we both have large families.

I guess I'm just asking for any sort of budgeting advice for a Tucson wedding. As broad as that may be...

Thanks in advance!!! :-)

2xscharm · March 2010

I am still in the planning stages but have done a ton of internet searches, asked friends and family for rec's and have come up with some darn good deals! Our venue is the Stillwell House and it offers a discounted package for small weddings, so that saved us a ton of $$. I went to Davids Bridal and picked out a BM's on sale as my wedding dress so that only cost me $80. From what I've seen they have a few BM's dresses that can pass as a gown and some of their gowns are on sale right now.

For my cake, I have a friend is that starting her own business so she is doing both the grooms cake and the wedding for the cost of supplies. A co-worker is a tailor so he is going to do my alterations as a wedding present. Alcohol (we have to supply our own too) is going to be brought from Costco/Totally Wine and my FI knows people in the bar business that will sell it to him at cost.

Photography will be taken care of by a friend as well. I am also going to ask people to bring their cameras to capture candid shots and send me those.

Just think about what's really important to you money wise (location, food, photography, etc) and start networkin. GL!

Austen2010 · March 2010

I am still planning as well but we have paid for most of our vendors so far.

Hair: 55$ ( with Khara Williams, she also travels to the site)

Make-up: TBD, depends on whether I want airbrushed or not (with Khara Williams, travels to the site)

BM dresses: 125$ (David's Bridal)

Tuxes: Groom free with five or more rentals at Men's Wearhouse

Alcohol: About 18-20$ for each drinking adult (beer and wine bar only)

Photography: 1600$ with full copyright from Jessica Gates (she did our e-pics and she is amazing!) This was really important to us to have great pictures and the copyright. I am really happy with this choice.

Flowers: 400$ with Evergreen Florists, they are making the bouquets and bouts but giving me buckets of flowers to make my own centerpieces/ceremony decs and bags of rose petals for the tables and aisle

DJ: 750$

Harpist: 200$ (pre-ceremony, ceremony, and cocktail hour music)

Chair Sashes, ceremony chairs, and arch: 190$ rented from Arizona Party Rentals

STD: 40$ made my own with card stock (65 STD sent out)
Invites: 65$ made my own from Michaels, including extra ribbon I bought (65 invites will be mailed out soon)

Postage: 65$ for RSVP cards and invites

I also bought candle votives (about 80) for the tables from a nother Knottie that just had her wedding. They were about 15 dollars total I think.

GL with your planning!

klangdorf · March 2010

My opinion on the photography is that it is money well spent on a real investment. Everything else about the wedding to me is much less important. I tell all my friends that I wish I had invested more into photography. We paid less than $1200 and got what we paid for

The top photographers charge $3500 and upwards because they are good and worth their weight in gold.

naenay797 · April 2010

I can't believe they are nailing you to a count so far in advance of your wedding. We are getting married at La Mariposa and we don't have to give them a headcount until 10 days before the wedding.

jamjar11 · April 2010

I just started planning mine, but I just made my deposit on Stillwell House and had to give an estimated guest count, also. We shot low because we don't want to end up overpaying if it turns out people can't come. Although our guest list is currently around 70, we told them 60 for the contract. Also, we are struggling with the money aspect, so we are going to try and cut it down a bit before we send the invites.

Other things that we are hoping will save us money:

Alcohol: only doing beer and wine. Planning on hitting up Costco and BevMo's 5-cent wine sale.

DJ and photographer: Got some awesome referrals from a co-worker who just got married, really great work for great prices, she says. Still looking into it.

Decor, centerpieces, favors: I'm a total control freak, so beyond the money this is another reason I plan to DIY everything I possibly can. I have plenty of time, so I've been picking up things I like on clearance and I've started to play with craft ideas.

That's all the advice I have for now!

BillysBrideJoanna · April 2010

We spent the most money on photography and our rings, but both we still got good deals on. Everything else we knew wasn't as important since they wouldn't be around after the wedding.

Photographer: Michael Chansley $1800

DJ: Desert DJs $900

Flowers: Evergreen Flowers $250

(cup)Cake: Ambrosia of Tucson $250

Dress: Alfred Angelo $550 on sale

We plan on doing lots of things ourselves like centerpieces and rehearsal dinner (my parents house) to save money as well. I knew it was better to have an actual DJ than an iPod playing. Ambrosia makes wonderful cakes (and I do not) and photos by a professional is necessary.

How Much Should I Expect to Spend...?

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