budgets?

i2012do

Anyone in RI willing to share their wedding budget.

My friend is writing an article for  a local magazine and just told me the average budget for a RI bride is $32,000. I believe it, and im trying to stay under that.

Just wondering what everyone is doing for a budget (if youre willing to share), where you are getting married , and what your'e doing to save costs?

SummerBoston10

What does that include?  Rings, honeymoon, rehearsal dinners, out of town bags, accomodations that weekend, etc.?  That number will change drastically if I take out rings, honeymoon, hotels, etc.

jlsimon56

We were under that for 100 guests at the Casino.  The caterer took the most of our money, at around $8K.  Flowers were $2K.  Photo and video were around $3K.  Our clothes/jewelry/etc. were on the low end of things - I wore jewelry I already owned, got a sample dress for 50% off, made my own veil for under $5, etc.  We splurged on letterpress invites but if I could do it over, I wouldn't.  DJ was $850.  I forget what else we had! 

Rings and HM were separate for us.  We looked at those things as not WEDDING related but MARRIAGE related.  We spent $1K on his ring......which lost 1 month after the wedding.  So if you have a fiance who loses things, get a less expensive ring.  My husband's replacement ring was $100 and he hasn't lost it yet! 

The other tip is to make a budget and STICK TO IT.  In the end, no one will notice if you didn't have exit sparklers or a late night snack or a Jennifer Behr headpiece.  They WILL remember the looks on your faces during your first dance, how proud your parents look during the ceremony, etc.  No sense in going into debt for one day. 

I can give you more details if you want but via email.  I'm at jlsimon56 at hotmail dot com. 

RoyalOrient

Our budget is $17,000. We choose some odd obscure number because we wanted to stay under $20,000 but knew realistically that under $15,000 would not be possible for what we wanted for our big day. 

We are getting married in Newport, R.I which equals uber expensive. Our guest count is between 180-200 guests. Easton Beach Rotunda fit our laid beach casual elegance vibe and was really inexpensive. Since most of our guests are from out of town, we choose a holiday weekend and got married on a Sunday to save money. The rotunda rental included the tables and chairs so no extra rentals. We didn't need to hire security or pay any coordination fees. Rental rate: $2,000 plus insurance (little over $200)

Caterer - Dinner will be served family style. They will supply all the dinnerware. Perfect marriage between a sit down dinner and a buffet. Cost is per table, not per plate. Our caterer is a restaurant so their pricing is more reasonable. 

Alcohol - Our caterer is allowing us to supply our own liquor. We are making a trip to NH later this year to stock up on their whole sale price and tax free alcohol. 

No Cake which means no cake cutting fee. I am having a small dessert bar which includes cupcakes and a small tier cake for $375. Our caterer is also serving dessert as part of an 8 course meal. 

Small bridal party - no personal flowers for the girls as they will have hand fans and floral wrist corsages. Using mostly seasonal blooms and I am providing the floral containers ($4 each).  We are doing half floral centerpieces and half plant (Bamboo) centerpieces to save more money. My plant centerpieces are $12 each. My floral budget is $1100. 

DIY invites - We went the custom route on Etsy and had someone created us a pdf file which we printed out on paper we purchased at cards and pockets and paper and more. We already have a laser jet printer to our disposal so no extra printing cost. We skipped the calligraphy for an inexpensive custom rubber stamp return address. My sister's stylish penmanship was put to good use for addressing the invites. We have 90 invitations for under $200. 

Other than our invitation suites and STD, we didn't want to waste paper or money on any unnecessary things. Our free wedding website contained info on our wedding and we only printed out programs for the cultural part of our wedding for Non-Cambodian guests.

My sister and I made origami cranes for our escort cards and I am making a manzanita type tree to hang them. We already have all the materials. 

My dress is under $1,000 with alterations. I originally found a dress at Running of the Brides for $250 but it could not be altered so I sold it on ebay. The dress doubled in price in the final bid. It worked out.

Linens n things - We are having custom made linens from Cambodia. Taffeta, Bengaline, Satin linens are less than $3. Silk linens are $4-5 depending on design. I intend to sell the linens after our wedding. Shipping is expensive but my uncle is bringing some back with him on his trip there to save us money. 

Weddingwire vendor match helped me find vendors in our budget. It is definitely a great tool but still limited as it only searched in MA area. All our other vendors worked with our budget including our DOC. Don't be afraid to negotiate prices or ask for referrals.

Use your connections whether it be from family and friends who offer to help out. The temple has lend us a white tent for our outdoor Cambodian ceremony at our house for free. 

Groom tux rental is free and groomsmen rental is heavily discounted thanks to family connection.

I co-own a nail salon with my parents so my wedding party is getting ready for free. :-)

We found renting a big SUV for our small wedding party to be more economical too. So no limos.

Avoid rentals. Better to buy and resale if possible. I constantly stalk the Knot classified, craigslist, ebay, and other online sites like Luna Bazaar.

Do your RESEARCH. The knot R.I board has been tremendously helpful in finding really great vendors at really reasonable prices. This includes my hair stylist Sam, who has increased her rate to a still very inexpensive $40 per head. 

Tip: Asian vendors will negotiate prices, no middle man and services tend to be on the inexpensive side. 

 

What we splurged on

- Photography $3300

- Videography $2200

- Uplights (still working on this one but we want to stay under $700)

We don't have rehearsal dinners in our culture. I didn't include our rings although we got a great deal from the family jeweler. The value of my ring and band alone cost close to what we are spending on the entire wedding. 

i2012do

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_rhode-island_budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:122Discussion:ee99288c-9d98-4a86-9328-87daaf4a2fd1Post:6ad836fb-28ee-4422-a377-c376f5d8cf42">Re: budgets?</a>:
[QUOTE]What does that include?  Rings, honeymoon, rehearsal dinners, out of town bags, accomodations that weekend, etc.?  That number will change drastically if I take out rings, honeymoon, hotels, etc.
Posted by SummerBoston10[/QUOTE]

She said that the researchers based the numbers on everything EXCEPT hotels and honeymoon- but it included rings, bridal fashion etc.

i2012do

jlsimon and royal orient.
I just wanted to say that over the past 2 months I have been engaged you guys have been such a wealth of information.

I was basically interested in everyone's budgets because it is interesting to see where people are  "spending" and "splurging"

my personal budget is $25,000 and sometimes int his area, it IS hard to be able to do it...so I can see how they came up with that average.

its really interesting to see where people spent money-- and how it all worked out-- and if you are all staying in budget.

I also had never heard of Luna Bazaar. before but I am going to check it out right after I post this.


Since Im in the beginning of planning its interesting to see how things pan out at the end for everyone...

I basically am making all my own centerpieces, etc. Someitmes DIY isnt always cheaper-- but im lucky to work as an importer-- so a lot of my connections from over seas are sending me items, as "samples"

other than that, we are just starting to plan- -so i will see how the budget unfolds!!

RoyalOrient

^ I agree, DIY is not always cheap. I spent $120 alone on invitation design but I still think that I got a good deal because I was able to produce a high quality product with a personal touch. I researched what it would cost me to have someone on say etsy to produce the invites and it would have come out to $6 per invite suite. labor cost is high! I spent a great deal less doing it myself. 

Also, being on a budget doesn't mean you have to compromise the quality of vendors you work with either. 

G.L

Let me know if you need referrals. Also, Jennifer was a wealth of knowledge for me too. :-)

shanlubey

Our budget was a total waste of my money. My wedding was fabulous, but so was everyone else's who had far more reasonable budgets. We were lucky to have some family help for our 270 person party.

Reception - $17200.00 - included floor length table linens, speciality napkins and gold chargers, as well as appetizers, a 4 course meal and wine/beer/soda.
Flowers - $5200 - included a ton more flowers than anyone needs. It included over 15 corsages for family members and a few arrangements delivered to family that couldn't make it day of due to illness. (We had all of our vases and candleholders purchased by my loving parents, so I don't count those in the budget, but it was about $700)
Dress/veil/hairpiece - $1700.00
table runners, headtable sashes, etc - $400
Invitations - $250, total - made by me! Yay for savings!!
Gold chivari chair rental - $1450 - lucky to have a connection to get a bit of a discount.
Ceremony music - $125
Ceremony decor - $400 - aisle swagging, door swagging and aisle runner
Limos (classic car and 24 passenger escalade)- $1800 - Totally not neccessary, because everything was within 10 minutes of each other, but oh well. Can't erase that mistake.
Photo/Video - $3500ish - best investment of them all.
DJ - $400 - should of spent a little bit more

Rehearsal - including tables, chairs and food, our parents had a total bill of about $1000, but we had over 60 people there.

My wedding ends up around the average, but we had a lot more people than average and it was in southeastern MA. Maybe if we had half the amount of people, I could've saved some money. My new advice is to limit your guest list and you'll easily save money.

DansBride52911

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_rhode-island_budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:122Discussion:ee99288c-9d98-4a86-9328-87daaf4a2fd1Post:a4cc31ce-1364-4620-a78a-fe1ed9646d2d">Re: budgets?</a>:
[QUOTE]^Also, being on a budget doesn't mean you have to compromise the quality of vendors you work with either. 
Posted by RoyalOrient[/QUOTE]

Couldn't agree more...I'd love to share info and will post later tonight after I compile some info.

devcipps

I just did a rough calculation of my costs and came in at about $37,000. This was for our 100 person wedding at the Glen on a Saturday night in peak season. This figure included everything that you discussed above. If you add in the rehearsal dinner, the rental house for the week before, the hotel room we got for the night before and night of, and the honeymoon we would be well into the 40's. I was lucky to have my family pay for most of the wedding. I have a lot of respect for couples who bear the cost on their own! I thought I had a pretty decent budget but for Newport standards it really seemed restricted sometimes. I gave some things up that I originally wanted like a videographer, chiavari chairs, limo, and lots of little wedding details. In order to get more for my money with flowers and cake I went with vendors who were newer to the business and therefore offered a good price to provide alot! I was also a big fan of using etsy for little stuff like save the dates, bridemaid jewlery, and my hair pieces. Etsy is amazing!

You might get some more responses if you turn this into a poll and that way the people can remain anonymous.

jlsimon56

Thanks for saying I was helpful!  That means a lot!  I knew nothing about RI before my wedding (I moved here 1 month before the wedding).  So the knot was helpful to me and I just like returning the favor. 

We also used a custom rubber stamp for the rsvp envelopes and return address on the invite envelopes (used the same stamp for both).  I know calligraphy so I did all that, too. 

For escort cards, I wrote people's names on small envelopes and used a playing card to indicate what table they were at.  Then propped a giant playing card on each table.  This was good b/c if tables changed, I didn't need to rewrite someone's escort card, just change the playing card inside their envelope.

We used the default linens and napkins from the caterer.  No one cared. 

We also had a small BP and everyone was already married so they knew the drill.  My MIL is a priest so she married us and coordinated the church, organist, etc.  I'm sure there was money exchanged but we never knew about it. 

Photos and video were important to us but we are good at identifying talent.  We chose Melissa Robotti when she was first getting started and her prices were 1/3rd of what they were 1 year later.  I also photograph weddings so I knew what I wanted and didn't want and we were able to customize a package for us.  DON'T pay for something you don't want! 

Good luck with planning.  I am so glad to be done with it!  I still have some WR crap if you are interested.  I need to get rid of it. 

i2012do

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_rhode-island_budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:122Discussion:ee99288c-9d98-4a86-9328-87daaf4a2fd1Post:2c64d967-b4bd-4587-9429-ca1a4a2267c0">Re: budgets?</a>:
[QUOTE]I just did a rough calculation of my costs and came in at about $37,000. This was for our 100 person wedding at the Glen on a Saturday night in peak season. This figure included everything that you discussed above. If you add in the rehearsal dinner, the rental house for the week before, the hotel room we got for the night before and night of, and the honeymoon we would be well into the 40's. I was lucky to have my family pay for most of the wedding. I have a lot of respect for couples who bear the cost on their own! I thought I had a pretty decent budget but for Newport standards it really seemed restricted sometimes. I gave some things up that I originally wanted like a videographer, chiavari chairs, limo, and lots of little wedding details. In order to get more for my money with flowers and cake I went with vendors who were newer to the business and therefore offered a good price to provide alot! I was also a big fan of using etsy for little stuff like save the dates, bridemaid jewlery, and my hair pieces. Etsy is amazing! You might get some more responses if you turn this into a poll and that way the people can remain anonymous.
Posted by devcipps[/QUOTE]

oh ill have to figure out how to do that today.

i think this is super interesting-- (plus im super board at work), but its interesting to see how other brides int he state spent their budgets

i2012do

Good luck with planning.  I am so glad to be done with it!  I still have some WR crap if you are interested.  I need to get rid of it.  "

hahaha this made me laugh out loud. after you are right, it does just seem liek crap taking up space.
waht do you have? Shoot me an email JCorvese @ gmail dot com

angiem33

We are at $33,000 for an upcoming wedding in Newport for 100 people.  This includes everything except the HM, hotels, and the RD.  We had some very expensive things like the $3,500 photographer, my $2k dress and a $5k wedding band for me :-)   Other things were not so expensive like my invitations we got 100 for $273 pre printed with the lined envelopes, pre printed addresses, ect. I think the average for Newport is about $30k but I've been to super fancy weddings in Newport that are up over $150k they just have more things going on at them.

i2012do

Wow 150k!! thats insane. I could use that to put down on a house

RoyalOrient

Hmmm we didn't include our HM and rings in our budget because we figured our rings are forever and the HM was just a nice treat for all our hard work :-) but with that included I think we are closer to the $32,000 average in R.I

Also guys, this blog/site is great for budget brides. Real weddings on a budget. When I say real, I mean like they pulled off a nice wedding on a practical budget.

 http://thebudgetsavvybride.com/

DeliteSmith

My hopeful budget going into the wedding was $15,000.  Now it looks like it will be closer to $20,000 (which is still only an estimate), which includes hotel, rehearsal dinner, rings, but not a honeymoon  (if only money grew on trees...).  I am paying for at least 75% myself, so I am still hoping I can come in under 20k, but everything is costing more than I'd hoped, eek!

angiem33

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_rhode-island_budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:122Discussion:ee99288c-9d98-4a86-9328-87daaf4a2fd1Post:29c36361-0926-43cd-a9cc-240c81ce4a48">Re: budgets?</a>:
[QUOTE]Wow 150k!! thats insane. I could use that to put down on a house
Posted by i2012do[/QUOTE]

I agree it was a crazy amount to spend on the wedding, but both families are very wealthy and the wedding was really amazing, they had 2 full cocktail hours, 2 separate ceremonies (a hindu ceremony and a traditional christian ceremony) a mariatche band, belly dancers, really expensive flowers, you get the idea, it was an incredible night!

i2012do

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_rhode-island_budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:122Discussion:ee99288c-9d98-4a86-9328-87daaf4a2fd1Post:d6f82113-2021-4dda-ad0b-1c2f07251e70">Re: budgets?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: budgets? : I agree it was a crazy amount to spend on the wedding, but both families are very wealthy and the wedding was really amazing, they had 2 full cocktail hours, 2 separate ceremonies (a hindu ceremony and a traditional christian ceremony) a mariatche band, belly dancers, really expensive flowers, you get the idea, it was an incredible night!
Posted by angiem33[/QUOTE]

I bet it was an amazing experience nad probably glad you got to experience it (and not be the footing the 150,000 bill)

jonnysbride2010

Oh help...whenever I think about how much we spent I get nauseous but then I remember how perfect everything was and it subsides! We started with a budget of 40k and ended up spending 60k...eeek! I guess I am no good with budgets...here is our breakdown for our 155 person wedding at the Glen Manor House.

Venue & Ceremony Fee: $8,000
Florist: $2,500
DJ: $1,800
Caterer, linens, rentals: $30,000
Dresses: $4,000
Photo: $3,000
Video: $1,800
Photobooth: $1,300
Trolley: $900
Reverends: $500
Ceremony Musicians: $600
Invitations, Menus, Programs, Paper stuff: $800
Decorations, decor, junk, whatever you want to call it: $5,000

DansBride52911

We got engaged March '09 and have been saving since. Our wedding is now just a little over 8 months away so I don't have actual amount spent just yet, but here's a rough breakdown. FI's parents have graciously offered to help with reception.

Guests: 220 maximum

Ss. John & Paul Church - $300 - recommended donation

Crowne Plaza Plaza Ballroom - $13,000 minimum

Laurel Lane Floral Design - Going in with $1,500 budget

Victor from Partytime - $1,700

Dress: $1,308 before alterations/pressing

Bride's Accessories: Going to try to stay under $300-$400 for veil, headband and shoes...we'll see how that goes

Jennifer Leatherwood, all day coverage, 2 photogs, 40-pg. coffee table album + e-session and complimentary 16x20 for referral: $4,500

David Bettencourt (Video): $1,600

Viking Trolley: $725 after 10% discount

Dummy Cake from Shemry's: $325

Ceremony Musicians: $150-300

Save the Dates: $137.50

Invites: Trying to stay under $400..designing myself.

Decor (so far): $210
$60 for three 3" vases, coral table linens
$150 for roughly $300+ worth of Crate & Barrel tealight holders

Total so far...$25280.50 before my accessories, his tux, invites and other decor...yikes.

But, I think we've spent in the right areas and are definitely saving in other areas that we think are silly to spend money on.

anne.azano

We came in a bit under 16,000 and had wanted to spend 10,000.  So, were significantly over our original estimate, but it was worth it.

Here's the big stuff:  This does not include hotels or what we spent on our honeymoon, the house his family rented in narragansett, rings, or flights to and from Australia (one of the reasons we had to keep it down a bit).  

Our venue was only 600 (north beach clubhouse in narragansett)

catering was about 7,000 (but we had a small guest list of 100 people)

flowers 1500 (10 centerpieces, 4 bridesmaids bouquet, 7 boutonieres, brides bouquet, 2 church arrangements, wreath, 2 small bouquets for mothers)

church 500

ceremony musician 200 (found him on craigs list, an acoustic guitaristt)

alcohol 1000

rehearsal dinner 800 (hired a

photobooth 1200 (expensive, but so much fun)

dj about 1000

officiant 400 (asked her to lower her price)

limo 400 (also asked them to lower their prices)

school bus 400

we also had photographers who gave us a very good deal since they work with my sister.

We saved money by buying my dress on ebay and getting a friend to alter it.  Total spent $150!  It was a simple beautiful dress that fit me perfectly and no one could have guessed it had come so cheap.  My aunt and her daughters made our cupcakes as their wedding gift to us.  We brought alcohol to the venue.  We got our invitations for about $150 on etsy (handmade and gorgeous).  Other things we spent money on include bridesmaid gifts, tuxes for the groomsmen, ties, candles, starfish, sand dollars and petals to scatter around the centerpieces, bathroom baskets, my earrings and shoes, a cupcake stand, flip-flops so people could take off their shoes.

It was a great wedding, in Rhode Island, and we spent half the average.  I know this guy is probably a bit out of touch, but he estimated that we had spent $80,000!  

I think it's possible to have a great wedding and spend well under the average.   In my opinion, the best thing to do is to save money is use your connections (you should have some if you're a rhode islander!), ask around for discounts, and realize that you don't have to have everything the wedding magazines insist that you need.

i2012do

anne-- do you  mind passing on the person on etsy you used. id like to check out their etsy site.

a lot of etsy desiners i find are charging like $6 per suite and thats just tpp much for me

anne.azano

No problem.  Our invitations were made by jgriffindesigns.  http://www.etsy.com/people/jgriffindesigns.

We got 65 invitations, thank you notes, rsvp cards, reception inserts, and envelopes for roughly 150 dollars.   and they were lovely.  I was very pleased with them, because I knew that invitations were not something I wanted to spend 100s of dollars on.  And our wedding was pretty casual and beachy, so something like this was perfect for us.   She was also great about making changes, and matching paper to a swatch of fabric.  

  

i2012do

thanks! I appreciate it!