Wedding Wednesday

mpickl

I thought I had a pretty good understanding of the cost of most things wedding-related, until I was blindsided by the price of my dessert table yesterday. Holy cow... That was definitely over budget.

What wedding-related cost were you most surprised by? Did you adjust your budget to fit the cost, or was your vision adjusted to stick to your budget?

staceymutrup

I was most shocked by the price of a photographer. My FI's sister is a professional photographer but obviously cannot take our pictures cause she is a bridesmaid. She gave me a few names of photographers she would recommend and most of them charged double what she charges and none of them were to local so they tacked on a traveling charge too. We ended up getting lucky though, one of FI sisters friends that is also a photographer has just started doing weddings and would like to build their portfolio so they gave us a deal for $500.00 they would do a 8 hour shoot, rather than the $2000-$2500 all of the other photographers were charging. Other than that everything is about what I had expected, but I pretty much planned my sisters entire wedding for her so I kind of knew the prices of everything!

BostonGIrl4732

I knew the food was going to be rough.  And I've watched enough "Say Yes to the Dress" episodes to know that dresses were going to be expensive.  I was surprised by photography, but compared to everything else, it was sort of par for the course.

What shocked me was flowers.  I had no clue that most places in my area charge at least $200 for a bouquet.  We cut back as much as we could for flowers and we'll still be spending a few thousand.

I was surprised at how much everything costs once you add the word "wedding" to it.  I understand better now, but when we first started looking at things, I was blown away.  It doesn't help that the average wedding costs something like $35K in my area.

The good news is that FI and I went over our budget again and we're doing OK so far.  Yay!

elliemonster2012

Flights!!

We had our heart set on St. Lucia from Mon-Fri and then Naples, FL from Fri-Tues but the travel agent we are using priced it out for us and it was going to be 2600.00 in flights alone!  So sad.  We could do St. Lucia for 7 nights for like 4300 total but we really wanted to take advantage of FI's aunts luxury condo in Naples.  So now we are going to Secrets Maroma Beach(clicky) in place of St. Lucia and flight prices dropped to 1700! Not bad!

Love11506

I have to say I wasn't really surprised by any of the prices but I am surprised about how much it costs to go to sandals (which is where i wanted to go for our honeymoon) but instead since it's not in the budget we are going to our timeshare which is in Mexico we love it there I just wish we could afford Sandals!

elliemonster2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_september-2013-weddings_wedding-wednesday-21?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:26a515ec-8009-4599-b81d-5edee3b3fb3cDiscussion:ab545b98-0e1b-48b9-a28f-37b92af5c8faPost:e4ce5f9d-7cd8-4832-9f1e-fc9a2d80da4e">Re: Wedding Wednesday</a>:
[QUOTE]I knew the food was going to be rough.  And I've watched enough "Say Yes to the Dress" episodes to know that dresses were going to be expensive.  I was surprised by photography, but compared to everything else, it was sort of par for the course. What shocked me was flowers.  I had no clue that most places in my area charge at least $200 for a bouquet.  We cut back as much as we could for flowers and we'll still be spending a few thousand. I was surprised at how much everything costs once you add the word "wedding" to it.  I understand better now, but when we first started looking at things, I was blown away.  It doesn't help that the average wedding costs something like $35K in my area. The good news is that FI and I went over our budget again and we're doing OK so far.  Yay!
Posted by BostonGIrl4732[/QUOTE]

Agreed.  I couldn't get over bouqet prices!  And i feel ya on average weddings...it is said in that report that came out a few months ago that here in Chicago the average is over $50k!

mrskloop

Venue prices!  I haven't even looked at florists yet, but the venues are what surprised me!  I thought we could have a nice wedding for $10,000 but we had to re-evaluate and upped the budget to $20 - $25,000 (including honeymoon).  When I first starting planning I made a spreadsheet of venues to check out and started calling around to see if they were even in my price range before looking at them in person.  Well, one place I loved was $5,000 and I asked if it included chairs and tables and they said they are not in the chair rental business!  So basically it was $5,000 and it included use of the building only... nothing else!  I decided that I would rather spend the money on lots of food and great photography so I found a perfect venue on the water for FREE!  It is a 14 room inn and we just have to pay for any rooms that don't get rented which they will just by us and the bridal party! We are renting an extra room to use as a restroom for the guests during the reception too. But it saved us soooo much!

PDXShari83

Fortunately, there hasn't been too much sticker shock during the planning; however, I have been pretty baffled (in general) by how much nickel and diming that takes place. For example, cake cutting fees, etc. 

GoofyAssChick

You guys are scaring me with bouquet costs. I meet with a florist on Saturday and I really don't know what to expect.  But I really only need my bouquet, a MOH bouquet, two boutineers and bulk flowers to do the centerpieces ourselves. 

PDXShari83

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_september-2013-weddings_wedding-wednesday-21?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:26a515ec-8009-4599-b81d-5edee3b3fb3cDiscussion:ab545b98-0e1b-48b9-a28f-37b92af5c8faPost:7bac7058-4b56-4e13-afe1-36f0a9aed4c9">Re: Wedding Wednesday</a>:
[QUOTE]Flights!! We had our heart set on St. Lucia from Mon-Fri and then Naples, FL from Fri-Tues but the travel agent we are using priced it out for us and it was going to be 2600.00 in flights alone!  So sad.  We could do St. Lucia for 7 nights for like 4300 total but we really wanted to take advantage of FI's aunts luxury condo in Naples.  So now we are going to Secrets Maroma Beach (clicky) in place of St. Lucia and flight prices dropped to 1700! Not bad!
Posted by elliemonster2012[/QUOTE]

<div>Just went to the Secrets Maroma site and looked at a picture from their live webcam -- WOW! What a beautiful honeymoon spot! Congratulations, it looks like you made a fabulous choice <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /> We are checking out Secrets, Couples and Sandals right now -- this location looks fabulous!</div>

KSerafin17

I ditto PPs about the flower costs! This is by far the biggest budget breaker and spluge in our planning! I cut costs in other areas just to make it work, but it is still killing me. Also, chair covers....some of the places I looked at were about $900....to cover a chair?! Ugh!

mrskloop

Oh, I forgot to mention TENT LINERS!!! I got a quote for $1,500 - $2,000 for a pretty draped ceiling in our tent!  I definitely am cutting those from our plans...  I would rather have pretty decorated tables and I think people will be looking more at the beautiful waterfront view than the ceiling of a tent!

TayBeach2013

Rental chairs.  We're getting married on the beach and the cost of renting chairs for a 20 minute ceremony is out of control.  From a monetary standpoint, I see why people let guests stand (not that we would - my mom would drop dead at the thought)!

The nickle and diming is crazy.  Set up, removal, down time...wtf?!

And now I'm also getting nervous about flowers, though we will only have 3 bouquets, a couple of corsages and a few boutonniers.  Guess I'd better start sending those quote requests...

leatba

I was shocked by the cost of cake and food. I am a closet shopaholic but I like to find deals and it doesn't seem like there are too many deals in the world of weddings without a huge headache.

ftrmrsw

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_september-2013-weddings_wedding-wednesday-21?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:26a515ec-8009-4599-b81d-5edee3b3fb3cDiscussion:ab545b98-0e1b-48b9-a28f-37b92af5c8faPost:f9af164b-466d-403b-af73-c1b8fc3636e5">Wedding Wednesday</a>:
[QUOTE]I thought I had a pretty good understanding of the cost of most things wedding-related, until I was blindsided by the price of my dessert table yesterday. Holy cow... That was definitely over budget. What wedding-related cost were you most surprised by? Did you adjust your budget to fit the cost, or was your vision adjusted to stick to your budget?
Posted by mpickl[/QUOTE]

<div>How much extra was your dessert table?</div><div>
</div><div>Ours is the same cost as what it would have been for Chocolate Mousse in our plated dinner. ($4pp) Now we are paying that and having a full dessert table.</div>

ftrmrsw

For me it was situational. 

 

One of the venues I had my eye on for years was $5000 to rent the venue and that included NOTHING..... On top of the $5000 I would have had to rent all the chairs and tables and linens, silverware. I was Shocked and a little heart broken. Fortunately they are doing renovations when we are getting married, so I'll leave that as the excuse to why we didn't go with them and not that they are stupid over priced.

Another thing was flowers, not that I was surprised, but more couldn't believe sometime that would eventually die could cost so much.

CALEO

Everything is expensive here.  Photog is $6,750 for 8 hours.  Food is $100++/person.  Drinks are 38++ person. 

I'm actually sort of horrified how much this is costing my parents but they seem to be okay with it so....

GoofyAssChick

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_september-2013-weddings_wedding-wednesday-21?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:26a515ec-8009-4599-b81d-5edee3b3fb3cDiscussion:ab545b98-0e1b-48b9-a28f-37b92af5c8faPost:4593991a-4ed7-40cd-a4c7-c9e2f3052b09">Re: Wedding Wednesday</a>:
[QUOTE]Everything is expensive here.  Photog is $6,750 for 8 hours.  Food is $100++/person.  Drinks are 38++ person.  I'm actually sort of horrified how much this is costing my parents but they seem to be okay with it so....
Posted by CALEO[/QUOTE]

Just thinking about that kind of money makes me sweat.  Thank God I live in Ohio. 

elliemonster2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_september-2013-weddings_wedding-wednesday-21?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:26a515ec-8009-4599-b81d-5edee3b3fb3cDiscussion:ab545b98-0e1b-48b9-a28f-37b92af5c8faPost:4593991a-4ed7-40cd-a4c7-c9e2f3052b09">Re: Wedding Wednesday</a>:
[QUOTE]Everything is expensive here.  Photog is $6,750 for 8 hours.  Food is $100++/person.  Drinks are 38++ person.  I'm actually sort of horrified how much this is costing my parents but they seem to be okay with it so....
Posted by CALEO[/QUOTE]

I feel ya!  We are in the same boat here :(

jessica2244

probably the shoes i just bought...ouch!!! oh well, they're awesome and i love them!

semi891

 Photographer! There is a photographer here locally whom I LOVE, but she wanted like, 4K for four hours the day of and no engagement shoot! FI didn't like that she didn't have formal photography training (like, a degree) so we went with someone else who had a degree and is part of an established business.  I honestly can't say I'm as big of fan of his work though! I hope everything turns out well on the day of...but we did book him for the entire day, with a second shooter, including engagement shoot for less than the first photographer wanted for four hours!

Jlp818

Linens and chair covers made me almost want to vomit.  
$8.00 a chair and $50 for tablecloths...  SERIOUSLY?

mpickl

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_september-2013-weddings_wedding-wednesday-21?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:26a515ec-8009-4599-b81d-5edee3b3fb3cDiscussion:ab545b98-0e1b-48b9-a28f-37b92af5c8faPost:821f9abd-33f3-4582-8f23-d7e240c4277f">Re: Wedding Wednesday</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Wedding Wednesday : How much extra was your dessert table? Ours is the same cost as what it would have been for Chocolate Mousse in our plated dinner. ($4pp) Now we are paying that and having a full dessert table.
Posted by ftrmrsw[/QUOTE]

<div>$12.50 per person. :(  But it is through an outside vendor, not our venue/caterer, so there is zero cost savings. $4 pp is pretty good -- I read that the average for cake is somewhere between $5-6.</div><div>
</div><div>Buuuuut, this crazy dessert table is something I have ALWAYS wanted and when I read through what he was planning, I fell off my chair... <span style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#222222;font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:normal;">cannoli parfaits, </span><span style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#222222;font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:normal;">mini pie "jars",toas</span><span style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#222222;font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:normal;">ted pineapple empanadas, just to name a few...</span></div>

jperdomo0401

Deinately flowers. I had a vision in my head and the florist was really good about working with me. I increased my budget but I am getting everything I wanted. I didnt realize how much it would cost me by having such a large wedding party.... but for $2,000 i am getting 10 bm bouquet, my bouquet, 13 boutonierres, 2 corsages, ceremony decor, 8 centerpieces, 30 mason jars with flowers, 20 wine bottles with flowers....

But I'm purchasing all the vases myself including mason jars, centerpiece vases, and wine bottles that im spay painting white with an anchor 

jmd921154

Photographers. I had budgeted what I thought was a reasonable 2000-2500 for a photographer. I've found 3 in my price range. Most of them start at 3,200 and up. I just don't understand how taking pictures can cost that much - we aren't even looking to have albums or prints done!

Now everyone on this board has me quite apprehensive about flowers. The package we signed with the venue actually includes centerprices so I'm hoping we can nail down wedding party flowers for between 800-1000.