Over budget

mooncusp22

I just calculated everything we still owe plus what we have in our ‘wedding savings’. I am a good amount over budget (of course). Kinda freaking out a little on what I will still be paying off after the wedding is over…and I don’t want to spend all our wedding gift money! Anyone else freaking out? I know my fiancé is and everytime he asks how much more money do we need to put away, he says it seems to be going up & up.

aallenba

I would never go into debt for a wedding, plan based on what you can afford. I would look at each category/vendor and see where you can cut back.

cjohnsen2010

I think budget and wedding in the same sentence is a contradiction it terms.

We just figured we would do the best we could and DIY as much as possible without looking cheap.  So far, we've done extremely well.  We're right on the mark with the reception.  The only thing we don't know for sure is the sales tax and exact gratuity and any extra add-ons.

jtritch

Ah, the joys of planning a wedding in budget.  We are about 6 months out, and have a majority of our vendors locked in so that we have a good idea of where we are versus what we have left.  FI and I are both looking at the amount of money and we have decided that whatever we overspend by, it comes out of the honeymoon.      Talk about incentive! 

Good luck! 

Jeni35

You don't want to enter your married life in heavy debt. think about ways that you can cut back. Everything needs to be beautiful to you both for your special day; but it doesn't have to be extravagant.  

Melis1273

I agree with pp's - don't start your life together in debt just from one day.  You can have "glam and glitz" on a shoe string budget.  I would re-evaluate where you can cut corners.

We are less than two months out and have pretty much stayed on budget, not saying we weren't a couple hundred off here and there but we figured that might happen and worked that into the budget.  We just didn't want to be paying it off for the next year and that kept us on track.

Good Luck!

mooncusp22

All good points... I guess I feel since we are only 47 days away now, everything is booked and locked in so I am not sure where we could cut right now.

I guess when I originally did the budget I did not count the 'little things' in like: bridesmaids/groomsmen gifts, parent gifts, wedding bands, etc. I just included the major stuff like venue, vendors, honeymoon. I did add on some vendors like steel drums for cocktail hour and limo (wasn't planning on that at first).

I guess I big chunk that I went over is my wedding band. We are probably $2,000 over budget there which I know is pretty big. I have not ordered it just yet, was planning on it this week. I was having a REALLY hard time finding something to fit with my unique ring. In all fairness I must have tried on 100+ bands and NOTHING came close to how this band looked. In my heart I am saying "This is your wedding band for hte rest of your life so buy what you really love". But, my brain is saying that this is the biggst place where I can cut a good chunk out too.... I don't know what to do!

Good thing is that I am do not have any debt right now, all my credit cards are paid off. So I won't be putting more debt into us, just creating newer debt whcih I know is not good. But because I don't have any debt now, I could put all my extra money towards paying this down right away. Is that not a good decision?

TTnoles

I would say in regards to the wedding band to hold off.  That is what anniversary presents are for!  The ring that you use for your wedding day can always have a special place in your heart and then you can always upgrade it later to the ring that you want.  I know that what i kept telling myself when I had to "cut back' on something was that the wedding IS just a day...debt lasts a LOT longer.  Combined with student loans, mortgages, car payments...i don't want to add that stress to my future marriage.  But budgets are a very personal decision so like the PP's said, look at the little things you can cut back on.  Forgo ceremony programs and DIY the table numbers or don't do favors.

aallenba

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_florida-west-coast_over-budget?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:62Discussion:2bc37636-6275-452a-9b8b-41ab2056e4d7Post:c1db4a07-48bc-4d2e-bc24-13e3813d20fa">Re: Over budget</a>:
[QUOTE]All good points... I guess I feel since we are only 47 days away now, everything is booked and locked in so I am not sure where we could cut right now. I guess when I originally did the budget I did not count the 'little things' in like: bridesmaids/groomsmen gifts, parent gifts, wedding bands, etc. I just included the major stuff like venue, vendors, honeymoon. I did add on some vendors like steel drums for cocktail hour and limo (wasn't planning on that at first). I guess I big chunk that I went over is my wedding band. We are probably $2,000 over budget there which I know is pretty big. I have not ordered it just yet, was planning on it this week. IPosted by mooncusp22[/QUOTE]

Holy moly! My wedding band was $800 and even that was over our budget and H's was $400 because he wanted something plain. I would totally re-evaluate this especially if you haven't purchased it yet. Save the $$ for a 5 or 10 year anniversary.