Minnesota

Wedding Budget

This Friday will be one week since I've been engaged and don't even know where to start or how much a wedding cost! I'm thinking we will not have more than 100 guests, so it will be a small wedding, we are not getting help so it will be myself and FI's funds. What is a good amount that is stll affordable??

Re: Wedding Budget

  • I think it depends on what you and your FI can contribute to the wedding fund.  We had 125 is people and got married for about 10,000.  My dress was used.  There is a lot of ways to save money.  Wedding Consignment shops is an excellent way to save money.  Plus its green. 

    Where you have your wedding, is also a big chunk of money.  We picked a place with a low minum. We also chose to get married in Jan to try to save some money since a lot of vendors are willing to giving a discount for off season weddings.

    If you are looking for specific ways to save money, ask away! I am happy to tell you how we spent our money.
  • We started by making a list of the major things (IE ceremony location/reception location/photographer/catering/etc). Then we started looking into specific companies to get a estimate on how much it would cost for their services. We also decided what was most important to us about our wedding. We decided that photography was the most important to us so we put most of our budget there. We looked into our finances to see how much each of us could save per month until the wedding.  We also made a tenative guest list. We thought we wouldn't have more than 150 people and we ended up with 250, Granted we haven't made the final guest list but this helped with looking at locations. We decided to have the ceremony and reception at the same place to save money. Look for off season dates (winter, Fridays, Sundays, etc). Make anything you can.
  • Things people will actually remember is the first thing to look at.
    Nobody remembers the invitations. These can be done yourself to save $$$.
    Decor- same as invites. No one will remember it so go simple.
    People remember things like the food, and entertainment.
    Just ask yourself what do you remember from others weddings before you got engaged.
  • Thank you, I'm guessing to start off where we would like the location to see what the cost would be. We are thinking a fall wedding, not really off peak season.
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota_wedding-budget?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:640Discussion:620e9397-fc25-4014-8da9-eb0125b46b4ePost:26b6215f-2f1d-4ab2-9d09-cfd958d3cf79">Re: Wedding Budget</a>:
    [QUOTE]I think it depends on what you and your FI can contribute to the wedding fund.  We had 125 is people and got married for about 10,000.  My dress was used.  There is a lot of ways to save money.  Wedding Consignment shops is an excellent way to save money.  Plus its green.  Where you have your wedding, is also a big chunk of money.  We picked a place with a low minum. We also chose to get married in Jan to try to save some money since a lot of vendors are willing to giving a discount for off season weddings. If you are looking for specific ways to save money, ask away! I am happy to tell you how we spent our money.
    Posted by jjbmstinco[/QUOTE]

     
  • That is a good idea, making your own invitations.

    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota_wedding-budget?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:640Discussion:620e9397-fc25-4014-8da9-eb0125b46b4ePost:92f9536b-525f-47e4-90e5-5d18c2dd766b">Re: Wedding Budget</a>:
    [QUOTE]Things people will actually remember is the first thing to look at. Nobody remembers the invitations. These can be done yourself to save $$$. Decor- same as invites. No one will remember it so go simple. People remember things like the food, and entertainment. Just ask yourself what do you remember from others weddings before you got engaged.
    Posted by jentaberson[/QUOTE]
  • MKTKMKTK member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    About the dress, you can also get an "off the rack"/"sample gown" is you're going cheap. These are dresses that other brides have tried on, but no one has actually worn for their wedding. It might cost slightly more in alterations, to fix little stains, etc.
     
    I got a $1,100-dress for $300. And, it is PERFECT for me. Try Rush's Bridal in Minneapolis for sample gowns. They had tons.

    Good luck! Remember your wedding is just one day. It's an important day, but spend more time thinking about your future years with your husband-to-be than that one day! That's what you are celebrating after all. It's really easy to get caught up in the wedding hype of "needing" this or that. Good luck! :)
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • hellebhelleb member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    We are planning on ~$10,000.  We looked at what we could reasonably save between now and the wedding.  We are only inviting max 100 ppl so probably serving ~80.  I really liked the budget calculator on this site.  It has helped a lot.  We have to change things around a little and omit certain areas but it gives a good idea as to how to stay on track with our budget.

    We are also doing a lot of DIY projects and are going to start completing them as soon as possible so that we can string out the costs financially throughout our engagement, that way it won't seem as overwhelming at the end!

    Congrats on your engagement!
  • 123print.com was very affordable. And no afternoons folding or putting ribbons on.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota_wedding-budget?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:640Discussion:620e9397-fc25-4014-8da9-eb0125b46b4ePost:c36c5b72-554c-4b25-b0ba-f3844619c99c">Wedding Budget</a>:
    [QUOTE]This Friday will be one week since I've been engaged and don't even know where to start or how much a wedding cost! I'm thinking we will not have more than 100 guests, so it will be a small wedding, we are not getting help so it will be myself and FI's funds. What is a good amount that is stll affordable??
    Posted by blanchendustin[/QUOTE]

    I can suggest a great place that seemed really affordable to my fiance and myself.  The Wildwood Lodge in Lake Elmo/ woodbury.  They are really helpful.
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