Overwhelmed with venue shopping

Pattash

Hi Brides to be,

I guess I just wanted to vent a little. When is it okay to go over the budget? Here's my dilemma. I've been in love with The Royal Crest Room in St. Cloud since I found it on the The Knot probably weeks after we got engaged in February. I got to see it in person last month and I fell even more in love with it. I knew right away that  it is where I wanted to get married. It's absolutely beautiful. BUT, it was more than we wanted to spend. So, I decided to continue looking hoping that I would find something in our price range and also love it. I've now seen 7 other places and I'm not in love. Some are nice but I can't stop thinking about my first love, The Royal Crest Room. I've spent so much time driving up and down all over Central Florida, crunching numbers, staying up late and losing sleep, not working out, etc and it's making me absolutely miserable. My mom thinks I'm crazy and that I should just get the place I want and make it work. Do you agree?

sarah42nd

If you love it you love it.  Just budget it in. Believe me if you don't choose it your going to look back on this and always think man I should of got married there .

kenzie.lee.85

If you love it that much I would get it depending on how much it is over your budget. You can try and cut in other areas, by using less expensive flowers, cut the list etc.

Pattash

It may end up being about $1500-$2000 over the budget. I'm not sure where I could cut that much money out but we would defintely have to try to cut other areas as much as possible if we decide to book with this place.

sarah42nd

$2000 is what my whole wedding is costing us .lol. But seriously if you love it there is a way  too do it.

Theresa626

Look over your whole budget and decide what to cut on.  I did the same thing except the place I booked was 3 - 5 thousand over our budget.   I tried to be really cheap on everything else. I made my own programs, invitations, menus, escort cards, etc.  I have no decorations at the church and minimal decorations at the reception. I got a good deal on flowers and a great deal on our honeymoon.  I'm happy we went with the place we liked. 

sarah42nd

I know this has nothing to do with venue post but Theresa I love the proposal story . How sweet.

x3Harmony534

If you love it, cut the things that aren't so important to you. We went over our venue budget but we cut back by DIYing invites we got as surplus from GOODWILL for $1.99 per pack (& they're so cute! they were overstock from Target & originally sold for $39.99!), using fake flowers for our centerpieces (which literally saved us well over a thousand dollars!), etc. etc. etc. Your venue is the backdrop for the whole wedding, you don't want to be disapointed or feel like you're settling for something.

Pattash

Thanks ladies. You totally made me feel  better about going over the buget on the venue and thanks for the great advice on how I could recoup some of the costs. I feel 100X better now!

Love being a Knottie! :-)

cjbwifey2010

Hey Pattash! I'm getting married at the Royal Crest Room next month! I LOOOOOOVVEEEE it! It really is a great place and i think that it is worth it. I can give you tips on how to cut things down if you want to e-mail me... pierre dot jessica at gmail dot com!

Theresa626

Thanks, Sarah!

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Pattash

Hi Britt,

I tried to once we did the tour but it didn't really seem like they would be able to. I'm thinking that once we are ready to sign the contract maybe they would be more willing so I'm definitely going to give it another shot.

jmucheech21

I would bring it up VERY CLEARLY with them.  I absolutely LOVED Harmony Golf Preserve.  But I just COULD NOT afford it.  I kept asking for different quotes, cutting this and that, thinking she was getting the hint.  Finally, I gave up and booked another venue.  When I emailed their coordinator to tell her she said, "oh, well we offer competitive pricing, we can match other quotes!!"  Of course I had already paid my deposit.  

Make it clear to them you love them and want to book them but cannot unless it is "x" price.  Every place I was blunt with in this way matched or beat my "x" price.  The place I loved was unfortuantely the first place I went and I didn't really know how to handle myself.  And unfortunately, it was the only place that ended up not working out.  The worst they can say is no and then you can look at reworking things.

Pattash

Hi jmuch, I'm sorry to hear that Harmony didn't work out. That was actually the first place we visited. I was very up front with Michelle about our budget and she sent me a quote that worked and provided suggestions on saving even more with their venue and with other areas of the wedding.

Thanks for the tip though. I didn't tell TRCR my budget. I think I was just so in love with this place and then so disappointed when I realized it was going to be over the budget, I wasn't sure what to do. All I did was ask the coordinator if they offer any discounts and if she had suggestions on things we could do to lower the cost. She told me they could not offer discounts because March was one of their most popular months. I've received a number of quotes now and a few are very much in our price range. I will take your advice and use it as a bargaining chip and see what happens .

jmucheech21

That is exactly what I did with Michelle!!  kept asking like "well, what can we take off to lower the price?"  And she was great about repeatedly making offers by taking stuff off.  Then went I went to the others and said "here's what I have, here's what I want" they just gave it to me.  No taking anything out.  I wish I had just been that up front with Michelle, because now looking back I know she would have helped me.  I guess its always hardest with your first because you just don't know how this is all supposed to work.  =/

Pattash

I hear you Jen. I do get a little uncomfortable with the whole bargaining thing.I wish my mom lived here to go with me to these venues because she does not hold back and I'm sure she'd be able to talk them into giving me most of what I want and still enable me to stay closer to the budget without cutting so many things. Maybe I'll grow a pair before I go back LOL .

jmucheech21

I am not good with it either.  I did, however, find it easier to just say "this is how much I have.  This is what I want to do.  Can you help me?"  That way I wasn't trying to go back and forth and bargain and if they said no, I could just say "ok, thank you" and have that be that.  Good luck with it!!!  I know its frustrating, but in the end you will love what you book!!!

Pattash

Thanks Jen! All the best to you in yor wedding planning journey! 

shellmybab

There are tons of ways to cut money elsewhere...even if that means..gulp...taking down the guest list (if it's an enormous amount of people), but you can save alot on invitations, by printing them yourself (with the invitations you buy at Walmart, any office supply store or party store), flowers..alot of florists will work with you and depending on the type of ceremony and where its at premade boquets are really nice for the price.....if you really, really want the place, do it....it's a once in a lifetime event!!! Good luck!