Budget Woes

blondii428

I totaled up a rough estimate of how much left we have to purchase still and my heart about sank.  Every bit of cash we have saved has been used to purchase things as we go (dress, invitations and deposits).  Well out of  our original 10K budget we still have $8.2K that we will still need to spend.  Wouldn't be so bad if I knew it would be paid back quickly, but it's all going onto a 9.9% credit card.  I'm starting to wish we just had a courthouse wedding.  You guys see anything below that you would try to cut?

Tiara/necklace/bracelet	100
Garter	15
Cake topper	40
Cake serving set	10
Flutes	10
Card box	20
Guest book frame	30
Sand box	50
Centerpiece vases	45
Napkins/chargers	25
TOTAL:	345
Florist	900
Videographer	400
Photographer	750
Caterer	2000
DJ	800
Officiant	325
Cake	550
Chateaux extra ppl/chair bows	500
TOTAL:	6225
Flower girl dress and shoes	50
Rehersal dinner	100
Makeup	100
Hair	180
Honeymoon	1000
Night before and of hotel	200
TOTAL:	1630
Current wedding debt:	3000
Future purchase amount:	8200
GRAND TOTAL:	11200

OH! AND we're having our first baby in September!! Yikes....

Spunky414

Those little $10 things add up and you should figure out how much you'll actually paying for the wedding if it takes you 1 year to pay it off.Or alternately figure out how much money you'd have if you saved it and stuck it in a college fund for baby. All you really need is the marriage license and someone to marry you, it's not worth going into debt over.

Here's what I'd do:

Tiara/necklace/bracelet - Use jewelry you already have or borrow, or get cheap costume jewelry if you must have new

Garter - Cut completely 

Cake topper - Find a cheaper one, Michaels had cute little letters or wooden people for under $10

Cake serving set/Flutes- Unnecessary

Guest book frame and box - Unnecessary

Centerpiece vases/Napkins/chargers - Might be reasonable depending on how many

  

Florist- Renegotiate for cheaper flowers and fewer flowers

Videographer - Renegotiate for less time, they'd rather have some money from you than lose your business completely

Photographer - Renegotiate for less time/fewer prints

Caterer - Renegotiate for cheaper food options and skip alcohol

Cake - Scale it down and use sheet cakes 

Chateaux extra ppl/chair bows - Cut completely no one cares about the chairs beyond having one

Flower girl dress and shoes - I don't know a thing about kids clothing but try Target or thrift/consigment shops kids grow out of things quick anyway.

Rehersal dinner- You could skip a rehersal completely so no need for dinner or scale back and do pizzas or deli trays

Hair/Makeup- DIY or have a friend who's good at that do it for you, go to a mall makeup counter and have them do a full face of makeup and buy a few products that you'd use

Honeymoon- Scale down or skip it

[Deleted User]

Lia gave you REALLY good ideas. I'd like to add a few to hers:

Cake: get one small round for cutting and then sheet cakes for the rest from something like costco/bjs/local grocery store. It will cut back on your cost A LOT
Catering: Can you change your wedding to a non-meal time? That way you could do just cake, coffee, and dessert? Or, for a little more, hor d'oeuvres and then dessert. It would definitely save a TON.

Going into credit card debt is really awful, so you should try to avoid it as much as you can. I had a friend who did it right after college. 8 years later, he still hasn't been able to pay it back - and he isn't supporting a family.