Budget Woes... LONG

Sundaylou

I 'caught' a bad case of the budget woes today. My FI and I agreed that it was worth it to move our budget up a grand in order to book our venue because I fell in love with it (this was months ago). In the last month we have added 15 more people to our guest list than we originally thought and I think we might have to cut a few. I hate the idea of having to cut people, especially since 60-70% is my FI family and I really don't want to ask him to cut people but I don't know how to make it fair when I have so little family to begin with. This has pushed us a good chunk out of budget. I've now realized that I should have researched the other major items we need to book. I've discovered that the cheapest florist I've been able to find is at least twice as much as we have budgeted and the dj is a third more than planned. We already booked our photographer (who we also love and got a wicked deal on) which was a bit more then budgeted also. I have always been stressed out when it comes to money, but now I don't know what to do. I know the dj I found is the best I'm going to do because I have contacted 15 so far. The florist I planto keep hunting on, but I know we really need to get both of these done this month.

Sundaylou

Has anyone else had budget woes and how did you get past it (of course this is hoping you did)? We are on our own for the weding and parting with so much money is already killing me. The thought of going over budget just makes it worse!

SSaltzman87

Only you and FI can decide what's important and what isn't. I think that's what it truly comes down to. If you're able to part with certain things, then it's easier to work with a limited budget. Like I'm willing to invest in photography and food, almost everything else is filler.

sbc2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_may-2013-weddings_budget-woes-long?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:ea657a87-d1dc-4588-999f-31c9deeef720Discussion:3ad95946-8fef-4b8a-b4bd-c23e6290881bPost:e77e844b-f234-4ff0-9de7-ccdefafb6fa6">Re: Budget Woes... LONG</a>:
[QUOTE]Only you and FI can decide what's important and what isn't. I think that's what it truly comes down to. <strong>If you're able to part with certain things, then it's easier to work with a limited budget. Like I'm willing to invest in photography and food, almost everything else is filler.</strong>
Posted by SSaltzman87[/QUOTE]

<div>OP, I think the bolded is really good advice. Figure out what it is that is <em>most </em>important to you and invest in those things. I have heard that the things that make the biggest impression on guests are food and entertainment, so if you chose your venue based on food you are already ahead in that aspect, and it sounds like you are looking for a DJ, so there's the entertainment. Everything else is just filler--that is NOT to say it isn't important or awesome to have, but figure out what is most important to <em>you </em>and FI because you have basically "taken care" of the guests' experiences by giving them great food and entertainment. </div><div>
</div><div>I have some specific suggestions:</div><div>-Buy wholesale flowers and make the arrangements yourself. You can read up online on how best to do this (and how to make the arrangements you want), and you might even end up saving enough money to do a trial run with the flowers, like ordering just enough for one bouquet and one centerpiece or something like that.</div><div>-Limit the alcohol to save money. Host what you can, but you don't need to have liquor if it isn't in your budget--you could do just beer and wine or even just a dry wedding. As long as you have water, soda, iced tea, etc...maybe your venue would even agree to have only those and one signature drink.</div><div>-Not sure if you are doing favors, but you could forgo those without really altering your guests' experience, and save a lot of money there. </div><div>-Get a single tier or a smaller two-tier cake so that you have something to cut into and get the rest in sheet cake to be cut in the back. Guests won't know the difference, I promise, and it is significantly cheaper per person to serve sheet cake.</div><div>
</div><div>I hope this helps! What have you planned so far/are there specific things that you want that you are worried about fitting into your budget?</div>

zubrod1

Definitley DIY flowers don't worry about a florist, I dont know what your colors are but getting creative can save you a ton of money. I'm doing my own centerpieces with tall clear vases filled with lemons, tiny white starfish, and topped with babies breath (we're having a "beach chic" wedding ). I'm also doing my own bridesmaid bouqets out of just babies breath and really pretty ribbon.  Favors aren't really important; most people don't end up taking them anyways.  A lot of time you can get cheaper but super yummy cake from grocery stores.  Do a little research in your area, I bet you can come up with a lot of ways to save some money! 

ameliah19

The best thing I did was going to those god awful bridal shows lol. I hate crowds and 90% of the stuff there I did not care about but I found great deals on my caterer who ended up throwing in a feww wedding cake and 10% off the price and a great deal on the tuxes. I did have to up the budget a little bit because of the guest list getting a little out of hand...but I am doing my own centerpieces, bouquots etc which saves soo much money!

Sundaylou

I think I could do my bouquet because all I want are orange gerbera daisies, but what about the guys bouts and the moms corasages?