Totally new to all of this! Help :(

KayleighKins

My fiance just proposed last Saturday, and we have written out a guest list. The natural next step is the budget--but I'm so freaked out by it. We want a pretty small wedding, only about 50 people in total, but the prices for everything are so huge! My budget says that we'd be paying over $10,000 for the ceremony + reception. That's not even including a coordinator. How many people use coordinators? Am I just going through a reality check? 

We only have about $6,000 saved and we were hoping to have some left over to put towards a house someday. Here is my budget, don't hesitate to tell me the real figures.

Bride & Groom Fashion	Cost:
Dress and Fitting	$320.00 (Etsy)
Tux	$200.00 (Jcrew)
Shoes	$80.00 (Etsy)
Accessories	$250.00 (Etsy)
Hair and Makeup	$135.00
Bride Bouquet	$100.00
Boutonniere	$15.00
Wedding Rings	$100.00 (Etsy)
Ceremony & Reception	Cost:
Invites	$20.00 (DIY)
Venue	$3,500.00
Catering	$2,000.00
Wine/Beer	$200.00
Photographer	$2,000.00
Ceremony Decorations	$400.00
Reception Decorations	$500.00
Reception Floral Pieces	$200.00
Officiant?	???
Ceremony & Reception Music	$2,000.00
Shuttle Cars/Travel	No idea
Guest Favors	$10.30 (DIY)
Parent Gifts	$125.00

ssmith232

what venue are you looking at? All of the officiants we've found have been around $150 - $200, just to help with your budget. 

KayleighKins

Thanks! I'll put the officiant number down. As for a venue, so far I like the ballroom in Dubsdread. I'm still waiting for their quote. I also kind of liked the Lange Farm and I really like Eden Gardens State Park--but Eden Gardens does not allow alcohol for receptions so it's pretty much out.

ssmith232

Dubsdread is beautiful! If you're worried about your budget, though, there are cheaper places that are very nice. 

TinaSweeney

A judge is not allowed to take money to perform a wedding ceremony -- something to think about. You'd only have to buy them a gift. I'm not sure how often this is done, but we are having a judge perform our ceremony for us.

Think of cutting corners in other areas if you're worried about budget. My wedding is just under 50 people and we were able to cut corners by booking a venue that allows outside catering (our food is about $500, catering from Publix), and we're using an iPod playlist instead of a DJ/band. We also purchased plastic plates and silverware (the nicer kind) in bulk online, and it cost us less than $100. I also used silk flowers instead of the real thing, and I was able to do all my bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces for about $100. Obviously, my style isn't for everyone, but I am like you, and I was more concerned about using my savings for a down payment on our future house. Good luck!

TinaSweeney

Also, I did hire a day-of coordinator to set up/tear down my reception hall for me, since I'm not using a catering company or getting help from the venue. She only charged me $300 for 5 hours, and she's really helpful and nice! If you're interested, I will definitely get you her number!

lisaboessel

I'm in the middle of planning my wedding and going to school full time, so I have to budget everything as well. Have you set the date? I feel like once you've set the date and find a venue that's available for that date then everything else falls into place. After the venue, I booked my caterer, florist, and photographer. I went with Pnt Photography (website: pntphotography.com). Highly recommend them for wedding pictures! Then, you go and try on wedding dresses to see what you like and shop around for the price! Good LUCK!

absher1030

You can really cut down on prices in the venue, catering, and photography area plus decor. I'm a country girl so granted my wedding isn’t fancy. But by no means is it trashy. And actually its turning out very nice. I have 60 people... a venue in a state park that cost me a whopping $400-beautiful nature park with no restrictions unlike some places..there is no reason to pay a crazy amount just to walk in the door.Alot of places are out for the money because they know brides with money will pay for it. But no all of us have that. And you say you have $6000...Youve got more than me. I have $4000. You have to dig deeper. People that are well known for what they do can put prices tag on that. Find ways to cut corners. It's taken me time but saved me a ton!!! I have a lot of people that are good at things. And I also am very artist and creative. So I may have an upper hand. I did not hire any vendors except a DJ, who is giving me a discount in return for allow his crew to run the music while he helps coordinate the wedding. It's extremely easy, and he has been doing DJing for 6years. But now wants to get into event coordinating. So I help him he helps me. And I’m not putting anything on the line. I don’t really need a coordinator. But let me say-It has been a blessing. And I highly suggest having one. That doesn’t mean go pay someone a ton of money because they are "certified coordinators". Yes you want someone to do a good job; you just have to do your research. It’s like a dog food bowl for example. You pay more for it because it says it’s a dog bowl. When you can get the same thing in another section or at the thrift store. It’s a DOG BOWL! No biggie. See the point. There are ways around. Do not get discouraged. And you wanting to save for a house will be the best thing you decide to do. It's the smartest decision. Don’t go pay a bunch of un necessary amounts of money! It’s your special day and of course you want it to be nice. You don’t have to sacrifice everything to save you just have to dig deep and be creative. I have lot of ways I've cut corners and if you'd like input on anything. I'd be glad to assist. I would do wedding for a living if I could. My best friend was going to spend a ton for flowers to be made for the girls...No one knew I had done 3 years of floral design. I ended up doing them for her. Just as beautiful. And when you do things that way. It means so much more to you. We had such a great time doing it together. I showed the other girls. People get the idea that it HAS to cost a lot. It doesn’t. Depending on what you want though. Things can be pricey. The venues are the worst. You have to look in places you normally wouldn’t. Places that are not normally venues for wedding are more apt to be much cheaper. It doesn’t have to be ugly, it’s called a Hidden Gem

Best of Luck to you. Contact me for any help

allelsefaild

Dubsdread is very expensive. They wanted minimum of $8000 just for the venue. Plus you can only use vendors approved by them. This includes officiants. Since my aunt is our officiant this didn't fly with us. Most places in Orlando are pricey. That's where I originally wanted to get married until I started looking at cost. Once I actually saw how much things cost I pretty much started figuring out what mattered more and trimmed by budget for things I didn't care about as much. So I looked closer to home (Brevard County) and the prices dropped exponentially. Then I decided who cares about chair covers or linens? The venue I'm using provides linens (they're white which wasn't the color I originally wanted but again, no one's going to care).

My advice is to focus on one thing at a time and definitely rank your priorities. We focused on keeping our guests happy so we splurged more on food/alcohol/music/etc. That's what our guests will ultimately care about.

Planning can get overwhelming if you try to look at everything all at once. I found if I just focused on finding vendors, eventually all the details started to fall into place. Good luck and congrats on your engagement!!!

moonmellyfish

Where did you find that is affordable in Brevard Co? That's where I'm looking.

leandrewedding

I feel the same way! My fiance proposed last week and wanted to get an idea of how much it would cost and Orlando is very expensive. I have considered looking outside of Orlando in smaller surrounding towns to help cut down on costs. I feel like there's no room to breath. So frustrating.

KayleighKins

Hey everyone, a little update! We ended up talking about it and we're going to go ahead and elope with our parents in tow to NC. I found a wedding photographer who would do 4 hours for $1,000 and a designer who would design our tiny reception, set up an arbor on the mountain, and take care of our bouquet and boutonniere for $800. We decided to do a really informal BBQ reception here in Florida with friends and family when we get back. The best thing about eloping is that all of my vendors are really high end, but they are cutting their prices a lot since it will be so small!

Right now it looks like I'll be doing my own hair and makeup I have not booked food yet but I'm not stressing about it since we can always just cook on the grill in the mountains.

Overall we were able to pay more for other things, so right now our entire ceremony is a little over $3,000 so we can spend more on our honeymoon! I was over trying to find a way to have a wedding in Orlando.

dolewhipper

KnotSarah this was posted over 7 months ago. I'd hope OP has already done her budget. 

[Deleted User]

My wedding budget is around 4k for about 50 people. We are getting married in Satellite Beach. I found that places that require certain vendors are where all the money goes. I am going with a flexible place that allows you to bring in all your own booze, and do anything you want for other vendors. We are having our friend get ordained and will marry us. The only things we are paying for is DJ, food (can do Publix or a cheap caterer), decor, chairs and flowers. Good luck planning!