Sticker Shock. (poll)

Blueyed228 · May 2010

So I went to the Paper Store to check out some invitations today. I seriously underestimated how much this crap costs.

Anyone else have sticker shock with a certain part of their wedding?

beatlesgirl25 · May 2010

That sucks Blue. Are you ordering them through The Paper Store? Have you looked at Etsy? I've seen some gorgeous and unique (and affordable) invitations and matching cards that people have used by Etsy artists.

My sticker shock was definitely the flowers. They weren't overall extremely pricey, but definitely more than I budgeted for, and it all inflated so quickly once we got closer to the day and added things here and there. But my florist was also an incompetent crazypants, so there's that.

Blueyed228 · May 2010

I want pocket invitations. I didnt realize that you need to pay extra for all the insert cards, envelopes, etc. To top it off, when they come in, you have to glue them together. Pffft.

I am going to keep looking. I just had no idea. It would end up being 7-10 bucks an invite to do the invitation, response card, directions card etc.

ndnikki06 · May 2010

I'm with you, Blueyed. I honestly did not think invitations would cost as much as they did. IT'S JUST PAPER!!!!

quotequeen · May 2010

Yes. Invitations, flowers, cake... I'm trying to think of things I *didn't* have sticker shock on!

beatlesgirl25 · May 2010

Oh wow, that's pretty pricey! Not to mention the PITA glue stuff. You kinda want expensive invitations to come pre-made, you know?

Well, good luck finding what you want at a reasonable price. There's gotta be something out there for you.

LindsMullinix · May 2010

Blueeyed- I plan to DIY my pocket fold invites - Cards and Pockets has affordable options for the papers and pocket folds, and you could always have someone from Etsy design the invite for you to print. That is what I am doing, it will be much less than 7-10 an invite, more like $2 per invite. Below is a photo of a sample menu in our design. Our invites have the same design (script of our names at the top followed by the invitation wording below), the RSVP post card, and reception cards are designed to match. If you want more info on the Etsy Seller who designed them or to see actual samples of the invite itself page me on the Nov board.

annab0521 · May 2010

I found mine at cardsandpockets.com, totaled out at about 230 or so, it was the best price I could find. They turned out amazing though! I'm very happy with them. Hope that helps

xkelbel06 · May 2010

i agree with you blueyed. invitations are insane. i'm going to attempt to DIY mine.

nboulanger · May 2010

The photographer.

There is a reason there are only a handful of pictures of me, I hate taking pictures! So I had a hard time swallowing a four figure price tag. And those albums? Jesus H., if I'm buying a $500 book the pictures better make good blackmail or be made of something I can sell.

Blueyed228 · May 2010

I suck at life when it comes to DIY.......

JennaV26 · May 2010

I definitely nearly choked on my gum when I first started looking at invitations. I found these beautiful, but not that beautiful, invitations and asked for a quote for 150. Total: Over $2,000! WHAT?! And that was after I skimped on some of the goodies, like envelope liners! Thankfully I went home to OK a week later where things are much cheaper and ended up with bangin' invitations for much, much less!

Other than that my sister's wedding was 2 years ago so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect going in. Well now that I think about it... the photographer too. I found many in the price range I was originally thinking but everyone I really, really liked was way more.

Blueyed228 · May 2010

Jenna- everytime I see your sig pic I think of how smokin you would look as a red head. Lol, I think its because you look like my friend who is. Not orange red, but that dark eggplant auburn red.....

Sorta like this:

luckyme502 · May 2010

The cost of an officiant! In our area, I think they are way over paid. We had to shop around hard for someone who would marry us for under $500. I could get a DJ for $300, and they would be there for hours, the officiant, about an hour.

JennaV26 · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_sticker-shock-poll?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:001726b4-62f9-4ad0-8fb7-0bb09e58ecf6Post:b5089872-3392-40fd-8489-a3ba80e5d967">Re: Sticker Shock. (poll)</a>:
[QUOTE]Jenna- everytime I see your sig pic I think of how smokin you would look as a red head. Lol, I think its because you look like my friend who is. Not orange red, but that dark eggplant auburn red..... Sorta like this:
Posted by Blueyed228[/QUOTE]

Holy crap girl haha that is the first time I've ever heard (read?) that! Thank you but I am not convinced I would look good with red hair! I think my blonde hair is like my security blanket, I'm scared to go any other color! I do really want to dye it dark, dark brown, though, just to see what it would look like.... if only I had the balls to do it!

JennaV26 · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_sticker-shock-poll?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:001726b4-62f9-4ad0-8fb7-0bb09e58ecf6Post:ac9c0bd1-2000-4f7c-8070-a704187b784f">Re: Sticker Shock. (poll)</a>:
[QUOTE]The cost of an officiant! In our area, I think they are way over paid. We had to shop around hard for someone who would marry us for under $500. <strong> I could get a DJ for $300</strong>, and they would be there for hours, the officiant, about an hour.
Posted by luckyme502[/QUOTE]

Hot damn! How did you find a DJ for $300?!? I must have been looking in all the wrong places!

luckyme502 · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_sticker-shock-poll?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:001726b4-62f9-4ad0-8fb7-0bb09e58ecf6Post:c39c46a7-5cbf-4c93-9631-fe4b692b1de7">Re: Sticker Shock. (poll)</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Sticker Shock. (poll) : Hot damn! How did you find a DJ for $300?!? I must have been looking in all the wrong places!
Posted by JennaV26[/QUOTE]

Around here most DJs cost around $300 for a basic wedding package. We aren't having one, but we looked into it.

JennaV26 · May 2010

Oh man I'm so jealous! I thought they would have been way more expensive in your area.

miah_23_ncb · May 2010

I so understand we were not expecting invitations to be thousnads of dollars!! we looked around diligently and were able to find a lady that does invitatiosn from her house so woth it & a lot les $$

Blueyed228 · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_sticker-shock-poll?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:001726b4-62f9-4ad0-8fb7-0bb09e58ecf6Post:c39c46a7-5cbf-4c93-9631-fe4b692b1de7">Re: Sticker Shock. (poll)</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Sticker Shock. (poll) : Hot damn! How did you find a DJ for $300?!? I must have been looking in all the wrong places!
Posted by JennaV26[/QUOTE]

This.

baystateapple · May 2010

Definitely appetizers. They aren't included in our cost pp, and it's about $1,000 to get a decent amount through our caterer. Not cool.

Also -- gratuities and sales taxes. Holy crap.

[Deleted User] · May 2010

I made my own invites from Michaels, they weren't too bad. Mty sticker shock was the cake. We bought ours from Publix and I wasn't expecting it to be so much. But, they did an awesome job so I guess it was worth it overall.

526SadieSadie · May 2010

I had some sticker shock at just about everything, but the prices charged for invitations in particular are just redonkculous.
If everyone was going to keep them, or even a majority of the guests were going to keep them for scrapbooks or whatever, I'd be much more inclined to get them done professionally. However, while our relatives are wonderful, there are only a couple of sentimental ones in the bunch. I found amazing deals on cardsandpockets.com and I'm making really beautiful completely inexpensive ones myself.

BecW2be · May 2010

Now you know why I was a DIY bride. I'm cheap!

We did everything ourselves, or worked in trade. I made my bouquets, invitations, decorations, food... it was exhausting but totally worth it.

I was also REALLY lucky DH does what he does for a living. You'd be amazed how cheap tent rentals become when they're a spotlight on the morning news. Also, I told every single vendor I was planning a Halloween party, and the cost of my cake dropped 40%. DH did a booze story, a photographer spotlight, and a party bus show and we saved tons on all of it. I'd never have been able to pay full price for all we did.

mandapanda78 · May 2010

Our location. We did wedding/reception in one place and had use of the grounds and the house for 4 hours. That's all it was- the grounds and house, nothing else was included. $3750.

nyrek · May 2010

1st big sticker shock was photographers.
2nd was all the stuff to buy for DIY projects. Might as well have just paid to have the crap printed...would have cost me about the same and saved me a hell of a lot of time.

jlmarks83 · May 2010

I had some sticker shock on a few different things.

Invitations - We went to a local print shop and I about fell over when I saw the prices. Then my mom and I went looking around at Michael's and other craft stores for the DIY and didn't find anything we liked. Then I suggested our local party store (Papermart) and I ended up finding the SAME invitations at the print shop that I loved...but they were 20% off. We just picked them up this past weekend and they are beautiful and exactly what I wanted! And 20% cheaper!

Cake - The original bakery I wanted is the one I grew up with. They had a design in the window that we loved and they wanted $950 for it. (No way!) We went to the bakery my brother had at his wedding and took them a picture of the design from the other bakery and they're charging us $550! And they're cake is better!

Flowers - We knew we'd be spending a lot because our church is pretty boring. Also, my mom and I are really into big/tall centerpieces. So, our floral bill is around $3,500. Though, this is about $1,500 less than the place we absolutely loved.

Our videographer and photographer weren't expensive. In fact, I even told our photographer that she should change her prices. She's so good and isn't charging much at all. (She just started out a few years ago.)

K Byte · May 2010

Alterations. My dress is too long and because of the embellishments and beading on it they have to cut it apart to make it 2" shorter at a total cost of $400. It can't be hemmed or taken up at the waist or have the straps shortened or anything easy. BARF.

ohwhynot · May 2010

Just decorating and setting the damn tables. Our reception is at a community hall, so nothing is included. We had to buy tablecloths, linen napkins, silverware (just a knife & fork, which will look stupid but I don't care), disposable plates (ditto), cups - everything. Our budget is very very small and our guest list is around 140 (although fewer are coming), so these things are adding up. Centerpieces consist of craigslist vases & candles, curly willow branches I spray-painted, and as many flowers as I can get from the farmer's market the day before the wedding for $200.

Also things I didn't think of like renting a stage for the band to play on.

greinburg · May 2010

i was going to DIY my invites but i actually got them on ebay...yes ebay lol. a person advertised wedding invites, i told her the layout, the pic (double heart design) on top, the wording, color, etc and for $60 i got 75 invites, envelopes, RSVP postcards, bookmark favors, info. cards, and return address labels. I ordered two sets so paid 120 for 150 of all of these. AWesome deal, and didn't have to go to the work of doing it myself. and they look great! Not embossed or anything like fancy paper stores, but look awesome and good heavy paper.

HDutko · May 2010

Blueeyed: I did my own pocket folds. It cost about $100 for the kits and I printed them at home and made them myself. Everyone was suprised when they found out I did them myself. They sold the kits by bride.com at michaels and other craft stores.

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