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Cutting out some stress...

emineminememineminem
5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper First Comment
in July 2013 Weddings
I have to confess something.

I have been REALLY stressed about the wedding budget. I've been stressing because I'm feeling behind on booking the caterer, and we've booked a few tastings, but the lowest quote is still $2k over our budget.

So I'm throwing in the towel! I'm giving up on the idea of a sit down fancy dinner with servers and crudites and extra forks I won't understand.

We're going to have a local Mexican restaurant cater our wedding, and it's going to cut my catering expense down by over $3K. They are famous in the Bay Area, have five stars on yelp for catering, and are delicious. Not snooty food, fun food. And I'm half Mexican, so this will give me an excuse to add a Mexican flair to our decor.

I'm so excited!! By cutting the extra expense for catering, we get to
A) Book the musicians I've been drooling over for a year and a half
B) Book the Creme Brulee Cart to do desserts (he makes personalized creme brulees out of a food truck or ice cream cart, and is famous in the city for his Lavender, Honey Vanilla and "The Yes Please" which is Nutella and Strawberry amazingness. ;)
What sacrifices have you guys made for the budget?  Any exciting splurges or steals to share? :)
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Re: Cutting out some stress...

  • Winnertag1Winnertag1 member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    That is awesome! I am glad you are able to find something you liked for a reasonable price. Our venue came with food so we didnt get much of a choice on that but I kind of wish we did. I guess we will have to try have fun with cutting down the food options of the guests. 

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  • emmyrooemmyroo member
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    Way to go!  This sounds like the perfect choice for you!  Our venue also came with in-house catering, so I didn't have to find an outside caterer.  Kind of made it easier and helped save a little money since there wasn't a room or venue fee - just have to pay for the bar and food.
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  • Knottie1450123632Knottie1450123632 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    great :) good for you.  we are getting married in vegas we fell in love with a chapel i found another one which is more countryish since we both from south and the copyrights of pics are included in package :) so we dont have to pay for them.  we can also bring in our own photog and flowers at no charge.  our guests can take pics as well. :)

    we found  a reception place where if we go below 20 pple just wants $85 for room fee :) the food ive heard is phenomonal and the childrens menues arent bad prices.  :)

    our photographer is willing to charge us for 8 hrs and use the last 2 the next day for another photo shoot or we may do 2 hours the day before :) we wont have to pay extra for using him for 2 days
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  • shilotony2012shilotony2012 member
    Name Dropper 5 Love Its First Comment First Anniversary
    Hmmm, we are getting 75% off the chapel since we are using the receptio site attached to it. My BIL is doing our engagement pics for free. My sister is doing the rehersal dinner for us.

    Reception hall includes food AND wedding cake, so no worries on finding a baker and having a delivery fee. Our florist is delivering for free since we are only having wedding flowers( bouquets, bouts, and corsages) AND the chapel has flowers included at the chapel free of charge. they are silk and plain white, but looks good ad will cut down on costs.

    Everything so far is below budget so we were able to add a category for decorations and favors, instead of taking it out of the invite budget.

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  • shilotony2012shilotony2012 member
    Name Dropper 5 Love Its First Comment First Anniversary
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.weddingchannel.com/main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2013-weddings_cutting-out-some-stress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:a322ad2c-25cd-4d52-b123-096e1e4ecda5Discussion:3bf0555c-548b-4119-822c-8c0b100d7f36Post:d26e8aeb-3d7e-4ec2-9f82-7ee0fbd41255">Cutting out some stress...</a>:
    [QUOTE]I have to confess something. I have been REALLY stressed about the wedding budget. I've been stressing because I'm feeling behind on booking the caterer, and we've booked a few tastings, but the lowest quote is still $2k over our budget. So I'm throwing in the towel! I'm giving up on the idea of a sit down fancy dinner with servers and crudites and extra forks I won't understand. We're going to have a local Mexican restaurant cater our wedding, and it's going to cut my catering expense down by over $3K. They are famous in the Bay Area, have five stars on yelp for catering, and are delicious. Not snooty food, fun food. And I'm half Mexican, so this will give me an excuse to add a Mexican flair to our decor. I'm so excited!! By cutting the extra expense for catering, we get to A) Book the musicians I've been drooling over for a year and a half B) Book the Creme Brulee Cart to do desserts (he makes personalized creme brulees out of a food truck or ice cream cart, and is famous in the city for his Lavender, Honey Vanilla and "The Yes Please" which is Nutella and Strawberry amazingness. ;) What sacrifices have you guys made for the budget?  Any exciting splurges or steals to share? :)
    Posted by missquela[/QUOTE]

    Love mexican food!!!

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  • keyaira04keyaira04 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I am so happy you were able to come to terms with catering/venue choice.

    I had to the same thing. I wanted this really nice white room, the women's club. But the cost were for a min of 100 people and that is not the size we want. At our new venue, they also have in--house catering. A little bummed that we cant do brunch, but not a big deal. $1.5K under budget.

    Photographer cut some of her services we didnt want to save us money. Baker is throwing in a free grooms cake. Free chair covers from a family we know that does wedding decor; we only pay for sashes. GM took out engagement photos as a gift. Officant is donation only with no set fee.Matron of Honor still has wedding decor left over we is donating to me. I thrift or dollar store all decor. If anything, I only go to Micheals when I have a 40-50% coupon. Also, check and see if they have the rewards program in your area (I have to go out of town to get mine!!!)
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  • CleverThoughtCleverThought member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    Our budget is getting out of control - despite my best attempts.

    Our wedding venue requires that we use their catering, so we have no choice with that. The worst part it, we have to spend a minimum of $10,000 with their caterer. This includes apps, dinner, cakes, and drinks - but holy hell!

    To cut down costs, I'm trying to do some DIY. Unfortunately, I'm not the most creative or crafty. So we'll see. I think the key to success is to start early so I'm not overwhelmed.
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  • keyaira04keyaira04 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2013-weddings_cutting-out-some-stress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:a322ad2c-25cd-4d52-b123-096e1e4ecda5Discussion:3bf0555c-548b-4119-822c-8c0b100d7f36Post:dc182ab9-1bd7-450c-8786-d5be0c9b967f">Re: Cutting out some stress...</a>:
    [QUOTE] To cut down costs, I'm trying to do some DIY. Unfortunately, I'm not the most creative or crafty. So we'll see.<strong> I think the key to success is to start early so I'm not overwhelmed.</strong>
    Posted by CleverThought[/QUOTE]

    THIS! Ladies, I have DYI many projects. The key IS starting early. Clever, I highly recommend this. One thing that helped ME is making an DYI list and then adding 2-4 DYI projects to my month check list. I get 2 completed a month, but I usually start on a thrid. At the end of the month, I made my new list, adding the one I started, the one I didnt start, and two new ones. I have been doing this since March and Im also done with decor and only waiting to print my invites at this point. 
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  • NateandJustineNateandJustine
    First Comment First Anniversary
    I'm stressed out because we are stuck right now with doing anything wedding. We still haven't sold our house in PA yet, so we are making the house payments along with rent here in CA. Once we get the house sold or rented we can start making more payments and buying more stuff! I know we still have time to buy stuff, but I'm starting to get nervous about getting things in time and getting all of my DIY done.
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  • AmJam04AmJam04 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    Hooray! That's great to hear that you've been able to save yourself some stress AND money by going that route. Plus Mexican food is always delicious. Which restaurant is it??

    We've been the opposite -- desperately trying to stay within budget, but being forced out of it because we fall in love with stuff that's ridiculously expensive. We'll be lucky if we come out 7k above the original budget. Cry

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  • emineminememineminem
    5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper First Comment
    edited November 2012
    In Response to Re: Cutting out some stress...:Hooray! That's great to hear that you've been able to save yourself some stress AND money by going that route. Plus Mexican food is always delicious. Which restaurant is it?? We've been the opposite desperately trying to stay within budget, but being forced out of it because we fall in love with stuff that's ridiculously expensive. We'll be lucky if we come out 7k above the original budget.Posted by AmJam04First of all, thank you all for the positive feedback. Catering has definitely been the biggest stress so far!Second, AmJam it's La Palma, http://www.yelp.com/biz/lapalmamexicatessensanfrancisco
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  • kay136kay136 member
    First Comment First Anniversary
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2013-weddings_cutting-out-some-stress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:a322ad2c-25cd-4d52-b123-096e1e4ecda5Discussion:3bf0555c-548b-4119-822c-8c0b100d7f36Post:cfe47754-640c-4524-b8a3-221a2ae6eb5e">Re: Cutting out some stress...</a>:
    [QUOTE] We've been the opposite -- desperately trying to stay within budget, but being forced out of it because we fall in love with stuff that's ridiculously expensive. We'll be lucky if we come out 7k above the original budget.
    Posted by AmJam04[/QUOTE]

    This exactly. I can't help it!!! Sigh <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" />
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  • kerryberry13kerryberry13 member
    First Comment First Anniversary
    I think fun food at weddings is becoming way more popular with guests and makes everyone have a great time! I would love Mexican. My friends had a mashed potato bar and everyone swarmed it.

    I blew my budget a long time ago, unfortunately. I'm compensating by eating canned soup and tuna fish for dinner every night lol. My catering hall is a package deal thankfully but all the extras are costing us much more than we expected. My photographer/videographer was waaaayyyyyy out of my price range but I wanted hm so badly that I negoiated, sacrificed packages for just the basics and I'm going to just get raw video footage from him and edit it into a wedding video myself.

    We are saving money with a whole bunch of Pintrest DIY projects, making my own video slideshow for the reception, using more "filler" flowers and the best deal I made was for my Save The Dates. I found a beginner photographer just starting out and made a deal with him to help each other out (and since then his business really took off) and waited for a sale on shutterfly to print them.
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  • kay136kay136 member
    First Comment First Anniversary
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2013-weddings_cutting-out-some-stress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:a322ad2c-25cd-4d52-b123-096e1e4ecda5Discussion:3bf0555c-548b-4119-822c-8c0b100d7f36Post:64456978-e78d-4fa2-abc7-c6301e7f3b5f">Re: Cutting out some stress...</a>:
    [QUOTE]I think fun food at weddings is becoming way more popular with guests and makes everyone have a great time! I would love Mexican. <strong>My friends had a mashed potato bar and everyone swarmed it.</strong> I blew my budget a long time ago, unfortunately. I'm compensating by eating canned soup and tuna fish for dinner every night lol. My catering hall is a package deal thankfully but all the extras are costing us much more than we expected. My photographer/videographer was waaaayyyyyy out of my price range but I wanted hm so badly that I negoiated, sacrificed packages for just the basics and I'm going to just get raw video footage from him and edit it into a wedding video myself. We are saving money with a whole bunch of Pintrest DIY projects, making my own video slideshow for the reception, using more "filler" flowers and the best deal I made was for my Save The Dates. I found a beginner photographer just starting out and made a deal with him to help each other out (and since then his business really took off) and waited for a sale on shutterfly to print them.
    Posted by kerryberry13[/QUOTE]

    That's what we are doing! I thought it was a little odd at first but 2 people I konw went to weddings that had them and people raved about it! Should be fun!
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  • Belle0720Belle0720 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
    I heard about the creme brulee cart earlier this year and had been considering it for our wedding since creme brulee is my favorite dessert in the whole world lol! They were at the preview party at the Livermore Saks Outlet last week so I got to try it out - very cool that they flame the creme brulee right in front of you, I tried the Vanilla Bean - it was pretty good.
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  • Belle0720Belle0720 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
    edited November 2012
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2013-weddings_cutting-out-some-stress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:a322ad2c-25cd-4d52-b123-096e1e4ecda5Discussion:3bf0555c-548b-4119-822c-8c0b100d7f36Post:cfe47754-640c-4524-b8a3-221a2ae6eb5e">Re: Cutting out some stress...</a>:
    [QUOTE]Hooray! That's great to hear that you've been able to save yourself some stress AND money by going that route. Plus Mexican food is always delicious. Which restaurant is it?? We've been the opposite -- desperately trying to stay within budget, but being forced out of it because we fall in love with stuff that's ridiculously expensive. We'll be lucky if we come out 7k above the original budget.
    Posted by AmJam04[/QUOTE]

    We are totally in the same boat, wayyy over our original 'budget'. I know exactly how we could cut it down, #1 being our reception tent--but I just can't give it up! lol
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