POLL: what did you spend on decorations

FutureMrsF111 · December 2009

Im not sure if Im doing this right but here goes.
And if you dont mind saying how much did you spend?

Just Jen · December 2009

um... not much

Our church is beautiful. We're not doing decorations there at all.

Our reception spot is also beautiful, and needs very little in terms of decor (IMHO). We're doing votive/lantern centerpieces. (I bought like a million votives, so we'll also scatter some around).

We'll buy some potted plants for the entrance. (The venue is an old home, and the entrance is on a porch. It looks kinda naked wihtout plants)

I bought some cafe lights to maybe hang up on the outside cocktail area, if it's nice that day.

And then bouquets, bouts and corsages for us, bridal party and parents.

All told, it should be under $1500. (if you don't consider BP flowers "decor," then maybe around $850.)

If I decide to do luminaries, which I've though about, it'll go up a bit.

mbcdefg · December 2009

Mine comes out to about 2% of our overall budget - around $600. That's for 16 floral centerpieces, 16-18 cube vases and some small green tealight holders that I bought secondhand.

Decor is not high on my list of priorities so I didn't want to spend much. We do not need church flowers because there will already be Easter lilies on the altar, and we are not a fan of pew decorations or aisle runners so we are skipping those. I'm debating if I want to buy prettier place cards or just use the ones that the hall provides. I don't particularly care about having a floral arrangement on the entryway table at the reception.

Wait, are you including wedding party and parents' floral arrangements in this figure? If so, then my total is probably more around 5%/$1000 (only two BMs and two GMs, two boutonnieres for dads and a corsage for mom and one for grandma).

mrs.spunky1508 · December 2009

$0, other than bouquets. The church was still decorated for Christmas, so there were poinsettias on the altar and all throughout church, CPs were included with the venue, as were linens and it was completely unnecessary to spend beyond that. Well, I guess the $98 spent on pew bows (14 @ $7 each) for church count. That was well below 1% of my $20k budget though.

FutureMrsF111 · December 2009

I was including all flowers, lighting, pipe and drape, and anything done to change the venue.
I know mine is high but that is because it is the most important thing to my mom. But I am really asking because if that girl selling her centerpieces really has a 60k budget she spent 11% of her budget on those alone. Apparently she is doing lighting as well and I would assume carrying a bouquet, BMs carrying bouquets, etc. which probably put her way closer to 15% so I was curious what other people spent.

uppereastgirl · December 2009

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_poll-did-spend-decorations?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:575f077d-5dac-43f6-b10a-9a3e9aa5f20bPost:d398a358-3c2b-4450-9ddd-f6ad0dd6dbb3">Re: POLL: what did you spend on decorations</a>:
[QUOTE]But I am really asking because if that girl selling her centerpieces really has a 60k budget she spent 11% of her budget on those alone. Apparently she is doing lighting as well and I would assume carrying a bouquet, BMs carrying bouquets, etc. which probably put her way closer to 15% so I was curious what other people spent.
Posted by FutureMrsF111[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't spend anything near that for her centerpieces (not my style to say the least), but I think if decor is important to you (and particularly with a slightly higher budget) it is reasonable to spend 15% on decorations, even if that's way more than what an average person is spending.

Like let's say it was a million dollar wedding with 15% spent on decorations... that's way more than the average person would spend (percentage-wise and dollars-wise), but still leaves plenty of room in the budget for everything else, particularly things that ordinarily are somewhat fixed in price -- like even the fanciest photographers wouldn't eat up 10-15% of that wedding budget (even though the typically suggestion is 10-15%).

We didn't spend 15% of our budget on decorations, but decorations were EXTREMELY important to me so the idea of doing so doesn't offend me (except that those particular centerpieces are ugly and don't look like they are worth $550 in my opinion).

alliecarrie41 · December 2009

not much at all. church was beautiful as-is but added a few pew flowers and brought some mums in season to alter, since they were required and my colors. reception hall--none. it would be a sin to decorate the chateau!

cvl105 · December 2009

I put 6-10%....this includes all flowers, although I only had bouquets, bouts, and 2 altar pieces for the church. I used the silk centerpieces offered by the venue. I also included lighting. Other than that, I didn't spend anything....and I think my wedding/reception looked beautiful!

kewltif · December 2009

I spent about 5% of my budget on 20 centerpieces, church flowers, bouquets, bouts, etc, plus uplighting, aisle runner, card box, etc.

anika6200 · December 2009

I am definitley on the high side. I might be spending more than 15.... However it was super important to me and I worked into the budget when I booked the place. I am renting chairs, linens, and chargers plus florals and lighting....

uppereastgirl · December 2009

Allie's post reminds me that where you have your reception kind of plays into this. A lot of ballrooms are pretty busy to start -- patterned wallpaper and carpets, ornate windows, chandeliers, etc. Some can stand on their own, and some are busy enough that a less-is-more approach might be the best way to go to avoid being overdone. If you're dealing with a tent or a loft, you have a blank space and have a lot more decorating to do. We were very happy that our venue was the latter (glass walls, tan carpet, that's it), and we could do whatever look we wanted without worrying whether the color scheme clashed with the wallpaper or was too modern to go along with the ornate carpet or if everything together was a whole lot of look, but we also couldn't just say "Bouquets? Check. Bouts? Check." and call it a day. We had to go with something that would fill up the tent.

Mye · December 2009

i spend about 3% of my budget, centerpieces, pew bows and 2 flower baskets for the church, about 78 candles and candle dishes..

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