Now that we're getting close with most of the big things planned and booked, I thought it would be interesting to compare notes and see what everyone's experience was of what turned out to cost less, or more, than originally expected. What great bargains did you find? And what did you splurge on?
The thing I was most surprised by was my dress, I spent much less on it than I had budgeted. I'm taking a carriage ride between the hotel where I'll be getting ready and the venue, and that turned out to be less than what I planned. For what she's charging to travel, take pictures all day, and give us the disk, our photographer was also a bargain.
As far as splurges, I'm having a cake topper made to look like fiance and me, and this turned out to be more than I expected. The disk of my bridal pictures was also more than I expected. Fiance wanted yellow gold for his wedding band, and his ring turned out to be more than we expected. The package at our venue was more than I expected but reasonable for our area. Getting married at a church, particularly outside the parish where our house is located, was so much more than we expected that we forewent it in favor of a ceremony at the venue.
I went into the planning process afraid of how much everything was going to cost just for one day, even if it was going to be a very special day, and I feel better now that I can see the things I spent more on are going to last a long time and give me good memories.
Whoever said it was supposed to be happily ever after is a big fat liar.