Budget question

rainlex83 · November 2010

So I'm trying to figure out my budget. What is/was your budget? Did you set it to the max of what you can afford? Did/are you leave any wiggle room to go over a little? Married ladies, did you go over your budget?

Thanks!

veijes · November 2010

We set our original budget at $10,000k which we realized wasn't possible for the size of wedding we were having (230 guests). I orginally only wanted about 150 guests but everyone kept adding guests to our guest list...that and having a Sunday wedding where we weren't competing with other weddings, we had a TON of yes RSVPs.

Anyways, we definitely went over budget....our wedding was between $17-18k and that's with doing our own centerpieces, a lot of DIY (invites, etc.) and having a Sunday wedding, only $350 for a DJ, buying a sample gown, etc.

I have a break down of our budget and how much we spent on things. If you want to see it, PM me with your email address.

maybe984 · November 2010

Our budget was $12k (about $9k from my parents, $2k from DH's parents, and a thousand-ish from us.) We chose what we knew we could afford. If things had gone over, I'm sure we would have been okay... but we actually ended up under-budget because I always assumed 100% attendance from our guest list, even though a LOT of my family is from way OOT and aren't big into traveling.

The best way I found to stay in budget was actually to not think about the budget very often. I would choose the BEST DEAL I found on something, instead of sticking to some arbitrary number I thought I could spend. So, even though I thought I could afford $20pp for catering, I jumped at the opportunity to use Brasa, which is a little less full-service, but was only $13pp. Same with florists... instead of telling them I had a $1000 budget... I told them what I wanted and see who came up with the best quote... and only ended up spending about $750.

graysquirrel · November 2010

Our original was 10k but we're going to definitely be under. I'm thinking around 7-8k max. I've been trying to get the best deals possible and have researched a lot. I've also been DIYing to save money. I think that by setting our max but trying to shoot for less actually gave us wiggle room. Now that I'm spending less than planned, it is "ok" if we spend a tiny bit extra.

musicalsunlight · November 2010

We are trying to keep our budget at 10k and under. My mom is paying for a majority of it so anything over her cap (8k) is going to need to be funded by my FI and I, and since we are basically living off of student loans, that won't be much. I'm trying to find the best deal i can right now on venue&ceremony, and then work the rest of the budget after that. My most important things are venue/food & photography, so I'm going to DIY as much as possible for the rest! Plus, we are having our wedding offseason, in January, so we will get better deals.

KateJ10 · November 2010

I have my budget around 13-14 K right now. I am actually really only concerned with the big ticket items and accounting for them- I figure the smaller odds and ends can come out of my normal spending money and I am not concerned. My big ticket items include:
Reception= 5K (food, rental, etc.)
Ceremony=850
Photographer=3250
Dress=2K( but will sell after wedding for probably around 1300)

And then a bunch of smaller items that can be paid much more easily along the way. I should have some wiggle room but would like to not spend too much above 14. When figuring out my budget I looked at how large of a wedding we wanted to have and the items that were really important to me. I spent more money on those areas (Photos, dress, nice reception place)

We are getting around 3K from our parents (total) plus my parents are covering flowers and his are covering the rehearsal dinner. My MOH is making my wedding cake.

Maybe984- I like your flower strategy- I have to get going on that soon and I am going to try your way!

SSaltzman87 · November 2010

I know we're trying to keep everything around or under $10K. That's definitely the max of what FI, myself, FI's parents and my parents can afford as a whole.

I haven't set specific amounts of what I'll spend on things, it really depends on what vendors will give me for my buck to be honest.

tpender13 · November 2010

Honestly, we didn't really set a budget. We were thinking about $5K total, because we'd be able to swing that relatively easily w/out help from parents - which we did end up getting, and that covered most of what we spent. We just made sure to save money where we could - no real flowers, $250 dress, etc - and spent bits of money as we went along. What we did spend came mostly out of disposable income we already had - instead of going clothes shopping, I bought a bunch of lanterns at Ikea.

debbieupper · November 2010

Wow, girls, I am super impressed. We had about 200 guests actually come to the wedding and when all was said and done, the cost came in at about $20K. My parents decided they wanted to splurge on additional things like a limo for Andy and I, a huge shuttle for all our OOT guests, etc. They were hugely generous -- most of the budget came from them, some from Andy's parents and a couple thousand from us.

MaggieandJake · November 2010

Our budget is about $12K. We're getting 5K from my parents and FI's parents are paying for our honeymoon (which we did not factor into our budget). Everything else is up to us. So far I'm staying on budget in terms of saving, and coming in slightly under budget in the cost of some things (ie flowers, cake) and little over budget in others (my custom made wedding band), so it all evens out. At 7 months to go, we're staying right on track for our budget. I am definitely the bargain shopper and doing everything I can to take advantage of sales (bought a sample dress, getting our invites, STDs, and dress alterations on sale) and do DIY where I can (centerpieces, aisle runner, invites, and other misc projects).

We are inviting 160 guests and are figuring our budget based on 150 of them coming (I'm hoping it's more like 130). We also have 12 people in our wedding party including ushers.

hkiesling · November 2010

We ended up at about $13,000 for our budget (not including honeymoon). I would suggest setting your budget at least $1000 below your absolute maximum. There's always extra things that pop up, taxes, tips, extra guests, etc. Best to be a little cautious just in case.

shan87 · November 2010

Our budget was set by the parents. My Mom said she would throw in $9k and FI Parents said they could commit to $7k. So ours is $16,000 with 326 invited guests. I think I've done a good job staying in budget. I have been using Martha Stewarts online budgeter (liked it better then the knots) I can PM you the break down if you like.

Things that were not included in the Budget include
My Dress, veil and accessories
Favors
WP Gifts
I purchased some of the cheaper decor items myself. (Paper lanterns, lights, gems, purple votive holders)

dcprep · November 2010

We initially planned for our budget to be $20k, but we definitely went up, and things were closer to $30k by the time it was all said and done! We only had 100 guests, but I guess we have expensive tastes :-\

Our budget didn't include my engagement ring or our wedding bands (those alone were closer to $20k), or our honeymoon, which we're taking in January.

ETA: We did set our budget to what we could afford. Our parents paid for some, but DH and I both have good jobs, so we were able to pay for some things on our own too.

drdifabio · November 2010

We paid for the whole thing so I have a very detailed list of what everything cost to the cent that lists out everything we bought - if you want it PM me and I can email it to you.

I read somewhere about putting away 20% of you paychecks to go towards the wedding and that is what we did. We looked at what 20% of our paychecks would be, then how long we would be engaged, and got our budget from that. We did end up making more money than we thought so we saved more than we thought but that wasnt a bad thing - now we have money left in our wedding fund which is fun

. We estimated low so that we wouldnt spend what we didnt have.

When I was originally thinking about it we came up with 8k which changed to 10k which changed to 12k...15k and then our final number ended up being just over 17k - and that is for EVERYTHING (except HM). I even included wire for the custom hanger I made for the girls, glue to put DIY project together, ect. Anything that I wouldnt have bought unless I was getting married I put into that. Even down to getting my nails done and my legs waxed - but then I had a really good idea on how much everything cost.

I Want Cake · November 2010

Our budget is about $17,000 for 120-130 people. The reception, including flowers and music, will run us about $1300, and is mostly already paid for since we bought the permit last spring and already gave the musicians their 50% deposit. We only have flowers and half the musician contract left to pay, plus any odds and ends like programs and bubbles. The total left to pay is less than $400.

Our big splurge is on the reception. Right now, it's looking like the high side is going to be $10,000 or so for the space rental and catering, which includes appetizers during cocktail hour, and it's a high estimate so it's definitely going to go down. We still need to buy the liquor, which I'm estimating at $1500, but I'm trying to buy bottles of stuff we know we'll use every couple weeks and paying for it myself. I've also been buying all the decor stuff and accessories I'm making from my own funds, separate of our budget. I don't want to touch our savings account for anything that isn't a contract payment before the wedding.

We are not including clothing or accessories in our budget. Everyone is paying for their own clothes out of their own individual funds, including my dress/jewelry/shoes/stylist/alterations.

The way we created our budget probably isn't the best way to go about it. We pretty much said "this is what we're doing" and put their price as our budget, not establishing how much we want to pay before getting prices, and then saving up for it. The money is coming from my parents ($6K), First Time Homebuyer Refund ($8K), hopefully FI's mom will kick in a little, and as much as I can possibly save myself, which has been several thousand so far. This is a pretty lucrative time of year for me right now with craft and candy sales, so I'll hopefully make an extra $1K over the next week or so, which will mostly go toward wedding expenses.

rainlex83 · November 2010

Thanks for all the help ladies!

polichik · November 2010

You can have a wonderful wedding on absolutely any budget, so I'd sit down with your FI and decide what you can afford to save. If either set of parents offers to contribute, that's awesome, but you should plan on what you and your FI can handle. That way, if they offer, it's a nice surprise. The only things you really need for a wedding are a location, an officiant, a marriage license, and food and drink for any guests that you invite (even if it's just cake and punch at an off-mealtime).

But yes, I'd definitely save a little extra for those last-minute things that can come up.

Steph0871 · November 2010

Ditto Poli. Don't feel like you have to spend a certain amount.

We ended up at right around $9k (I gave up counting every penny) for about 150 guests, with beer and wine. That doesn't included our rings (another $4k or so) and we didn't take a honeymoon. About $6,500 of that was the reception, and I wouldn't change a thing. We were fortunate that my dad contributed about 2/3s (basically the reception), and my mom paid for my dress. We covered booze, photog, flowers, my hair/makeup, rings, etc.

If you're willing to put in the time researching vendors and don't mind potentially using someone newer to the business, you can get really lucky. Our photographers (snap.grin) were only $1k for two photogs, all day, e pics, rights to all the photos, etc. I think they're closer to $3k now, though. But by the time our wedding came around earlier this month, they had already upgraded equipment, etc. We also locked in our venue (Profile Event Center) at the beginning of the year at their 2009 rates.

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