BUDGETS!!

JaiPeep · May 2012

Hate to be nosey , but what are you ladies budgets? I am having a hard time staying in the budget , the bill just keeps increasing! What are you guys doing to cut cost? I need a little advice .

RYLZ · May 2012

Do you have an actual budget? Not just a figure, but a plan of what all you need, and how much you're willing to spend? That's key, I think.

Personally, I found the budget creep to be a death of a thousand cuts :-) Not just one thing, but all kinds of little added expenses come up so I think the best defense is to also cut costs in a bunch of little ways.

Some of the ways I cut here and there:

Haggle. The New Yorker/Islander in me is not afraid to bargain any and everything. The venue may have a set menu but it's not set in stone, just paper :-). Just eliminating gumbo, starter salads and unnecessary desserts alone, saved me over $21 per person. The hotel threw in one night for free for having our wedding there. I told them 1 night was impractical and asked for 2. Ask and you shall receive :-)

Cake. I decided this just wasn't all that important. Saved $200 even if it wasn't the cake I thought tasted the best. It's just cake. It was beautiful. It tasted ok. No one talks about how it tasted but everyone talks about how beautiful it was.

DIY. I fell in love with $1200 invitations. I decided to make them myself for about $240. I did almost anything paper-related myself. Try to do that in what ever area you're crafty.

Makeup. I don't understand why that should cost $100 and more. I got gorgeous makeup for $35. Be willing to go beyond the usual vendors.

Rehearsal Dinner. I just couldn't let this be a wedding before the wedding! Got creative. Made it a Rehearsal Lunch instead. Lunch always costs less than dinner.

Bar. I closed mine during the time it took people to get from the cocktail hour to the ballroom, and then during toasts and first dances. That was 90 minutes of free time :-)

Flowers. I LOVE me some flowers so I knew this would be a challenge but I cut out all ceremony flowers. I used faux hydrangeas on sale from Michael's. Total cost $25. I doubt anyone could tell. Also, since they were faux, they were easy to sell afterwards. For the ceremony, votives and silk petals are your friend :-)

Bouquets. I do love flowers but I also saved money with not going crazy with these. The ones I liked at first would have been $140 each for each bridesmaid! Way too much. I got that down to $35. They're nice for pictures but really, you don't do anything with them after the ceremony. A personal preference but I'm glad I didn't splurge on these. I didn't even know where mine was, once I got into the champagne :-)

Impulse purchases. Try not to buy the minute you see something and fall in love with it. Think about it. You may find a little later on, it's not as perfect as you thought, or that you can live with something else, that cost less. (I'm looking at you pricier-than-my-wedding-cake-fancy-veil-from-Kleinfeld's!)

Decor. I had a lot of non-flower decor, which is easy to re-use, therefore easy to sell afterwards. Flowers can't be resold (unless they're faux). My reception decor was combination of fabrics and sparkly stuff :-) All easy to reuse and sell. And all cheaper than elaborate rentals and flowers. When I did splurge on flowers, I did them on every 2nd table-- half the cost right there.

Logistics. Plan an event that doesn't require a lot of transportation and such. We rehearsed at the RD venue so I didn't have to pay for 1-transporting 35 people to the church & back, and 2-the $500 fee for rehearsing at the church.

Music. We had our DJ set up a 2nd set at the church for ceremony music. Less than half the cost of live musicians.

All these things will be different for each person, based on your individual priorities. For example, food was super important to us so even though we saved money cutting individual items, we also splurged on customizing the menu and special ordering champagne. But if you can find ways to cut (on things that doon't matter to you) then I think you'll be able to still splurge on the little things that do.

Also, if I had it to do over again, I would have bought my dress pre-owned. There is a whole universe out there of pre-owned wedding gowns. I sold my wedding gown and it has already been worn by another bride, and a 2nd is buying it from her for her July wedding. In retrospect I think it was nuts of me to spend so much on a dress I wore for 7 hours. I know the dress is very special and personal and some people couldn't think of wearing a pre-owned one but that would have saved me $1000 right there. And if I had it to do all over again, I would. There are a ton of brides out there who are even selling never-worn dresses, new with tags because they bought a 2nd one after changing their minds. Wish I'd known that a year ago!

HTH

mjlav1901 · May 2012

My budget was kind of open-ended around $25k. I'm getting absolutely everything I want, I'm just being creative about it. (My venue itself was $16,500). My mom makes really awesome cupcakes so instead of a cake she is making cupcakes and was honored I asked her so they're a "donation." Cake cost = $0. If you or a friend are good at doing make-up, do it yourself. I'm using Sabree Hill for photography, beyond affordable because she moved here recently from the Myrtle Beach area and she is still building her portfolio here but by no means is a beginner. A friend of mine is doing the videography so that was helpful. Think about everyone you know and someone may have a contact somewhere. My venue comes with everything already so we are only paying the flat price and not adding anything (not any decor, no centerpieces b/c the ones they have are already lovely). My dress was from Bridal Boutique on Severn, a little bit higher priced than David's but quailty is much better, less expensive than Town and Country. Check out ebridalsuperstore.com for dresses, super affordable, that's where I got my bridesmaid dresses. I know it's faux pas but I went to Pearl's Place, picked out the dress I wanted for my girls at $240 a piece, got them on this website for $157. They have wedding dresses too. A friend of mine ordered hydrangea blooms from Sams and used them for BM bouquets when I was in her wedding (I think her bill ran about $100 total). One of my BMs is great at doing little candies n things so she found a cute idea on Pinterest and is making my favors. Got save the date postcards from vistaprint (250 for 29 bux) and invitations from weddingpaperdivas (150 for $240). The more research you do, the better deals you will find. We are under budget as of now. We are going to a jewelry show at the Convention Center in August to get our wedding rings, that's where FI got my ring and it was a great deal less expensive than what they offered at a retail store. What is your venue? This seems to be an indicator of how much money people generally spend, some places offer bare bones, others offer absolutely everything.

NO2012 · May 2012

I don't think giving you my total budget will be of any real help to you. Instead take bezlu's advice and figure out your ballpark number and what areas are your priorities. You need to work backwards from there. Before I set a real budget, I spent alot of time on here and on the internet researching how much things in NOLA actually cost. Then I decided if I could stand to spend x amount on xyx or that is an area where I could stand to cut. I quickly realized that having a NOLA wedding meant adding alot of extras such as second line band, permits, handkerchiefs, etc. that might not otherwise be in a typical budget. So I cut out traditional favors, cut back on cake like bezlu, decided flowers weren't worth breaking the bank over (also having full floral arrangments on only half the tables). This was a process that took me several months and even now, only 4 months out, I am still adjusting it to match reality as the money continuously goes out the door.

Build in areas to cut back on later if you find you need to. For example, I originally booked a string quartet and trumpet for my ceremony music with the understanding I could reduce that to a trio if necessary by a certain date (saving $250). Groom's cake was another place we knew we could eliminate closer to time (saving at least $100- just cut this out btw). We can reduce the premium bar to the medium bar (won't have topshelf liquor, but still all the options) if that becomes necessary. I have a whole list of places I can still save on. All of these little thngs add up super fast and the whole thing is much more expensive than I could have imagined when I first started thinking about all of this.

Build in a cushion into your budget also. Give yourself some breathing room when first creating your budget. Believe me, at least 25 small things will come up that you never thought of or at some point forgot to put on your list. I keep budgeting for the top number of people that will realistically attend, even though it probably will end up being 10-25 people less (that's alot of money when you multiply 10 times $100 pp (food and bev and welcome bags, linens for tables, etc.)

HTH!

JaiPeep · May 2012

YOu are awesome , thanks so much ths really helped out ! I have a buget , but i'm just being greedy. you are right , i need to step back and reevaluate my choices. In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_louisiana-new-orleans_budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:84Discussion:52327c19-3765-45d8-952a-c265f2c7ecd0Post:6d4334a7-b997-4266-b73c-22c38c9da940">Re: BUDGETS!!</a>:
[QUOTE]Do you have an actual budget? Not just a figure, but a plan of what all you need, and how much you're willing to spend? That's key, I think. Personally, I found the budget creep to be a death of a thousand cuts :-) Not just one thing, but all kinds of little added expenses come up so I think the best defense is to also cut costs in a bunch of little ways. Some of the ways I cut here and there: Haggle. The New Yorker/Islander in me is not afraid to bargain any and everything. The venue may have a set menu but it's not set in stone, just paper :-). Just eliminating gumbo, starter salads and unnecessary desserts alone, saved me over $21 per person. The hotel threw in one night for free for having our wedding there. I told them 1 night was impractical and asked for 2. Ask and you shall receive :-) Cake. I decided this just wasn't all that important. Saved $200 even if it wasn't the cake I thought tasted the best. It's just cake. It was beautiful. It tasted ok. No one talks about how it tasted but everyone talks about how beautiful it was. DIY. I fell in love with $1200 invitations. I decided to make them myself for about $240. I did almost anything paper-related myself. Try to do that in what ever area you're crafty. Makeup. I don't understand why that should cost $100 and more. I got gorgeous makeup for $35. Be willing to go beyond the usual vendors. Rehearsal Dinner. I just couldn't let this be a wedding before the wedding! Got creative. Made it a Rehearsal Lunch instead. Lunch always costs less than dinner. Bar. I closed mine during the time it took people to get from the cocktail hour to the ballroom, and then during toasts and first dances. That was 90 minutes of free time :-) Flowers. I LOVE me some flowers so I knew this would be a challenge but I cut out all ceremony flowers. I used faux hydrangeas on sale from Michael's. Total cost $25. I doubt anyone could tell. Also, since they were faux, they were easy to sell afterwards. For the ceremony, votives and silk petals are your friend :-) Bouquets. I do love flowers but I also saved money with not going crazy with these. The ones I liked at first would have been $140 each for each bridesmaid! Way too much. I got that down to $35. They're nice for pictures but really, you don't do anything with them after the ceremony. A personal preference but I'm glad I didn't splurge on these. I didn't even know where mine was, once I got into the champagne :-) Impulse purchases. Try not to buy the minute you see something and fall in love with it. Think about it. You may find a little later on, it's not as perfect as you thought, or that you can live with something else, that cost less. (I'm looking at you pricier-than-my-wedding-cake-fancy-veil-from-Kleinfeld's!) Decor. I had a lot of non-flower decor, which is easy to re-use, therefore easy to sell afterwards. Flowers can't be resold (unless they're faux). My reception decor was combination of fabrics and sparkly stuff :-) All easy to reuse and sell. And all cheaper than elaborate rentals and flowers. When I did splurge on flowers, I did them on every 2nd table-- half the cost right there. Logistics. Plan an event that doesn't require a lot of transportation and such. We rehearsed at the RD venue so I didn't have to pay for 1- transporting 35 people to the church & back, and 2- the $500 fee for rehearsing at the church. Music. We had our DJ set up a 2nd set at the church for ceremony music. Less than half the cost of live musicians. All these things will be different for each person, based on your individual priorities. For example, food was super important to us so even though we saved money cutting individual items, we also splurged on customizing the menu and special ordering champagne. But if you can find ways to cut (on things that doon't matter to you) then I think you'll be able to still splurge on the little things that do. Also, if I had it to do over again, I would have bought my dress pre-owned. There is a whole universe out there of pre-owned wedding gowns. I sold my wedding gown and it has already been worn by another bride, and a 2nd is buying it from her for her July wedding. In retrospect I think it was nuts of me to spend so much on a dress I wore for 7 hours. I know the dress is very special and personal and some people couldn't think of wearing a pre-owned one but that would have saved me $1000 right there. And if I had it to do all over again, I would. There are a ton of brides out there who are even selling never-worn dresses, new with tags because they bought a 2nd one after changing their minds. Wish I'd known that a year ago! HTH
Posted by bezlu[/QUOTE]

JaiPeep · May 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_louisiana-new-orleans_budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:84Discussion:52327c19-3765-45d8-952a-c265f2c7ecd0Post:94b89bfd-cc2e-44f9-9a05-bf625dae4c6d">Re: BUDGETS!!</a>: Thanks ! i'm trying to stay below $16,000- $18,000. Our venue is all inclusive as well (11,200). I brought my dress from Pearls' PLace also, it cost me about $900.00. I am also using Sabree as well , but have already been cheated our of $400 bucks from another photographer, due to them changing prices and not honoring the contract price that we were given. It's just the knick Knack things that are adding up.
[QUOTE]My budget was kind of open-ended around $25k. I'm getting absolutely everything I want, I'm just being creative about it. (My venue itself was $16,500). My mom makes really awesome cupcakes so instead of a cake she is making cupcakes and was honored I asked her so they're a "donation." Cake cost = $0. If you or a friend are good at doing make-up, do it yourself. I'm using Sabree Hill for photography, beyond affordable because she moved here recently from the Myrtle Beach area and she is still building her portfolio here but by no means is a beginner. A friend of mine is doing the videography so that was helpful. Think about everyone you know and someone may have a contact somewhere. My venue comes with everything already so we are only paying the flat price and not adding anything (not any decor, no centerpieces b/c the ones they have are already lovely). My dress was from Bridal Boutique on Severn, a little bit higher priced than David's but quailty is much better, less expensive than Town and Country. Check out ebridalsuperstore.com for dresses, super affordable, that's where I got my bridesmaid dresses. I know it's faux pas but I went to Pearl's Place, picked out the dress I wanted for my girls at $240 a piece, got them on this website for $157. They have wedding dresses too. A friend of mine ordered hydrangea blooms from Sams and used them for BM bouquets when I was in her wedding (I think her bill ran about $100 total). One of my BMs is great at doing little candies n things so she found a cute idea on Pinterest and is making my favors. Got save the date postcards from vistaprint (250 for 29 bux) and invitations from weddingpaperdivas (150 for $240). The more research you do, the better deals you will find. We are under budget as of now. We are going to a jewelry show at the Convention Center in August to get our wedding rings, that's where FI got my ring and it was a great deal less expensive than what they offered at a retail store. What is your venue? This seems to be an indicator of how much money people generally spend, some places offer bare bones, others offer absolutely everything.
Posted by mjlav1901[/QUOTE]

Queen Jane · May 2012

Do keep in mind any service fees, tax and gratuity that may not have been included in the pricing. Also, if you plan to second line, that's at least another 1K just for band and permit, you could always skip the hankies and umbrellas. Skip or DIY favors, do a low key rehearsal dinner or brunch. You could go minimal on flowers, bouquets only, non floral centerpieces. It sounds like you have the big things taken care of, just prioritize your "extras" and go from there.

Rdh2MrsOMFS · May 2012

We budgeted around $50,000. We spent around $80,000. I'm not even sure how much we spent to be honest. DH paid for most of it. I am no help. The most expensive items for us were the reception venue--around 30,000-40,000. Honeymoon--12,000ish. Invites 3000. Band 4-5000. I know having a daytime reception and cutting the guestlist will definitely help. Having a DJ instead of a band will also help. Offering apps instead of full dinner. Limited bar will also help!

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