Luxury Weddings

Luxury on a budget?

Wow, so the Knot informed me that our 'wedding date' is 9 months away. This may change, but it kinda kicked me back into wedding planning mode again (we had a rough year and it got put on the back burner). My dream wedding (hah) would be at a really luxurious place, but to keep it small. They offer elopement packages to include up to 12 guests (not sure we could keep it down to 12, but this is just speculation at this point), and the high-end cost estimate (as per their website) would be around $6,000 for a dinner reception, including one night stay for us (it's only an hour from where we live so no need for more than one night). I'm wondering, though, since that doesn't include anything else like music, or accessories (dress, suit, deco, etc.), or a rehearsal dinner... would $10,000 be a reasonable price range for a grand total on the whole event? I'm just trying to gauge how much more I'd need to add to the cost list..
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Re: Luxury on a budget?

  • You really need to break the other elements down.  Are you willing to have a budget dress or do you want a designer dress?  Same with suit--what do you want to spend/what level of quality do you expect?  For decor, do you want a lot of fresh flowers, or are you okay with just candles?  Everything is going to depend on what you want and where you are willing to cut corners.
  • Since they call it an elopement package are you sure that they don't include anything else? It seems like if it was a package it would include more than just dinner.
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  • Yes, it includes ceremony site set-up and service, wedding coordinator, champagne toast, 20-min post-ceremony boat tour, sommelier paired wines (since we don't drink, I may get the price cut by not including any alcohol), wedding cake, coffee service, and they have an add-on decorations package (tea lights, pillar candles, lanterns, and rose petals for ceremony area) for $125, and wedding arch rental for $250. The place is gorgeous in and of itself, so I don't see us needing many other added decorations or flowers. The guest list will be very small (probably just our parents and siblings) (and there will be no alcohol), so I don't foresee a need for extended music/dancing.
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  • Well with all that information I would say it would probably be doable at $10K. If you're having less than 12 people your rehearsal could be held at a restaurant for a few hundred dollars (especially if you don't drink). Minimal flowers and decor wouldn't be a lot. The biggest factor I think since almost everything else is supplied would be how much you want to spend on your dress. That's completely in your control though so you could just opt to set your budget for your dress to fit in that price range.
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  • I consider an elopement to be only two people, the B and G, so weird that they call it an elopement package. Our wedding was just the two of us, and taking our travel costs out of the equation, the actual wedding portion of our DW was around $8k. That included the celebrant, celebrant room (we were married on a very remote island), private dinner, champagne, cake, flowers, decor for reception, a set up for music (which had to be an ipod since the resort is run on solar), our attire, and photographer. The wedding package itself was $3000 AUD and the photographer was another $3000 AUD, so that is where we splurged. The island spoke for itself and due to the remote nature, I did my hair and makeup myself. We spent a lot on the travel aspect, since we went to Australia and HMed there, but the wedding part is doable.

     







  • It is very doable. While the scale of our wedding is much bigger than yours, I consider us to be doing a luxury on a budget wedding. There is no skimping on food, booze, or venue, which are all part of a package like yours. However, our flowers are from Costco (although very pretty). We are doing a small (two tier) cutting cake with either a sheet cake for serving or maybe a selection of flavors in smaller cakes. I went with a medium budget dress (which I painfully spent $200 to have the sash changed out) with alterations and everything came to $2000. We shopped around a lot for the DJ, you might be able to get away with an Ipod. We hired our photog through a company that decouples the shooting from the editing to keep costs down. Got really pretty invites off Zazzle with a discount for under $400 for Invites, TY notes, and reply cards. I think you can totally do it if you shop around a lot. Decide what is most important and don't skimp. What isn't as important you can find lower cost options.

    Good luck!

  • I also would consider myself luxury on a budget!  It sounds like as PPs have said, $10k is doable for your wedding.  Biggest variable is attire, so if you can choose a budget dress, you're probably in the clear.
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    "I'm not a rude bitch.  I'm ten rude bitches in a large coat."

  • MGPMGP member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited December 2013
    UberBiz said:
    Yes, it includes ceremony site set-up and service, wedding coordinator, champagne toast, 20-min post-ceremony boat tour, sommelier paired wines (since we don't drink, I may get the price cut by not including any alcohol), wedding cake, coffee service, and they have an add-on decorations package (tea lights, pillar candles, lanterns, and rose petals for ceremony area) for $125, and wedding arch rental for $250. The place is gorgeous in and of itself, so I don't see us needing many other added decorations or flowers. The guest list will be very small (probably just our parents and siblings) (and there will be no alcohol), so I don't foresee a need for extended music/dancing.

    Your initial post described it as a "dinner package" but you didn't list an actual dinner on the breakdown. So does that include dinner or not? Because $500/pp for only champagne, wine, cake, and coffee sounds high. Personally I would NEVER pay that without a full meal, and at that price point I think your guests would expect dinner.
  • MGP said:
    UberBiz said:
    Yes, it includes ceremony site set-up and service, wedding coordinator, champagne toast, 20-min post-ceremony boat tour, sommelier paired wines (since we don't drink, I may get the price cut by not including any alcohol), wedding cake, coffee service, and they have an add-on decorations package (tea lights, pillar candles, lanterns, and rose petals for ceremony area) for $125, and wedding arch rental for $250. The place is gorgeous in and of itself, so I don't see us needing many other added decorations or flowers. The guest list will be very small (probably just our parents and siblings) (and there will be no alcohol), so I don't foresee a need for extended music/dancing.

    Your initial post described it as a "dinner package" but you didn't list an actual dinner on the breakdown. So does that include dinner or not? Because $500/pp for only champagne, wine, cake, and coffee sounds high. Personally I would NEVER pay that without a full meal, and at that price point I think your guests would expect dinner.
    I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. The things I listed are included with the elopement package, and the total cost I mentioned includes the add-on dinner reception afterward. I estimated high with all the extras they offer whether I was sure I wanted it or not just to get a high-end estimate.
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  • Wait.  Do I understand this correctly?  You're going to spend possibly 6 grand to host 12 people? 6 thousand dollars?  Ok, its your money and you can do what ever you want but I am very curious what this place offers for that amount of money.  What does 500.00 pp get you?
  • Don't forget photography. Don't know where you live, but where I live a basic package costs about $2500-3000.
  • Wait.  Do I understand this correctly?  You're going to spend possibly 6 grand to host 12 people? 6 thousand dollars?  Ok, its your money and you can do what ever you want but I am very curious what this place offers for that amount of money.  What does 500.00 pp get you?

    A lot of it depends on the venue.

    Fi and I are considering holding our wedding at a high end restaurant that regularly runs $500-$1000 per person just for a meal. So for the 10 people, not even including a rental fee or really anything but just dinner it could be up to $10,000.
  • Wait.  Do I understand this correctly?  You're going to spend possibly 6 grand to host 12 people? 6 thousand dollars?  Ok, its your money and you can do what ever you want but I am very curious what this place offers for that amount of money.  What does 500.00 pp get you?
    A lot of it depends on the venue. Fi and I are considering holding our wedding at a high end restaurant that regularly runs $500-$1000 per person just for a meal. So for the 10 people, not even including a rental fee or really anything but just dinner it could be up to $10,000.

    I agree. The OP also said her accommodations were included in that package price. The resort where we got married was over $1000/night and we don't know if where she is getting married is $200/night or $2000/night! She also didn't say if it included any of the paperwork fees or the celebrant fee. In fact, she didn't go into much detail about the inclusions at all other than a "reception" and her room!

     







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