8 Wedding Expenses That Are Actually Worth Splurging for

stefuhknee · July 2015

http://www.bustle.com/articles/99882-8-wedding-expenses-that-are-actually-worth-spending-your-money-on-if-you-feel-like-splurging?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=owned&utm_campaign=bustle

Inquiring minds want to know, do you ladies agree with this list?

Casadena · July 2015

hahahah, not a chance.

Good food and good music are the 2 things people remember (in my experience). Neither has to be a "splurge".

cupcait927 · July 2015

There are a few on that list that I agree with -

- I didn't get my dream dress and went with a cheaper dress instead - I hated it the entire day of my wedding and hate looking at it in pictures. My dream dress wasn't that more expensive and I would've been so much happier.

- Our photographer was a friend that's got a budding photography business and was very cheap. The pictures are good but not great. I wish had splurged more there.

- Food is where we did spend good money. We had a small guest list in part so that we could have amazing food. We would've spent good money on alcohol as well but we got married at a winery that only charged us $5 a glass and we got to have 7 wines on the bar. We also got a keg of craft beer instead of going for something cheap. We've gotten so many compliments from people since the wedding, saying that our food was absolutely amazing.

AlexisA01 · July 2015

I agree somewhat. I loved my dress; it was gorgeous. We did splurge more on the venue, food, booze. I wanted "hella" good food and drinks. It was important that could have a variety of options for our guest and enjoy the time. All of our wedding party got amazing gifts and it was wonderful to know their likes and dislikes. Wedding planner came with the venue automatically.

NowIamMrsKlein · July 2015

Photographer for sure was our biggest splurge. It's the one thing that you can take away from your day, its all thats left after the days done! I've had some friends go the cheap route and really regret it.

I don't agree with other things on that list. Our venue was not a splurge, it was super cheap but it fits our needs perfectly. Our food is going to be delicious and everyone will be full but we didn't feel the need to upgrade to fancy food when our guests are more chicken and beef people anyway.

Also, my dress is my dream dress. Its perfect, I have had not one ounce of dress regret. It was the cheapest dress I tried on and was only 500$ 'Splurging' on a dress would not have found me a dress i loved more. It's not about the cost of the dress, its about how the dress makes you feel.

stefuhknee · July 2015

I definitely feel like food and drinks would be where I'd want to "splurge" the most as they seem to be the most memorable aspects of a reception for guests but photography and the venue seem like they can be big ones too.

I'm still torn on the dress one though, some of those prices are just insane. I recently went to a Vera Wang sample sale and they had $8,000 dresses for $500!

ShesSoCold · July 2015

Those are like, all the things. Except flowers.

Food and drink are the only ones I agree with.

When I got my first job and wanted to buy dumb crap, my mom always said, "How many hours do you have to work to pay for that?". It still pisses me off because I still think of that and I still talk myself out of buying useless crap I don't need but really want. I found a dress I loved but it was over budget. I broke it down to $400 PER HOUR to wear that dress. I don't make much so that was a lot of hours. Nope. Went with one in budget. NBD.

Edited because I lied. Venue was pretty important to me. But I don't think I cut anything really anywhere else to get a nice venue. To me, a "splurge" is something you can't afford but really want, so you make it happen. We didn't cut anything when we fell in love with a venue, we just knew crap like flowers weren't important to us so we weren't doing them anyway. A great venue that's out of the price range isn't worth it, IMHO.

[Deleted User] · July 2015

We splurged on our venue, the food, and the bar. Our DJ is supposed to be amazing, but he isn't really what I would call a "splurge".

I think food an entertainment are by and large the most important things, but that's my personal opinion. We knew that's what we were gonna splurge on.

If you are going to splurge on a few things, I think those things should be those that affect the experience for your guests. No one is going to give a shit if you're wearing a $10,000 dress. But they will give a shit if you're obviously wearing a $10,000 dress, but have a bar that is only hosted for half of the night.

CMGragain · July 2015

It sounds to me that this was written by someone in the wedding industry. I didn't splurge on anything, and my wedding was perfectly fine. My sister had a very modest wedding in a city park, and it was great fun, and beautiful. My late grandmother was married twice, both times in private ceremonies. She never regretted a thing!

aliwis000 · July 2015

I agree with those that have said that is like all the things...or at least the majority of them.

Being able to "splurge" on something limits you to like one or two things....not 8 things all being potentially big ticket items. For me doing a splurge on the venue would mean I could not do the same on the dress and photography and etc.

I think this article is just fluff.

[Deleted User] · July 2015

I splurged on a planner to keep my sanity and on photography. I am still hosting beer, wine, and mimosas for our brunch wedding and a buffet of yummy food that my very Midwest family and friends will enjoy.

I spent and budgeted for the guests first, and allocated "left over" money to everything else.

julieanne912 · July 2015

I did end up splurging on my dress, which I sort of hate myself for, but not really. My original budget was $1,000 all in. I ended up spending a bit over $2,000 with alterations, veil, belt, etc. But it will fit like a dream (second fitting is tomorrow, yay!), and it's gorgeous. It wasn't my dream dress though. My dream dress was a Reem Acra dress from a couple years ago... I don't even know how much it was but I'm sure it was a lot.

I guess we are also splurging on having an open bar. We are buying the liquor and the caterer provides the bartender. It won't be top shelf, but it won't be super shitty either. Most weddings in FI's circle have had hosted beer/wine but cash liquor so I'm sure people will dig it.

redheadbride15 · July 2015

I disagree with all except the dinner, the booze, and the photographer - and to say you need to "splurge" here is a bit excessive. Instead I'd say don't cut your budget by skimping on these things. The dress, gifts, venue, transportation are all details that will quickly be forgotten if they are even noticed to begin with. And the wedding planner isn't necessary unless you're splurging on all of the above. The main thing I learned in this process is that weddings really don't need to be as complicated as everyone makes them out to be.

monkeysip · July 2015

I think these things are all relative.

Our venue was a "splurge" to us, but may not be a "splurge" in some people's eyes. In that case, we splurged on food, venue, photography, and videography. The dress was kind of medium.

The ones I REALLY disagree with are splurging on transportation and a wedding planner. Didn't have or need a wedding planner. And wasn't going to put a ton of money towards our ride to the reception or back to the hotel. I mean, if you want to spend your money on a fancy rental or limo or something, cool. But transportation would've been last on our list. We just drove our car.

WinstonsGirl · July 2015

We splurged on photographers. I was adamant about who I wanted as they did my Brother's wedding and were amazing. DH was a little shocked at the price to start but we went with them anyways.

Venue was expensive too. We originally did a DW partially cos we wanted a cheap wedding (my friend got married in Cuba for $6000). Yeah, not so much in Hawaii.

I kinda splurged on my dress too. I went in with no budget in mind, though I don't really see the point in spending so much on a dress for 1 day. I was very comfortable with the price of the 1 I found though, and had no issues paying for alterations on top of that. I'm only wearing a wedding dress once, so I wanted to love it and look absolutely amazing in it.

kvruns · July 2015

Our venue was the only splurge though it was cheaper than a similar venue so not a huge splurge just more than a banquet hall setting

aliwis000 · July 2015

Also I am not sure some of these things are actually a splurge. Well I guess everyone has their own definition of what is a splurge. Technically anything more than a marriage license and a person to marry you is a splurge.

I did get a wedding planner but I do not consider it a splurge. I travel for work almost every week, life is very busy and I am also in the process of starting a new role at my company so life is crazy. I honestly considered this a need for my sanity. I do understand that some would consider this a splurge others would think I should have spent more on the planner.

Fran1985 · July 2015

AlexisA01 said:

I agree somewhat. I loved my dress; it was gorgeous. We did splurge more on the venue, food, booze. I wanted "hella" good food and drinks. It was important that could have a variety of options for our guest and enjoy the time. All of our wedding party got amazing gifts and it was wonderful to know their likes and dislikes. Wedding planner came with the venue automatically.

@AlexisA01 I missed that you got married- did you end up moving up the date? You should give us an update thread if you get a chance since everyone is/was so concerned about your situation! I know we'd all love to hear how you are doing

mrscomposer · July 2015

Lol at all of that in small town Manitoba. You book what you can and pay what you need to. So you can take that two ways, I guess - either nothing was a splurge because it was just what we budgeted for, or everything was a splurge because we got exactly what we wanted.

I guess I did splurge on my BM gifts. I spent several hundred on a basket full of stuff for each of them. But I didn't consider that a splurge - that was just fun because I love them.

emmaaa · July 2015

Those "8 things" basically cover almost everything.

I think food, booze, and photographers are important. However, we did not spend an insane amount on any of those things.

sparklepants41 · July 2015

mrscomposer said:

I guess I did splurge on my BM gifts. I spent several hundred on a basket full of stuff for each of them. But I didn't consider that a splurge - that was just fun because I love them.

I completely agree. WP gifts were definitely something we splurged on - we wanted to show our gratitude for their love and friendship over the years.

Plus, I love giving gifts (and wrapping is one of my favorite things to do!)

beachyone15 · July 2015

We budgeted for everything needed to host our guests well. So I guess the only thing we "splurged" on (ie went over our original budget on) was my dress. My mom paid for that and she loved the dress on me so she didn't hesitate in telling me to get it!

Maggie0829 · July 2015

I don't think you have to splurge on anything. As long as the food tastes fan-freaking-tastic then I don't care if you paid $10 pp or $100 pp. I, personally, don't need fancy shit to be impressed. All I care about is that my tummy is full and each bite made me go "yum." Same with booze. I don't need a glass of super expensive wine. Get me a tasty Riesling or a Pinot Griot and I am happy. Hell that shit can come out of a box as long as it tastes good.

And why is it necessary to splurge on a dress? My dress wasn't inexpensive by any means, but I loved it and it was within my budget. If I had the means to buy a $10K dress I wouldn't have because I loved my dress. You don't need to spend a shit ton to find a dress that you love. A dress doesn't have to be $X or by a particular designer to be special and beautiful.

I just don't agree with that list. I mean everything with a wedding is a "splurge."

novella1186 · July 2015

I disagree with all of those except for food and booze.

We splurged on our photographers (although food, alcohol and music were our top three priorities so most of our budget went there) and I feel like we could have spent less and gotten similar results. Their portfolio was awesome and they came highly recommended and had tons and tons of good reviews. They definitely checked out. But my favorite photo from our wedding was actually taken by one of the guests.

And for the record, the photogs are now 4 weeks past our contract deadline and I have yet to receive the actual photos. Jerks. So splurging doesn't necessarily mean you're getting the very best.

ETF word fail

MissKittyDanger · July 2015

going through list one by one since I'm half-half

1 - dress
personally no. Mine was $650 after tax - included alterations and sash. I got a discount because of my body type

2 - venue

depends on budget. there are many lovely venues that are low cost.

3 - dinner

yes! Even though I couldn't tell you what I ate at other weddings, you want your guests feeling happy after they eat.

4 - booze

that goes with venue. higher-end places will have the upper shelf options, where as lower-cost may not have the quality some people want. like venue, depends on budget

5 - photographer

i'm going to say no as personal choice. I'm not paying a lot for my photographer, but I know her and her quality is excellent.

6 - transportation

personally no. we debated on a limo, but for the short amount of time we'd need it the price was beyond what we anticipated.

7 - gifts for wedding party

again, depends on budget. if you can afford something expensive then yes. if not, don't break the bank. they wouldn't want you too.

8 - wedding planner

fuck that noise.

melbenso · July 2015

I suppose that depends on how you define "splurge."

Should you put your money into good food and not having a cash bar so that your guests will have a good time? Absolutely. But we had delicious food at less than $50 per person (counting multiple apps, dinner, and two dessert options) and our open bar with 5 wines, 6 beers, well and call liquor cost a little over $2K because we decided not to serve premium liquor and kept our guest list small enough. Food and beverages was definitely where the bulk of our wedding money went, but I wouldn't call it splurging. That's how it should be. We had a very reasonable budget and were able to stick with it.

I did fall in love with a dress that was above my planned budget, but only by about $100 or so. I could afford it, so I got it. My dress plus alterations and undergarments still cost me less than $1,000, so again, hardly splurging.

I loved our venue, and it was completely within our budget. It even came with a DOC as part of the fee. She was fantastic and a great help, but I wouldn't have hired a wedding planner separately. And even if our ceremony, reception, and hotel weren't all in the same place, there is no way I would have spent money on a limo that could have been used for better appetizers or higher quality alcohol at the bar.

Our photographer was amazing, came highly reviewed, and was the least expensive by far of those we met with (the advantage of booking early - because she is so good and so inexpensive, she gets very busy very quickly.)

My husband made the gifts for our wedding party (he makes jewelry as a hobby - its quite lovely). He did spend a bit on supplies, but nothing outrageous. And everyone got an original piece, made especially for them, based on their personal tastes.

So yeah... splurge might be a bit much. We had the wedding we wanted - and that our guests enjoyed - for about $12K total, which was just what we budgeted for.

twoleighs · July 2015

I think the article was meaning splurge as above and beyond what you would normally do. So you originally were going to have a delish entree? Well you have some extra bucks, upgrade that. Open bar? Upgrade to premium. Stuff like that.

I so wish we had hired a planner...and we only had ~20 people!

Our photographer cost more than the food! (again, 20 peeps, and they were fed WELL.) It was SO worth it, our pictures are fantastic and our photographer was amazing!

lovemesomemonster · July 2015

This list is interesting, they basically took everything except what the men were wearing, decorations, and invites and put it on a list saying to "splurge". It depends what your definition is, we got our dream venue that was way less expensive than a lot of other places, but they do all the catering which runs a little higher than other places I could have possibly found and they have a minimum, they are also not so high that I would call it a splurge. I got my dream dress but was within budget, it was hard to spend that much but it was within budget so I wouldn't call that a splurge.

In my mind I would call a splurge something that I threw out the original budget for that part because I found something amazing I couldn't do without and we didn't do that with any of it, although we aren't exactly having a totally budget wedding so I suppose what we are spending on each part could be considered one.

thisismynickname2 · July 2015

Agree with all others that this really depends on what you consider a splurge.

Completely disagree with splurging on a dress. If you have budgeted, oh, $3k and you try one on that's $3500 and you couldn't be happy with anything else you tried on that was under $3k, well, go ahead and "splurge" the extra five hundred. But for me, my dream dress was $3k and I couldn't imagine spending that on attire for one day. No way would I splurge on that. I felt beautiful in my $350 dress.

Now then, $3k for photography is exactly what I did. I wanted great photos; I wanted the memories. I wasn't really sure what to budget until I starting comparing portfolios and prices. $3k was more than I anticipated paying, but I felt the need to spend it to get what I wanted. Is that a splurge? Probably.

Where we live, $100+ a plate was a given. That's not splurging, that's the reality of the situation.

Transportation? Eff that noise. My friends had a bit of sticker shock over the cost of fancy buses and limos so they booked a school bus for a couple hundred bucks. Who cares?

This article totally reads like a wedding planner who charges 10% of the cost of the wedding. Splurge splurge splurge!

kvruns · July 2015

MsKittyDanger said:

going through list one by one since I'm half-half

1 - dress
personally no. Mine was $650 after tax - included alterations and sash. I got a discount because of my body type

2 - venue
depends on budget. there are many lovely venues that are low cost.

3 - dinner
yes! Even though I couldn't tell you what I ate at other weddings, you want your guests feeling happy after they eat.

4 - booze
that goes with venue. higher-end places will have the upper shelf options, where as lower-cost may not have the quality some people want. like venue, depends on budget

5 - photographer
i'm going to say no as personal choice. I'm not paying a lot for my photographer, but I know her and her quality is excellent.

6 - transportation
personally no. we debated on a limo, but for the short amount of time we'd need it the price was beyond what we anticipated.

7 - gifts for wedding party
again, depends on budget. if you can afford something expensive then yes. if not, don't break the bank. they wouldn't want you too.

8 - wedding planner
fuck that noise.

What is a discount because of body type? you fit the sample so you bought that? Or ...?

fyrchk · July 2015

The word "splurge" has now lost all meaning to me after reading it and saying it in my head so many times. Like when you repeat a word so often it just sounds weird. That's where I am

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