Budget - Are you over or under?

creato2304 · June 2015

Hello Ladies!

As our big day draws near I am starting to fret about our budget as my FI and I are covering the cost for everything even the RD.

In the very beginning we set an estimated budget for the venue, invitations, music, transportation, etc. For me, I created three budgets that my FI and I could choose from that would work within our current lifestyle. These budgets were created based off of initial quotes we received from most important vendors such as ceremony/ reception venues, music, and transportation. It looks as though we will be exceeding our initial $15,000 budget which really worries me as we are so close to our wedding day.

We have placed deposits on the vendors we wanted and booked early to avoid not getting the ones we had our hearts set on. We have a guaranteed amount of 100 guests booked for our reception venue however we invited 150. If those 150 all show up we are totally screwed!

I am a DIY bride so that has helped out a lot and has saved us over $5,000. At this point, I don't want to risk losing the deposits of the vendors that we currently have and searching for new ones that we might not be able to find one that isn't booked up already. Our excitement continues to build as the big day draws near and I can't help the anxiety kicking in because we will be exceeding our budget.

So I guess my question is if anyone else has gone over their budget or is under and how are you dealing with it? Any advice would certainly be appreciated!

P.S. My FI and I have already agreed to not go into debt by financing our wedding so that is totally out of the question.

creato2304 · June 2015

aliwis000 · June 2015

I know how you feel. But one mistake you have made is inviting too many people. In your post it seems that you have invited 150, but if they all show up you are "screwed". Never invite more people than you can afford. Yes sometimes that means people get left off the list and then when people decline you feel bad about not inviting them. (You cannot go back and invite them however bc that is B-listing and considered rude.) However, I am not sure how you have invited ANYONE yet as you are way to far away from sending invites. So you have time to cut the list down.

Invite only those you can comfortably afford. Period.

As for saving money. You mention DIY. Now I am a DIY girl myself, I love doing stuff for the holidays etc. HOWEVER, my wedding was not a time I wanted to worry about projects to complete. Not to mention my DIY projects usually do not save a bunch of money for me they just create something unique that I want. DIY does not equal cheap.

My advice is cut everything you can.

Favors? Not required and so many people leave them anyway. So ditch them.
Flowers on tables? A few single stems in simple dollar store vases and some votive candles and you are good to go.

There are just so many things that are not really needed and that nobody will notice on the day of. Think back, how many table set ups from weddings do you really remember. I know for me it is slim to none. The only one I do really remember was probably the most fancy wedding I ever went to. And knowing what I know now I would say they spent over 30k on flowers alone. So that being said, all the ones less than that have been forgotten. Since I cannot play in that ballpark why try? My flowers will also be forgotten so I can do something small, nice but do not need to be spending a lot.

For invites we are doing a simple panel card. I quoted it yesterday and for 120 invites and all the other stuff, evn. and RSVP cards, it was about 160 bucks. Not bad.

Really take a good look at everything you are doing and ask yourself if it is really required. If not, even if it is a cheap DIY, scrap it. Even if it only saves you a dollar that is one less item to cart around, one less thing to think about, one less then to stress about.

Good luck!

island07b2b · June 2015

We are on budget thankfully. I am a stickler for budgeting and every aspect of my wedding has a dollar value. Our budget is based on 120 guests and everything purchased/booked to date was with that number in mind. To stay on budget I am shifting line item amounts around as necessary. For example, if I go over the budget for flowers then I will away from videography and lighting and if I go under on catering I will allocated the surplus to photography.

As the wedding gets closer I am now wanting a more intimate affair and going for a guest count of 75 to 90. If that happens we will definitely go under budget.

NowIamMrsKlein · June 2015

We are fairly close on budget of 24K (which still makes me cringe that we're spending that much but its fairly average in our area). We've had a couple things ending up costing more than anticipated, ex. suits and officiant but we were able to save money elsewhere.

I am expecting to go slightly over on estimated cost of food because we decided to do a midnight lunch and the caterer charges more than we anticipated for that.

At the end of the day I think we will be about 2K over budget. Which is a lot, but do-able. We have more than enough money saved to pay for the entire thing, so it won't break the bank.

ETA: I manage our budget with a spreadsheet, If I go over expected budget in one category, I look for where I can make up that money elsewhere. Once I knew we went over on suits, I decided to DIY flowers instead of ordering them from a florist.

[Deleted User] · June 2015

I had a budget set for each individual category (dress, venue, food, etc), and so far have managed to stay under budget for all! But I have been crazy DIY'ing so that has helped some. Fingers crossed it will all be well!

CourtC77 · June 2015

We are technically over what we originally thought and planned. We are planning a smaller wedding with a guest list of 100 so we originally thought we could do it for $15,000. Then we started looking at venues and vendors and realized it was going to be quite a bit more. Thankfully, both our parents have generously offered to pay so we could be more flexible with the budget. It's looking like we are going to fall somewhere between 25k-30k when all I said and done. We are in the process of looking for our first home so looking at the cost of the wedding is making me cringe!

creato2304 · June 2015

Thank you ladies for all of your insight and especially sharing your experiences. It is really none of my business in how much you spend and I am really appreciative that you have shared your experiences. It is good to know that I am not the only one going through something like this. For now, we are going to re-look at our budget and everything that is a non-necessity and see what we can cut out.

Thanks all for your support and advice!

Iamnowmrsjms · August 2015

Under!

We invited 171 (FI's side is all OOT) and our final count is only 106, so it will be much less than we thought we would spend.

thefanciestbeckler · August 2015

Yeah we are a little over

We budgeted for $10,000 (which is pretty average for my area). Unfortunately I didn't take into consideration any extra fees when I came up with this budget (tips, random stuff like napkins, cups, postage, etc.). So for base cost such as venue, photography, DJ and food we are right on point. But hidden costs were the kicker!

NowIamMrsKlein · August 2015

We are a little under. We budgeted for 200, have 140 coming. However we spent a bit more in other places to it's pretty evened out in that sense.

julieanne912 · September 2015

We never quite had a set budget but I had one in mind once we set up all the vendors. We invited almost 200 and only have about 130 coming, so that dropped everything down... flowers are less, catering is less, desserts are less, alcohol will be less, so I would say we are coming in under.

britneydel · September 2015

We should hopefully be under budget.

We were planning on 120 people, but only about 75 are coming. And our families have graciously offered to cover the costs of cocktail hour and alcohol.

Budget - Are you over or under?

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