Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

I have to say, after MUCH thought about the question, I can honestly say I feel I didn't waste a single cent on my wedding day. I kept everything in perspective and very elegant. Everyone noticed the little details, and I feel very fortunate. I WILL, however, tell you what I'm GLAD I didn't waste my money on:

A 'wedding' photographer. I might get some flack for this, but I don't really care. We used a freelance photojournalist who took AMAZING pictures. They look like they belong in a magazine. All of the 'wedding' photographers I went to see wanted to charge a minimum of 5K and only give us 300-500 proofs. We paid 2500 for our photographer and got 1400+ AMAZING pictures.


A day of coordinator. If you're orgazined and you communicate with your vendors in a reasonable way, then you really shouldn't need a doc. JMO.

Chair covers. SO glad I didn't do these. Granted we happened to have great chairs at our wedding, I just think that paying the extra money for someone to plant their azz on it would have been going overboard for us.


High centerpieces. I REALLY REALLY wanted high, full centerpieces at first. Then, when I met with my florist one day at Borders, she said, 'Stand up. You see all of those tall bookcases? Well, now sit down. They disappear, right?' Well, she made her point. I went with beautiful, full, no filler low centerpieces that people were able to admire ALL night, rather than just when they walk in. BEST decision ever, as my flowers were probably the prettiest I have seen at any wedding ever. (and I've been to a lot of weddings.)


We didn't splurge on extras for the coctail hour. Our package happened to include a lot, but I really wanted to add a couple of extra things. after some thought, it wasn't worth the extra 12 bucks per person for the things I wanted. Well, guess what? Our planner at the Bourne threw them in on the day of the wedding for us, anyway! I would have KICKED myself for paying 12 bucks extra pp.



I also did not cave on paying someone 150-200 dollars to come to my house and do my hair. After a little more footwork and research, I found someone who came to me and only charged me 65! And my girls were only 35!


Shoes, so glad I bought relatively cheap ones. They were off in about 4 hours, and my flip flops were on for the next 8 hours!



HTH!

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

my veil and tiara!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i spent BIG BIG bucks on them (eve of milady swarofski crystal tiara and silk veil). i did love them but i could have gotten fake ones that were still pretty! especially the veil (who knew that it was real silk and that much money?!? i could've gotten one for 1/16 the price and it would've looked just as good!)

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

Great info! Keep them coming!

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

now that I'm married, I can honestly say that nothing I had at my wedding was a waste.

But on another note, here are some extras I was THINKING of adding, but glad that I didn't!

1. a DOC. My Maitre D was so good that I didn't need one.
2. special CH music. to be honest, no one even noticed there was music at the CH. everyone was too busy drinking, eating and talking... and then it was over.
3. expensive invites. my invites cost $200, a far cry from what I had originally wanted. at the end of the day, it's a piece of paper that gets thrown in the garbage and I am so glad I didn't spend more $.

ETA: here are a few things I am glad we spent the extra $ on

1. photographer. Dan Wagner is very reasonable compared to the bigger studios, but we are going to be ordering additional things from him now, 'a la carte'. this is one area that I wouldn't dream to 'cheap out' on!
2. my w-ring. This was definitely a 'splurge'. But for a ring of a lifetime, it's worth it!!

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

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Posted by David'sbride

Luckily I'm the last of my friends and family to be married so I learned a lot of these lessons from them.

My FSIL gave me this piece of advice...
'Spend money on the things that last beyond the day'

So I took that to mean rings, photography, honeymoon.

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That is the best advice I have heard!!! Thanks!

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

bump

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

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Posted by wood2be

My aisle runner. It got wrinkled after I walked down the aisle and looks like crap in the pictures.

We added a scoop of sherbet to the menu. It was served between the salad and main course. Mom thought it was elegent. I thought it was a huge waste of $$$. They charged us $6 per scoop!!

That's all!

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I agree with you there. I've seen pictures of weddings out side with an aisle runner on the grass and it looks terrible. it gets wrinkled and bunchy with every step you take.
However on wooden, thin carpet, smooth tile and other flat areas they do look nice. But I'm having an our side wedding, so no way for me.

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

like some of the other girls, i don't feel like i wasted any money for my wedding... i was a very budget conscious bride, and really kept costs down... but there are a few things i'm glad i didnt' wasted money on...

1) DOC- if you're organized, you don't need one. if you want somebody to kind of handle things while your getting ready and things, ask an aunt or a close friend or your mom's... you really just need somebody in the morning, because once you get to the reception, the maitre d takes over things...

2) chair covers- i REALLY wanted these, but in the end just couldn't justify spending the extra money... and i'm sooo glad- people weren't in the seats most of the time anyway, and it was dark, so the only time you really noticed the chair covers are the first second you walk in the room... not worth the extra money, imo..

3) expensive invites- sure, they set the tone for the whole wedding, but most of them end up in the trash. there are a lot of great websites out there that sell really nice invitations for great prices, so theres really no need to spend a lot for expensive linen paper or anything

4) shoes- nobody sees them under all that dress and crinoline slip... and mine came off as soon as i danced with my dad anyway, so i'm glad i didn't spend much...

5) big centerpeices- i just had a hurricane vase wth a candle in it and a wreath of flowers around it. people were up dancing and not at the tables the whole night anyway.

overall, i agree with the other post about spending more on things that last after the day. photographer, rings, bouquets ( because you'll be looking at them in pics forever), and good food- becasue people remember good food

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

i'm so glad this thread was bumped.

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

Kepp them coming....

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

I am seriously thinking of forgetting about disposable cameras at the tables....I have already followed a lot of the advice given here so far. Please give MORE!!!

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

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Posted by David'sbride

Luckily I'm the last of my friends and family to be married so I learned a lot of these lessons from them.

My FSIL gave me this piece of advice...
'Spend money on the things that last beyond the day'

So I took that to mean rings, photography, honeymoon.

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great advice. thats what were doing

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

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Posted by wood2be

We added a scoop of sherbet to the menu. It was served between the salad and main course. Mom thought it was elegent. I thought it was a huge waste of $$$. They charged us $6 per scoop!!

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My sister was supposed to have a 'pink champagne sorbet' intermezzo (which was actually delicious) and they paid a lot for it ( not sure exactly how much). Well, the hall messed up and served it at the end of the meal...It was so bizarre. It was like they completely forgot about it and then tried to pass it off as dessert.

Luckily, my sister was the most low-key bride ever and didn't care....

My sister wished she hadn't spent extra money to have really elaborate arrangements on the altar at the church. I was the MOH and I honestly didn't even notice them.

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

I think I will skip the disposable cameras. The cost of having them and then developing the pics, don't seem worth the moeny or effort. These tips are great! Please keep them coming! I am considering using a local florist for the church to try to save some money but I am worried as to quality.

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

This is all sooo helpful! Thanks ladies!

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

great advice from all you past brides!!

FH and i are on such a Tiiiiiight budget, that we are definetely trying to make sure we don't waste $$. i agree with making the BP party smaller...i am having a MOH, 1 BM, and 1 male BM, and FH is having BM, and 2 GM. That's it! Nothing crazy! A lot of the things you are talking about that were a waste: i.e.--petal cones, cry packs, cameras on tables, huge CP's, etc. we are already not gonna do!

while i'm not married yet...i have heard a lot of brides say one thing that they did waste at their weddings....TIME! too often the brides start stressing over all those little things they bought, and they don't get the chance to take the shots with friends and family that they really want to capture with the photographer...and i hear them say 'i wish i had realized i didn't get pics with the ppl i really wanted.'

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

for my flowers, i actually picked out exactly what i wanted and did not splurge, it actually ended up be one of my cheapest expesnes b/c i went with candles for the main centerpieces of the table and it came out great.
for dress and veil, i spent almost as much on my veil as i did my dress and right now it's just hanging in the closet, it was probably my fav thing from my wedding, though
photography - i wish i had spent more and gone with a better photog b/c i don't like a single one of the pics he took, so maybe i shouldn't say more, maybe i should have just let my friend take the pics, since she gave the the ony ones i liked anyway
umm.. biggest waste of money, i don't know, the whole slipper thing was a lifesaver, so maybe my shoes were the biggest waste. searched long and hard for ones that wouldn't hurt and my shoes ended up being soooo painful, u see me in my pain in my video my whole ceremony, the minute it was over, the slippers went on!!

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

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Posted by xcalystax

I think I will skip the disposable cameras. The cost of having them and then developing the pics, don't seem worth the moeny or effort. These tips are great! Please keep them coming! I am considering using a local florist for the church to try to save some money but I am worried as to quality.

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And in this day and age just about everone except for me has digital cameras.

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

Great Advice. Keep them coming.

Re: For you not-yet-married Brides from us Already married Brides: What was the biggest waste of money involved in your wedding?

please