Advice Needed

Advice Needed

Don't mind me...I have already been major stressing over a wedding that's 2 yrs away!! It's all over $$$. No fights, just stressing. P.S. FH has been SO supportive. We need to hit the lotto BIG time.

Our wedding is July 2006 - all that is booked is the church. We found a couple halls we loved, but the payment plans are too much.

I want to have the wedding I want. I don't want to look back in 5 or 10 years and say 'I wish I had cone this, or that.' On the other hand, I don't want to turn back and say 'I spent all that $$ on 1 day!'

I have thought about cutting the guest list, but it's hard to cut people out. We are already having a Fri night (dont want day b/c we are NOT morning people at all!). I know July is expensive, and I am now starting to open my options up. (Thanks to all your advice from my 'which month July or Feb' post)

Any ideas??? I am NOT a materialistic person. I need to find ways to get/save $$ fast. Hmmmm, rob a bank! I wish. My dad said he'd give us $1000. My mom....have not talked to her about $ yet. (parents are divorced and remarried).

Sorry to have rambled on, but I feel so alone in this $$$ battle. Thanks for 'listening'

-Jill

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Also July 4th is on a Tuesday that year. Have u tried to get prices for the Monday before?

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I'm getting married at Arianawaterfall.(www.arianawaterfall.com) They have packages. Its the same price all year round expect the winter months. THe place is beautiful. If you want to be on a budget, this would be a perfect place. They're real nice and answer whatever questions you may have.

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You sound like me 2 years ago.

How many people are you having? And how much do you want to spend?

First make a budget of your bills and expenses and see how much money you can afford to save each month. Put that money away every month! We set up an ING account, they have great interest rates. My FH and I put away $2500 a month (combined) for almost 2 years now. We don't make a lot of money. We both worked 2 jobs for a while, and I STILL waitress 1 night a week. Even if you can fo $200 a month each, after 2 years you will have almost $10K.

Definately use the boards to find inexpensive vendor

We are having our reception at our 5th choice of halls. It was more important to us to invite all 280 of our guests and have it here, than to have it at some extravagant hall but only invite 80 people. IMO reception halls only provide walls and food... it is the people that make the party

I looked at some very nice inexpensive halls, some of which had all-inclusive packages.

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Thank you all. See, part of the problem is taht FH and I work opposite shifts, and only have 1 day a week together. But the past month, we have not had that 1 day b/c he's had to work O/T (he's a cop) and now that the damn convention and US Open are here, I will not even see him for at least a week, maybe more. Anyway, we have not ast down and figured out exactly what we can afford to put away.

We have talked budget, and figure the MAX we can do is 80/pp. (before tax & Grat). We are doing a Friday night, but I am open to holiday weekends....Hmmmm now I will have to look into the Monday b4 July4.

We both went to Leonard's and Jericho Terrace, he liked JT better. I went to (are you sitting down) John Anthony's, Riviera (Massapequa), Terrace on the Park, Caffe on the Green, Chateau La Mer, Crest Hollow, Fox Hollow, Westbury Manor, Sans Souci, The Woodlands, and Douglaston Manor.

There are other places that right off the bat are no, b/c others we know have been married there and we weren't all that impessed.

We want someplace classy, but not 'over-the-top', our guest list (if we sent invites out today) is 192, that includes my out of town family that I HAVE to invite, but may not come.

Thank you all again. I just need to gather all my options, ideas, wants and needs, then make an appt with my FH and see where we stand. My only saving grace is he is on vacation Sept 12-20!! Going to FL for a few days to relax, and talk WEDDING!!

-Jill

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I did not see your thread regarding the February or July debate, so I'm not sure why you picked July. Are you set on a summer wedding? I know that it's tough to do a winter because of the fear of weather and what not, but if you can get a better deal, it may be worth it. But honestly, there a many, many nice halls for 80pp. I would just keep looking. You will find the place that is right for you. It's always the hardest to pick the hall, even when you know exactly where you want to have it. I know I fell inlove iwth my hall right away, but then I panicked for days about whether or not we made the right decision to have it there. So things will settle down as you ease into planning. As someone who has had 2 and a half years to plan a wedding, it DEFINITELY calms down, and the money really does add up in the bank as time goes on!

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hey i totally get ya. i am having the same problems and i am definetly on a tight budget. that is part of my reason for having my wedding in the winter. the other reason for it is because i have like five friends getting married from may 05 to sept 06 and all of them are having spring/summer weddings and i wanted mine to be different. and i am gettting great prices from some halls that i did not know i could afford and now i cannot make a desision either. i saw alot of the places you did. which were your favorites??

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Definitely checkout Sunset Harbour and Huntingtown Townhouse. I don't know how big your Bridal Party is but if you keep that small, you also save yourself a ton of money -- on limos, flowers, gifts, etc.

As far as the budgetting crisis... you have to sit down and figure it all out. You have layout your monthly expenses, versus your income and see what you have left over each month. That left over is your savings per month, add that all up over two years and that's pretty much your budget. Until you do that and know how much you can really afford to spend, and how much you will have by the time the wedding day arrives, you are going to continue to stress over money. So, you won't see FH for awhile -- so do your side of the budget and estimate his. Once you do that, you won't really worry about money that much because you will know exactly what you can afford and what you can't. Well, at least I didn't.

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Can you and FI move in together? That would get rid of one rent - that $ could be saved each month and go towards the wedding. I know a lot of people who had done this? Just an idea. I know it is so difficult. We wrote down every expense that we had each month and looked where we could cut some unnecessary expenses. With that said, it has not been a fun 1 1/2 years...we hardly ever go out and feel completely lame on the weekends!! But it will payoff. Take a look at your monthly expenses and you'll be surprised how much you can usually cut.
Good luck!

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Posted by paulsbride1

Can you and FI move in together? That would get rid of one rent - that $ could be saved each month and go towards the wedding. I know a lot of people who had done this? Just an idea. I know it is so difficult. We wrote down every expense that we had each month and looked where we could cut some unnecessary expenses. With that said, it has not been a fun 1 1/2 years...we hardly ever go out and feel completely lame on the weekends!! But it will payoff. Take a look at your monthly expenses and you'll be surprised how much you can usually cut.
Good luck!

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I wish we had the option to move in together, but at this point it's not an option. He lives with his mother and I the apt I have is in his father's building (his parents are divorced).

Thank you all for your advice and help. I was able to see FH last night (Sun) and I got all the info on his bills so I can figure out the finances!!

Our favorites are Leonard's and Jericho Terrace. One of FH's best friends knows someone at JT, so hopefully he can cut us a good deal!!

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Are you set on having a full dinner reception maybe you could do a scaled down version ...such as only cocktail reception

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I unfortunately would not consider that, I would get a LOT of flack from both our families. I wish they'd help $$ wise. I am actually going to call my mom today to see how much she can help us.

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I splurged on my band and realized, wait a minute there is lots of other stuff- My hall is only 110 with grat included, no tax so my 20,000 budget took a big hit from my band(6500). I found lots of cheaper options. I am making my own centerpieces(15 a table), found a budget florist(600 for everything), am only having a MOH and flower girl, booked Duet for photo only(2700 with tax), having several friends videotaping and will pay to splice it together later, my dress was found on the internet for 400 and my friend is lending me her veil, my church includes music for under 500 including the ceremony since my parents belong there, invitations are being bought from Canada at Canadian prices(150 US for everything),we are only having a rolls royce for my FH and myself(400). So there are ways to save and still make it look lavish. Book the hall you love that is still reasonable for you-$80 plus tax and gratuity is what I am spending- and everything will fall into place!