Budget stress!!!

Hey all,

So I put together a tentative Budget of around 25K including the Honeymoon our wedding will be about 100 people. As I am adding things to the list it seems like that budget is kind of unrealistic ( Its looking closer to 30K). I am begin to freak out thinking we will not be able to save enough money before the wedding! I am having some help from my Dad but we are paying for our wedding in Cash.

Did any other brides face this? How close or far from your budget did everything wind up costing? What did you do to cut down on cost??

Any answers/ advise is appreciated.

I originally had a budget of 30K for 150 people, so similar to yours, and we could have done it, if we'd settled on venues we didn't love. Unfortunately the one we wanted was a little over budget pp but the thing that pushed it over the edge, was we had to guarantee 175 instead of 150. We never originally budgeted for tips (over 1K when all said and done), vendor meals, or the church costing so much. W also didn't originally budget for video, which we thought we didn't want. Fortunately for us, FH's parents have decided to contribute a small amount, as have my grandparents and my parents will be paying for my dress. FH's grandpa recently passed unfortunately and left us some money for the wedding also. All together, with honeymoon, if we stay ON budget from here on out, we will be spending 43K. About 33K out of pocket after others contributions.

You'll find a way to make it work. The way FHs parents are contributing $50 a week into an account for us and since we're having a long engagement, it'll add up to about $7500 which is such a huge help, and they said they don't feel it at all each week, since it's automatic. You'll find a way to save, and save money on vendors and your day will be beautiful and amazing. We have our budget saved right now, so from now until our wedding, were saving for our house. Just try to put away as much as possible each pay check and not touch it.

We all know what you're going through trust me it's not easy staying on budget. I am paying in CASH as well. CASH is king and I've done extensive negotiations because I'm seriously not going over budget. I have a spreadsheet with all the fees deposits and and balances including taxes that are due. By paying with cash I've been able to cut most of the taxes out of the way though except the reception hall.

My budget was 25k and I'm looking at 30k however I will not go over 30k. Right now I'm at 24,110 that includes hall, photobooth, photography, flowers, videographer (2) and photographers (2) and invitations basically the main vendors. I took out limos and specialty car I think I'm just going to do a party bus. Flowers I'm going to go with a florist that doesn't specifically do only weddings. I've cut my florist bill down to about $600 for bouquets corsages and boutineers and there's about 18ppl in my bridal party. No other vendors even came close in pricing on here.

My dress is from RK bridal and was $300 extra in store I called the no-frills line got a quote and ordered it myself and paid $300 less. It arrives in November.


My DJ is amazing. FM if you need details on him. I booked his highest package. He is a DJ/MC in one I didn't need an extra person.

My honeymoon is the only thing I will probably have to charge. I book my own vacations using coupon codes from several sites so I definitely won't pay even half as much as some travel agents charge. It's great to have someone do it for you however I've been travelling for 7yrs now and none of these travel websites ever gave me a problem.

Ok I know this was long and if you think you maybe under budget possibly keep looking at other halls or push your wedding back another 6 months which is MARCH (low season) great rates. Good Luck FM if you have any questions I'm always sharing ideas with other brides.

---

Posted by rcotter90

I originally had a budget of 30K for 150 people, so similar to yours, and we could have done it, if we'd settled on venues we didn't love. Unfortunately the one we wanted was a little over budget pp but the thing that pushed it over the edge, was we had to guarantee 175 instead of 150. We never originally budgeted for tips (over 1K when all said and done), vendor meals, or the church costing so much. W also didn't originally budget for video, which we thought we didn't want. Fortunately for us, FH's parents have decided to contribute a small amount, as have my grandparents and my parents will be paying for my dress. FH's grandpa recently passed unfortunately and left us some money for the wedding also. All together, with honeymoon, if we stay ON budget from here on out, we will be spending 43K. About 33K out of pocket after others contributions.

You'll find a way to make it work. The way FHs parents are contributing $50 a week into an account for us and since we're having a long engagement, it'll add up to about $7500 which is such a huge help, and they said they don't feel it at all each week, since it's automatic. You'll find a way to save, and save money on vendors and your day will be beautiful and amazing. We have our budget saved right now, so from now until our wedding, were saving for our house. Just try to put away as much as possible each pay check and not touch it.

---

Yes we have set up a separate account for wedding savings and I've created a spreadsheet budget for us to keep track of everything. Luckily our minimum is only 100 people so were good there but it was hard finding a venue we liked.

---

Posted by kellynicole91

I'm completely with you! We haven't really figured out how many people we're inviting yet because of the +1 situation (only inviting people with a +1 if they are married/engaged/have a significant other for a while). We're hoping to stay as close to 150 as possible which is our minimum. If that's the case we're hoping we can stay on budget but it's still so hard to save! We're trying to put as much as we can into a joint account each month and sell our old clothes on ebay.

---

Selling old clothes sounds like a great idea! Lord knows I have plenty. Lol

---

Posted by mrzsoontobejames

We all know what you're going through trust me it's not easy staying on budget. I am paying in CASH as well. CASH is king and I've done extensive negotiations because I'm seriously not going over budget. I have a spreadsheet with all the fees deposits and and balances including taxes that are due. By paying with cash I've been able to cut most of the taxes out of the way though except the reception hall.

My budget was 25k and I'm looking at 30k however I will not go over 30k. Right now I'm at 24,110 that includes hall, photobooth, photography, flowers, videographer (2) and photographers (2) and invitations basically the main vendors. I took out limos and specialty car I think I'm just going to do a party bus. Flowers I'm going to go with a florist that doesn't specifically do only weddings. I've cut my florist bill down to about $600 for bouquets corsages and boutineers and there's about 18ppl in my bridal party. No other vendors even came close in pricing on here.

My dress is from RK bridal and was $300 extra in store I called the no-frills line got a quote and ordered it myself and paid $300 less. It arrives in November.


My DJ is amazing. FM if you need details on him. I booked his highest package. He is a DJ/MC in one I didn't need an extra person.

My honeymoon is the only thing I will probably have to charge. I book my own vacations using coupon codes from several sites so I definitely won't pay even half as much as some travel agents charge. It's great to have someone do it for you however I've been travelling for 7yrs now and none of these travel websites ever gave me a problem.

Ok I know this was long and if you think you maybe under budget possibly keep looking at other halls or push your wedding back another 6 months which is MARCH (low season) great rates. Good Luck FM if you have any questions I'm always sharing ideas with other brides.

---

Wow you seem so organized. If you could send me some tips on how to negotiate with some of our vendors I would appreciate it
We want to cut costs as much as possible, I'm actually thinking about making my bms bouquets since I love DIY stuff.

I tried to cut costs but it just added up to more. And now after we said no video we added video as of last week.
Our budget was $5000 for a restaurant.Now we are paying at least $20,000 in a hall but we compromised on a few things, we did early sunday right before the busy season to get a extremely reasonable price on the venue, and I compromised on my dress and had a budget under $500 instead of $2500 which was my original thought. Honeymoon we went with a cruise instead of sandles due to price.but overall I am happy with the decisions and don't feel any longer its a compromise.

---

Posted by summerbridejen2015

I tried to cut costs but it just added up to more. And now after we said no video we added video as of last week.
Our budget was $5000 for a restaurant.Now we are paying at least $20,000 in a hall but we compromised on a few things, we did early sunday right before the busy season to get a extremely reasonable price on the venue, and I compromised on my dress and had a budget under $500 instead of $2500 which was my original thought. Honeymoon we went with a cruise instead of sandles due to price.but overall I am happy with the decisions and don't feel any longer its a compromise.

---

Yea our venue is the one place we went over budget. About 3k to be excact I luckily work for an ecommerce website that sells designer evening gowns so I get 40 % off for me and 30% for friends and family. Which saves me a lot. Our honeymoon is important so we will spend a lot there but other than that were going modest. Lol

---

Posted by Emazing17

---

Posted by kellynicole91

I'm completely with you! We haven't really figured out how many people we're inviting yet because of the +1 situation (only inviting people with a +1 if they are married/engaged/have a significant other for a while). We're hoping to stay as close to 150 as possible which is our minimum. If that's the case we're hoping we can stay on budget but it's still so hard to save! We're trying to put as much as we can into a joint account each month and sell our old clothes on ebay.

---

Selling old clothes sounds like a great idea! Lord knows I have plenty. Lol

---

It definitely helps! You may not get a ton of money on each thing but it adds up. I also sell my clothes on an app called Poshmark which to me is much easier than eBay! You just take a photo on your phone and add it and they provide the shipping labels for you when someone buys!

---

Posted by JessicaP07

Yes we all understand how you feel! My budget is 20k, max 25k for 100 people not including honeymoon though. One way I was able to significantly stay on budget is using Complete Wedding Packages in east meadow. They offer photography, videography, dj and other things as well for an extremely reasonable price. Not to mention they are very talented and professional! I was a bit skeptical but I used them for my engagement shoot (pics in my album) and now I'm so confident with my choice. I'm paying less for photography, videography and DJ than most ladies on here do for photography alone and I don't feel like the quality is being compromised. Also you should look into affordable florists such as Burtons and Hidden Essence. I also plan to get my dress off the rack (sample dress) which will cut costs significantly. Remember this is only one day. You can still have a great wedding & not spend a fortune. Good luck!

---

Its so great to know I'm not alone. I've heard a lot about complete wedding packages so I will definitely be looking into them. I was a bit overwhelmed for moment looking at the numbers trying to figure out how to make it work.

If you include the honeymoon, we're looking t about 30K for 120 people.

We definitely did a lot of things purely for budgets sake. We're getting married on a Sunday, during the day. The ceremony is at the venue, so that cuts out the necessity for limos. Part of what we liked about the venue was that they gave us a comp night at a hotel the night of.... I think you can definitely do it, but you HAVE to be strict with yourself about how much you are spending. Don't even bother looking at things/vendors out of your budget, and haggle and negotiate everything!

---

Posted by kellynicole91

---

Posted by Emazing17

---

Posted by kellynicole91

I'm completely with you! We haven't really figured out how many people we're inviting yet because of the +1 situation (only inviting people with a +1 if they are married/engaged/have a significant other for a while). We're hoping to stay as close to 150 as possible which is our minimum. If that's the case we're hoping we can stay on budget but it's still so hard to save! We're trying to put as much as we can into a joint account each month and sell our old clothes on ebay.

---

Selling old clothes sounds like a great idea! Lord knows I have plenty. Lol

---

It definitely helps! You may not get a ton of money on each thing but it adds up. I also sell my clothes on an app called Poshmark which to me is much easier than eBay! You just take a photo on your phone and add it and they provide the shipping labels for you when someone buys!

---

That App sounds awesome, Im going to check that out. Thanks!

---

Posted by killerqueen

If you include the honeymoon, we're looking t about 30K for 120 people.

We definitely did a lot of things purely for budgets sake. We're getting married on a Sunday, during the day. The ceremony is at the venue, so that cuts out the necessity for limos. Part of what we liked about the venue was that they gave us a comp night at a hotel the night of.... I think you can definitely do it, but you HAVE to be strict with yourself about how much you are spending. Don't even bother looking at things/vendors out of your budget, and haggle and negotiate everything!

---

At this point we are just figuring out what we are willing to splurge on and what we want to cut/budget for. I think the early planning stages just got me a little worried. Since we are planning to move to a different state after we are married we definitely need to stick to a budget!

I had basically the same budget crisis as you. I had plans in place on how I was going to cut corners, what I was doing to make myself, etc. but the number kept rising anyway! We are getting some help from our parents, but are paying for the majority ourselves.

This idea isn’t for everyone, but we have decided to take our honeymoon about 4 to 6 months after the wedding. It will give us time to regroup and save more money.

We’re also doing little things such as not having programs. I am doing the invitations, favors, decorations and arranging the centerpieces myself.

---

Posted by katiephoto

I had basically the same budget crisis as you. I had plans in place on how I was going to cut corners, what I was doing to make myself, etc. but the number kept rising anyway! We are getting some help from our parents, but are paying for the majority ourselves.

This idea isn’t for everyone, but we have decided to take our honeymoon about 4 to 6 months after the wedding. It will give us time to regroup and save more money.

We’re also doing little things such as not having programs. I am doing the invitations, favors, decorations and arranging the centerpieces myself.

---

Yea I've been looking into a lot of DIY stuff to help of set some of the costs. I've seen some brides spend as much as 1000 on invitations which just seems like so much.

---

Posted by Emazing17

---

Posted by katiephoto

I had basically the same budget crisis as you. I had plans in place on how I was going to cut corners, what I was doing to make myself, etc. but the number kept rising anyway! We are getting some help from our parents, but are paying for the majority ourselves.

This idea isn’t for everyone, but we have decided to take our honeymoon about 4 to 6 months after the wedding. It will give us time to regroup and save more money.

We’re also doing little things such as not having programs. I am doing the invitations, favors, decorations and arranging the centerpieces myself.

---

Yea I've been looking into a lot of DIY stuff to help of set some of the costs. I've seen some brides spend as much as 1000 on invitations which just seems like so much.

---

Just as an FIY - I was originally going to DIY my invitations, but then I found http://www.exclusivelyweddings.com/ ! They have a lot of options for invites that cost under $100 for 100 of them! In the end, with the cost of buying paper and envelopes and the ink/time/trouble of printing it yourself (or cost of having it done somewhere like staples) using one of the invites on that site end up being cheaper than DIY!

---

Posted by killerqueen

---

Posted by Emazing17

---

Posted by katiephoto

I had basically the same budget crisis as you. I had plans in place on how I was going to cut corners, what I was doing to make myself, etc. but the number kept rising anyway! We are getting some help from our parents, but are paying for the majority ourselves.

This idea isn’t for everyone, but we have decided to take our honeymoon about 4 to 6 months after the wedding. It will give us time to regroup and save more money.

We’re also doing little things such as not having programs. I am doing the invitations, favors, decorations and arranging the centerpieces myself.

---

Yea I've been looking into a lot of DIY stuff to help of set some of the costs. I've seen some brides spend as much as 1000 on invitations which just seems like so much.

---

Just as an FIY - I was originally going to DIY my invitations, but then I found http://www.exclusivelyweddings.com/ ! They have a lot of options for invites that cost under $100 for 100 of them! In the end, with the cost of buying paper and envelopes and the ink/time/trouble of printing it yourself (or cost of having it done somewhere like staples) using one of the invites on that site end up being cheaper than DIY!

---

Thanks for the info! I am hoping to spend $200 or less on invitations so that's worth checking out