Budgeting Question

Hi!

I just wanted to know how is everyone able to budget for their weddings these days?? I'll only be engaged for 1 week tomorrow and even though we're taking our time planning and not really looking to book anything right away; i'm still trying to get an idea of how much everything will cost. With prices at $89+ per person-how is everyone affording this?? My Fiance & I bought a house last year; so that took up pretty much all our cash. I would love to have a wedding of about 150 people but the reception for that alone would be $14,000!! I know i don't have an extra $600 a month to give to a reception hall! How does everyone do it? Credit Cards? Maybe i should get a part time job at the Hall i finally book so i can get a discount! LOL!

We booked our wedding during the off season becasue we couldnt afford it during the month that i really wanted. We also but our wedding down to about 75-80..close friends and family only. We are paying cash for the entire thing and making payments every 3 months on our hall.

If I may make a suggestion.....many of us 2011 brides on this site are trying to book as much as we can this year so we get 09 rates on everything. Prices are only going to go up so if you wait you may end up paying more in the long run

I have to agree with Charonda...we def are ahead of the plan with booking things so early!!!....To save some money we also booked on a sunday (usually same prices for a friday or saturday during the day)...some girls are saving ALOT by booking on a thursday...you also dont have to pay the RH EVERY month....(at least we dont) just think you have 2+ years to save...


as far as budgeting they typically say whatever you spend on you RH, you will then spend that amount on everything else....so let's say your RH will be 14,000 then plan on spending 14,000 on everything else....The HM budget can be separate but does not have to be. (we have a separate HM budget) I HTH....good luck! we are always here to help!!!

And just stay calm....there are ways to do things so you can afford them and you have the time!!

xxooo

<3 C

I didn't even think I could lock in 09 rates but not have the wedding until 2011. That's a very good point! Thanks! I started e-mailing a few halls to get some ideas; but in my e-mails i asked for rates for specific days in the fall of 2011-so I wonder if they will respond with 09 rates; or give me rates for 2011.

I will definitely have to start looking around then. I thought i would have time to just wait and book something next year-granted I do have time; but I’d much rather have the full 2 years of planning and saving and I don't think I’ll want to push it back to 2012!

I did a search online today for bridal showcases. I'm gonna grab my sister and see if she can come to any of them with me. Have any of you already started going to bridal showcases?? There are so many halls to choose from-menu and prices are probably going to be my determining factors!

As for halls, maybe tell us what you are looking for and we can help point you in the right direction.

This is what I did. We also are keeping our wedding small (though I am having it on a Saturday night, that brings the price up) I am trying to find deals and shop around for everything else.

Since I will be a teacher by the time we get married, we are postponing our HM until the Summer which gives us time to save.

You get a lot of creative ideas on here. The main things I think that need to be booked this years is

RH, Photo/Video, Flowers (this is what we are concentrating on right now.)

Before my parents agreed to pay for the RH, FH & I were planning on paying for everything by ourselves. When that was the case, we were looking at off-season dates, scaling back on the guest list significantly & looking at the package places that have everything included (Brentwood Country Club & Medeteranian Manor do an $8,000 package for 100 people for everything but the wedding dress, tuxes, hair, makeup & favors!) We were also considering renting park space and having a tent wedding. There are tons of ways to do a tasteful classy wedding on LI without breaking the bank, you just have to think outside the box. But, if you dont have your heart set on LI, think about having a destination wedding. It can be as luxurious as Hawaii, or as laidback as the Poconos!

Good luck with the planning!!

I gave my parents an excel spreadsheet of our wedding budget & they agreed to give us 24K out of the 30K budget. I am extremely thankful as I thought they would give us a much smaller amount but they want us to save for a house/condo. This leaves us paying realistically about $15K including our honeymoon (we want to do australia & bora bora possibly). We are having our wedding in the off season (although a Sat. night) to cut costs & booking early to get the best prices!

If we had to do this on our own we would definetly have a destination wedding!

Honestly we got engaged on christmas day & I was like ok now what??..haha we're poor!!

we did the same thing & were going to choose a date that was off season but then I found that 'off season' was different for each hall & still pricey for some. I really wanted June, but there was no way in hell we were getting a fri or sat night in June!..I had the bright idea of a Thursday & then I was told I could have any month I wanted!!!.. so I was like you know what...the people who want to be there will be there. They all know that we have had financial hardship my entire life & understand why we are doing this. They will be so happy I am having a wedding at al that they will have enough notice to do what they have to. I always felt weird to tell people it was on a weekday & then I found out it is becoming very common especially in this economy. There are weddings everyday of the week now! when we booked the Dj he told us the had one in a few weeks on a Monday! Even the pricing with the vendors we are getting a steal because they don't have any other events that day so its almost like they'd rather work with us than turn down the work!!...So my advice is, if you can be flexible with the date or even the month I guess you can have the wedding of your dreams :)

book your wedding on a sunday or friday evening, cut prices where you can, and don't live beyond your means. you don't have to get a bunch of credit cards and loans to pay for your wedding...Fh and I def are not doing that but our wedding budget is realistic for our situation. i'm not getting designer shoes...just really nice shoes that i love, got my dress at davids bridal, shopped around for a hall that fit my price budget, i'm only planning on having 130 guests. You can def keep yourself in a budget and then just save. I save every month just a little and FH and I have split the wedding total in half and we are each saving that money on our own and pooling it in at the end of every month. It really isn't that difficult, as long ans you realize that a wedding a joyous time but it IS just a party. The real important thing is the ceremony....the reception is fun but you can def cut corners. hope this helps!

I honestly don't even know where to begin! I've started browsing the websites of several halls; but I'm not liking a lot of the more reasonable priced ones (at least not the pictures they have on their sites). I know-I have what my mother always said champagne taste on a beer budget-I want a fabulous wedding but at minimal cost! Is that even possible??? I e-mailed The Vanderbilt Mansion-I loved their Spanish style mansion-hopefully they can send me price quotes. I'm looking for something elegant-not too many mirrors or glass ceilings...good Food; preferably no more than 1 other event going on during mine-I have A LOT of work to do!! Bad things is that I'm SO busy at work I don't have time during the day to look; and when I get home the last thing I want to do is sit with the laptop researching halls all night!!

Is it too soon to start visiting halls and attending bridal shows?? That's probably what I'm gonna have to do; because I can't get a good feel of these places just by looking at their websites.

Thanks for all your help ladies!!

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Posted by drivwal

book your wedding on a Sunday or Friday evening, cut prices where you can, and don't live beyond your means. You don't have to get a bunch of credit cards and loans to pay for your wedding...Fh and I def are not doing that but our wedding budget is realistic for our situation. i'm not getting designer shoes...just really nice shoes that i love, got my dress at davids bridal, shopped around for a hall that fit my price budget, i'm only planning on having 130 guests. You can def keep yourself in a budget and then just save. I save every month just a little and FH and I have split the wedding total in half and we are each saving that money on our own and pooling it in at the end of every month. It really isn't that difficult, as long ans you realize that a wedding a joyous time but it IS just a party. The real important thing is the ceremony....the reception is fun but you can def cut corners. hope this helps!

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THANKS!! We're definitely agreeing on a Friday night wedding-I would do a Sunday if it was a holiday weekend and everyone had off Monday-I'm thinking about 130-150 guest as well. I actually saw a ton of dresses that were VERY pretty when I went with my sister last year when she was planning her wedding; so I'll definitely be looking there as well as some other bridal salons on long island. Any good hall recommendations?

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Posted by bulldoglover

a lot of times, websites don't really reflect the actual RH. i've seen some great sites and when i went to the RH, they were totally different than what was actually presented. try to visit a few in person to get a feel for what you like and then post here. these boards are great to get feedback from others who have gone to places and visited halls. we can all suggest places that might meet sort of what you're looking for to help you trim out places that would definitely not fit the style you are looking for. good luck!

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THanks so MUCH!! You ladies are really very helpful!! I know i'll feel right at home and share a lot with you all over the next 2 years! WOW!! That's a long time LOL!

Have you looked at Thatched Cottage...they had a winter special 100 ppl for 10,000 and it included full course dinner, branched cps with votives, and a DJ (1 or 5 good DJ companies) I'm not sure how many people you wanted to invite or when you wanted to have a wedding but it's something to look into. We really cut costs having the wedding around New Years. Winter prices are about half of what summer prices are and another good time price-wise is November or March-April. Another tip to save is that if you look into RHs that can do more than one wedding at a time, their prices are usually lower since they make more. I dont know if it bothers you to be at a place with other weddings going on but this is def an option.

good luck with your search. I have winter quotes for several places FM if you need any.