I just went to Brides.com and used their budget calculator. Eeek! very scary. Not helping with the insomnia situation.
In everyone's experience or opinion, what do you think is safe to save some money on given that we are wayyyyy over what I wanted to spend on the reception.
I was thinking invites and programs as DIY's but other than that, short of calling a cab to bring me to the ceremony (which actually might be cute considering I live in NYC) what else do you think is 'okay' and not too noticable or have too big an impact on the event?
JennyJim
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
flowers... they die
although they are beautiful, I'd rather spend the moola on photography
ArmyOfBabies
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
Anything you think you can make yourself or get one of your BMs to do for you (guestbook, unity candles, pew decorations, menus, invites, centerpieces, etc...) or replace with something cheaper and more creative(I'm replacing ring bearer pillows with small pumpkin gourds). HTH!!!
iwannabmrsD
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
in total agreement on the flowers.. total waste of money imo.. u can get silk which look just as nice, or none at all.. someone posted candy centerpieces.. i WISH...
u can also save on the limos.. we were going to do antique cars and the stretch and the suv.. i convinced fh to scratch the antique car and hop on into hte limo with the rest of the Bridal party..saved $500 plus 20% gratuity.. hurt him cause i think he really wantd it but i told him.. hmm.. we're going to pay $500 for a car 3 hours.. where as some people pay $500 a month as a car note for their car..
angl2001
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
I cut out flowers...negotiated with all my vendors (if you have an friend getting married...go together!!!) cut out flowers except for bo-ks and booked all my vendors with weddign world to save $$. Made Fg baskets, and CPs i have been able to keep my $$ under 20K so far! check ebay for stuff too you find great deals!! HTH
emcheung
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
i think i remember seeing a budget bride thread floating around somewhere. anyway...flowers you can skimp on, perhaps diy your cp. diy invites. borrow things from past brides like veil, headpiece, etc... negotiate with all vendors. and most importantly pick a budget and stick to it!
TJ22908
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
I definitely say if you do your cp your self you will save a ton of money a lot of florists want like $100 per table, mine are going to be like $25-$30 a piece doing them myself. I have been saving money by thinking about what I have seen at other weddings that looked really nice but wasn't necessary, like fancy favors most people throw them away after awhile anyways. JMO!!
DeannaNDave07
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
yes definetly the CP. i am getting silk flowers, with candles. its alot $$$$ you would be saving. also we arent doing limos because we are getting married at the hall. and invitations are a good idea, and check out the flea market for the veil and headpiece.
GinaZ
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
Posted by JennyJim
flowers... they die
although they are beautiful, I'd rather spend the moola on photography
I agree!! If your flowers are alive- they will be pretty regardless of what kind you use. I think Whole Foods actually does weddings- I dunno if they deliver- and your choices may be limited- but may be worth looking into!
Spelldizzy
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
You can definately save on flowers and ask around for people the can help you with or do DIY projects for you!
dgirl0114
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
We did our own invites, ordered silk flowers for the bouquets, etc. Our hall includes cp's so we're probably going to go with that or I'll just get some silk flowers to put on the tables. Found beautiful, inexpensive favors-you just have to shop around. Got my dress at Estelle's for $200 and it's perfect. Not going crazy with the photography budget-no albums for the mothers, etc.
soon2BMrsDee
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
Printing out programs - most throw 'em out or don't bother taking one (if your parents and FILs want one - make one or two for them)
Printing out menus - that's what the servers are for...
Flowers - as someone else said - they die... do something different. We have hurricane lamps with pillar candles and rose petals. Even tho we spent the $$$ we are selling them on ebay or to an interested LIWer...
Limo - do p/u and d/o services are MUCH cheaper... tho I do think the cab thing would be cute - but, as you know, they're not the cleanest...
Cake - have a two or three tiered cake (depending on # of ppl) and then have sheet cakes in the kitchen... we're doing that it's gonna save us 300 on the cake alone! plus no one is going to notice the difference btwn a sheet cake slice and the cake you cut with your FH...
DJ - no music for cocktail hour... a friend did that for her wedding and to be completely honest - nobody noticed it... we were all engrossed in conversation.
Photographer - if they offer a package and are willing to work with you - if there is something in the package that you won't be needed (ex. mine offers placecards with our pics on them - we 86'd that considering our RH gives us placecards... saving 100 bucks)...
I could go on - but I would definitely pick up 'Bridal Bargains' you can get it in B&N... it looks like this:
mandysmom503
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
I agree Flowers... Make a budget and allot certain monies to each one...and stick to it. That's what we did and we're right on target.
Jesses Girl
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
Posted by JennyJim
flowers... they die
although they are beautiful, I'd rather spend the moola on photography
TOTALLY WITH U ON THAT!!!!
Summer07Bride
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
I did not have a videographer. A family member videotaped the ceremony and some of the reception for us.
I also saved quite a bit on flowers (no church flowers, no sweetheart table decorations . . just bouquets) , but still got great centerpieces and bouquets.
Invitations - some people spend 1k or more on them. This was just not me. If you do not have your heart set on a specific invite, Party City, Eweddings.com, and costco have amazing invites at reduced prices which will cost you under 500.
Also, you do not need transportation to and from the RH. Perhaps someone you know owns a convertible or a cool muscle car. You could borrow that for the day.
above is a link someone created on ways to save....
Nina_m74
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
I think your cab idea is soooo awesome!!!! and would make for great pictures!
I agree with the other girls to DIY as much as you can and cut down or eliminate flowers.
I made our bo-ks, bouts and centerpieces and quilted table runners for the tables - I'm having a fall wedding and used an apple theme - I love how everything turned out and I'm spending about $300 for all of it.
I made our invites ($35) and cookbook favors ($25). I bought my dress at the end of the season (March) and saved $400 on it. My Mom is making my veil, it's a mantilla with beautiful bridal lace - the one I saw in the bridal shop that I wanted was $500 - my Mom is making it for $80. If you want a regular blusher veil, without all of the bridal lace you could make it for under $20
Go through your friends and family for any services if you can. My cousin is a professional photographer and is giving us her services as a gift, we only have to pay for processing.
Our biggest savings has been by keeping the wedding small, we have only invited about 60 people.
Remember you can have a beautiful and memorable wedding on any budget, it's doesn't have to put you into debt or require a bank loan.
Enjoy the planning!!!!
jaiese
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
It depends on what your priorities are. You should spend more on what you feel is important. One tip I've heard that I think is most universal is not to spend too much on ceremony/cocktail hour decor b/c it's used for such a short amount of time. Or, at least make sure you can re-use them during your RH. If your RH will let you get something else instead of the champagne toast, that's always good. Usually, by then, people have another drink anyway. HTH!
Nina_m74
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
Posted by jaiese
If your RH will let you get something else instead of the champagne toast, that's always good. Usually, by then, people have another drink anyway. HTH!
OH that's a great point!!!!
Our RH told us that the champagne toast is a big waste of money because most people don't drink it anyway. Our BM said they throw out TONS of champagne after the toast and it's better to just have people toast with whatever they are drinking at the time.
BRod-Cheng
Posted:
Member since
Re: Budgeting - what's safe to save on?
There were a lot of trends that I left out of my wedding. If they are not important to you, you can leave them out too. For Example I skipped:
toasting flutes (I used the ones provided by the hall) cry packs petal cones slipper basket bathroom basket garter toss and bouquet toss flower girl and ring boy
I wore regular white shoes - only $40
I got my jewelry and headpiece on the internet
I used only roses in the bouquets - florist told me roses were not expensive and the price of the bouquet would be lower if I only used one type and one color flower. So, I had a bouquet of all red roses and my BM's had all ivory roses.
The smaller your bridal party the less bouquets you will need
I used RK Bridal for all the dress - inlcuding mine -very reasonable prices.
