Hi, I want to have a really nice wedding at the Harrison House or the Carltun on a Saturday night in the Spring/Summer. Do you think it can be done on a $40K budget? Or would I need closer to $60K?
THANKS!!!!!
Marisa&Brian
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
It depends on how many people you have - Both places are pretty expensive, Esp. the Carltun. It also depends on what is important to you re: flowers/music/photographer. - Those things can cost $ or $$$$$$ ....... But I think if it's not a wedding of 200 people you can do it !
Ang&Rich
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
I think it all depends on what your expectations are and what you want. Once you have a per plate dollar amount and the number of guests you're inviting it would be a lot easier to figure out the rest of your budget.
2006bride
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
Thanks Ladies.
I think we are going to have 175 guests. The Harrison House seems to charge around $180 for a Saturday night in Spring/Summer.
That means that just food and drink will be $31,500. If my budget is only $40K, I don't think I can do it...
How much money does Music, Flowers, and Photographers cost?
THANK YOU GUYS!
Ang&Rich
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
Posted by 2006bride
I think we are going to have 175 guests. The Harrison House seems to charge around $180 for a Saturday night in Spring/Summer. That means that just food and drink will be $31,500. If my budget is only $40K, I don't think I can do it...
Well you have the $180 x 175 guest - then you need to factor in sales tax and service charge...so you're pretty much at your budget limit there alone.
Will parents be contributing anything that will help reduce your spending?
All of the other vendors also depend on your expectations and request. Flowers can be anywhere from $1000 to $10,000 depending on what you want and how much of it you want. DJs tend to be more affordable than bands but they still run you from $1500 - $3000. Photography can empty your pockets pretty fast - you're looking at $3,000 - $6,000 easily.
2006bride
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
Thank you so much for your detailed reply. My dad is paying for the wedding, he is just trying to come up with a budget.
I see that your wedding is at Fox Hollow. My friend just got married there on Sunday and it was GREAT!!! You will have a wonderful wedding. SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!
Good luck to you and your future hubby!
By the way, what is your total budget like for Fox Hollow? Are you doing a Sunday? Maybe I should consider it.
THANKS!
Marisa&Brian
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
My FH and I have to pay for everything except my gown, and the reception So flowers, invitations, favors, honeymoon, photographer, music etc. etc. etc is on us..... We figured we'll need about $35,000
You can do it for much less, - But if your tast is the Carltun or Harisson House - then you're not going to satisfied w/ $1500 flowers.........
Ang&Rich
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
Posted by 2006bride By the way, what is your total budget like for Fox Hollow? Are you doing a Sunday? Maybe I should consider it. THANKS!
We are paying for the whole thing on our own - right down to the dress so when we were planning we had to keep that in mind. We chose a Sunday for our wedding and pretty happy with the choice. As far as our budget - I'll be honest - we originally set it a budget but we blew that at the beginning. Weddings are ridiculously expensive - if you let them get that way. You can of course control the costs and so maybe we got a little carried away but no regrets in that department so far. What we did was first find the hall that we wanted - I actually didn't expect to like Fox Hollow - not hate it or anything but I just put it on the list to appease FH - he wanted to see a lot to be able to compare. Well - I have to say that my jaw was on the floor the minute we walked in - I was very impressed. It's the perfect place for us and definitely love at first site. I actually went to my #1 hall right after and it couldn't compare. So....getting back to my point...we went to all these halls and got their quotes. Then we sat down and made a preliminary budget based on the number of guests we estimated and the price per plate at each place. Then we made a list of all the other vendors and how much we were willing to spend for each at most. Then there is some tweeking here and there and whalla - budget. These boards help a lot - you'll see that tons of polls have been put up with price ranges for just about all sorts of things - that can help guide you a little. In the end FH was a little more than some other halls but it's what we wanted - so we cut backon other things like the invitation budget and the DJ - no intell lighting - stuff like that. You make it all work.
2006bride
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
Thank you so much! I will let you all know how it turns out :)
ckgmwedding
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
You can do it with a lot of creativity, help from creative people, and time. I did a ton of research on here and found great things- We are paying for most ourselves- I spent most of my wedding money from my parents to help me buy a condo(which is worth a lot more in the end for those of you considering eloping ) So after the hall, which we did get lucky and is very low for a Sat in July with great location we did splurge a great band but then I cut in a lot of other places- Duet has amazing photograpy at great prices, I hired a student who as done weddings to do my flowers- way cheaper than a florist, invitations are simple and from Canada(canadian prices!) and we only only having a car for us- no extra limos. It helps that my bridal party is only a MOH and flower girl and that I am making my own centerpieces but I love to do that stuff. Sorry so long but I obsessed with budget right now. FH and were fighting about it all night long- until we realized how dumb we sounded.
jennmarty
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
Hey- the minimum # of people for The Carltun on a Staturday night I believe is 200 and the p.p. $ is high. With everything else you may have to go up to $60,000. ....it's so sad, but too true!!
dm24angel
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
Posted by Marisa&Brian
My FH and I have to pay for everything except my gown, and the reception So flowers, invitations, favors, honeymoon, photographer, music etc. etc. etc is on us..... We figured we'll need about $35,000
You can do it for much less, - But if your tast is the Carltun or Harisson House - then you're not going to satisfied w/ $1500 flowers.........
$WAIT...did I read that right? $35,000 for flowers , invites, music and honeymoon??
thats all cost us about $5500... and we have a reputable DJ, a big HM ?
eta- you really can work wonders with a budget...we choose a friday night in late winter, we got a great deal on our hall, which can get VERY expensive...we choose a reputable DJ, very popular florist, make -up, hair , invites etc...and our budget is still at like $17000.....You have to have prespective when making decisions I think...
Steph&Steve
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
We had narrowed it down to Carltun and the Crescent. We had a budget aroung the same as yours. We ended up be able to do it by having it during the day. The prices were about half. But it is still going to be tough once we add in my dress, photographer, etc.
Good luck!
FoxHollowbride0617
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
I think it definitely depends on the place. We are having a friday night wedding and we are paying less then 40k inclusive.
prncssrachel
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
I haven't really read the rest of the posts, but a wedding for 40K is definitely possible! There're girls on here doing it for 14K. Can you do it everywhere for under 40K? No, but can you do it in plenty of places? Yes.
prncssrachel
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
I want to add that we are getting married at the Bourne Mansion and we decided on a Sunday night before 4th of July so it would have that Saturday night feeling without having to pay the extra money. We booked the place of our dreams, then just kind of decided not to go crazy on the vendors. We spent a lot of flowers, but went with two basic white limos, a freelance photojournalist for photos, a DJ instead of a band, a videographer who didn't want my first born and stuck to a good honeymoon budget. We DEFINITELY could have spent like 100 times more than we did on our vendors, but we searched and found what we consider to be the best vendors to suit our needs. FM me if you want how much we are spending and how it all breaks down. Good luck!
jng268
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
FYI: The Carltun requires a minimum of 185 people on a Saturday night at 210 a plate... That is 38,000 + before taxes and gratuity. That place is damn expensive, but so beautiful. Good Luck, just be optimistic.
Backinneyork
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
For those 2 places, I would say $60k. Depends on how many ppl you invite and what options you add on. It all adds up pretty quickly!!
Laura1976
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
your a lucky lucky girl, i wish my dad was footing my bill!
marc_rai
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Re: Is a total wedding budget of $40,000 realistic?
Based on the price per plate 40K is not realistic for you. A general rule of thumb that I found is that the reception tends to be 50% of the total wedding cost. So if your place is 20K figure that you will need at least 40K for the entire wedding.
