Need serious help! - repost from BHB

I have so many questions I feel a bit overwhelmed...

I will be meeting with a bunch of different vendors in the coming weeks and months and have NO CLUE where to start. I don't want to go into these places letting a florist tell me $6000.00 and me think that is OK. What is the norm?

- Florists, what do you go to an appointment asking them? I know you obviously have to have a vision of what you want but I have no idea how much all the flowers you will need for a wedding go for! What is a good place to set my budget at? and what kind of questions do I ask a florist?

- Photographers/Videographers ? DUH where do I start? Another thing I have no idea for a budget!

- Limo company? no budget here either!

- Invitations... nope no budget

As much info as you ladies can give me on this would be SO helpful. I am making myself crazy trying to think of everything you could possible ask and none of it makes sense to me!

Ok. I never created a budget but knew I was definately not able to have a $100,000.00 wedding!

I have some price quotes and helpful 411 FM mail!!

You need to first establish how much you can spend on this wedding before doing anything else. Then you must prioritize. Decide what means the most to you. My two tops items were the hall and then the photographer. I was willing to cut corners with other vendors to get the highest quality for both.

If you go to theknot.com you can find a budget calculator. It can give you an idea of how much you can spend on each area and then you can switch it up according. My only word of advice is that the little things in the end add up so make sure to account for these in your budget. I just spend 80 dollars today at michaels and ac moore.

Once you figure out the total amount you can spend, try going to theknot.com or weddingchannel.com. They have budget calculators that will break down for you how much you can spend on each part of your wedding. I think brides.com has one too that will let you adjust how much of your budget you allocate to each part. There are a million vendors out there, in so many different price ranges. Once you know how much you can spend, then you can start shopping around and find who suits you best.

Good luck!

take a deep breath. youll figure this all out!

you need to figure out your overall budget for vendors and then decide on which ones youre willing/wanting to spend more on and which you feel are smarter to spend a little less on. its hard to give you specific quotes for each bc these all have such a wide range of prices! For ex- some ppl spend 1000 on flowers, others 6000 or more. Wide range for photogs too. As for invites, many differing opinions on this- some spend 100-200 and some are willing to pay thousands, JMHO, I would never spend a ton here. Its paper, ppl throw it away.

Go into your appts knowing what YOU can spend and then have them work w/ you w/in that budget. They dont/shouldnt be telling you what you should spend.