Wedding Budget.....

Hi girls...

I was wondering if anyone can help w/ a wedding budget. I know the best way is to contact/go to all the different vendors for quotes, but I will like a good starting point. Like a general idea how much things like flowers, photographer/videographer, and Limo's cost.

Any info would be greatly appreciated!!

TIA

hiya,
well, the hall depending on how many people /when/ where can run between $12,000 and up.
My hall for 175 on a sunday evening @ $85 per person is 19,000

flowers are expensive but that is the first place i am cutting back on. My budget is $1300 , i dont care if that buys me only candle centerpieces, i refuse to pay more than $1300

video and photo - i would say 4-5000 for both

dj- $1400 and up, i am sure you can find cheaper if you ommit the bells and whistles ( giveaways and plasma screens etc)

limos- i havent booked yet but i would say $1200

invites- another place i am cutting back on, this can run $200 and up

wedding gown- $1000 and up

my suggestion is to come up with a number you are comfortable with (like a total cost of the entire wedding )and use a budget calculator to figure out where you will devide your money

my overall budget was $30000 and i really hope i stay under!!!!

hope i helped! good luck!

lisa

this is the worst part! I haven't booked all of my vendors yet but I've shopped around extensively so I can give you an idea.

Reception Hall: if you are flexible with the date, it can be less expensive. I'm having my wedding in November instead of October and I'm saving $20/head. I have 300 people so that's a lot of money. Definitely do a tentative guest list before you shop around. Also, guarantee them waaay less than what you are inviting. I'm inviting 320 but I'm only guaranteeing 200 that way later I don't get stuck paying for extra seatings.

Photographers: the one's I've seen are like $4,800 and up but that's for 2 photographers and a digital album

Video: Again, the ones I've seen are $1,800 and up but I think you can find less expensive.

Flowers it depends on what you want. I've been getting quotes of $3,300 and up.

Bands: $5,000 +
DJ's: Depending on what package you want $1,200 and up.

Definitely shop around, that way you can negotiate the best deals. Good luck!

Basically,

My budget is looking at about $15K.


DJ - was the cheapest thing I would say $1000. & up. (Sir Round Sound Entertainment)

Didn't think to have a band.

Catering hall - If you are flexible on the dates as low as $60 per person. The Swan Club is very reasonable.


Haven't done a dress yet but I am saying no more then $1K.

Limo I would say $1K

Flowers can be very expensive pending on what you want you will get a qoute no less then $1200. Definately try Flower Michele they are great.


Invitations are expensive no less then $300.00 unless you get them on Ebay.

Photographers are killers nothing less then $3,000.00

And, that is not including any thing like parent albums etc.


Remember you will need decorations etc. & favors.


Good Luck.

i would say come up with a total amount that you want to spend on the whole day, and then you can start to divy that up with how much you want to pay for each vendor. for example, flowers might be more important to you than pictures, so you can set aside more money for flowers and less for photo.
i think the thing that REALY tends to add up are all the little extras like bathroom baskets, slipper baskets, cry packs, out of town bags for guests staying at the hotel, menus at the reception- a lot of these things are kind of unnecessary and the costs can really add up....

we discussed with our parents what they were willing to contribute and then we figured out what we could afford to save, reasonably, in the time that we have up until the wedding.

we found places that we love (RH) and got their prices for our date and then figured out if we could swing that. then we came up with a plan for what we have to save per week in order to have enough to pay our part of the wedding.

it's, so far, been working out really well

It really depends what you want and get. Here's what I would budget:

15-18K for Hall
$500 church/officiant fee
2K Flowers (at least)
2K for DJ
if you're planning on a band, then I would say 3-5K
5-6K for photo and video
500-$1000 for limos
$1500 for your dress, shoes, veil, headpiece. and that's being frugal.
$500 for favors
$300-$500 for invites
$250 for your hair and make up the day of
there are tons of other things...jewelry for day of, tuxedos,

Not to advertise for another site, but I used the budget calculator on The Knot, and I found that to be pretty useful - but you need to start with the total you have available to you. Of course being an accountant I'm a huge computer geek and used that to format my own spreadsheet, and tweak it to my preferences. For example, they had $2,700 for my gown, but I'll probably end up paying half of that based on the dresses I like so far.

Most of my friends are paying between 30K - 50K for their weddings. I think the national average is around 20K - 25K, but keep in mind this is Long Island where we tend to go overboard on the wedding planning

I called a bunch of halls and asked what they charged pp before I went to check them out, they will give you that info over the phone. Also, don't hesitate to email a vendor for a quote, that way you will save time.

Here are my estimates:
Reception - pp $65 and up (day) $95 and up (evening)
Flowers - $1800.00 and up
Photog - $3,000.00 and up
Video - $1,200 and up
Dress $1,000.00 and up including alterations
Limos - $900.00 and up (this est is for 2)
Invites - $300.00 and up
DJ - $1200.00 and up
Band - Don't know, but I heard $6,000.00 and up.
BM/GM gifts - about $100 pp

Remember any extra details means extra moolah!

---

Posted by hunnybunnyxoxo

hiya,
well, the hall depending on how many people /when/ where can run between $12,000 and up.
My hall for 175 on a sunday evening @ $85 per person is 19,000

flowers are expensive but that is the first place i am cutting back on. My budget is $1300 , i dont care if that buys me only candle centerpieces, i refuse to pay more than $1300

video and photo - i would say 4-5000 for both

dj- $1400 and up, i am sure you can find cheaper if you ommit the bells and whistles ( giveaways and plasma screens etc)

limos- i havent booked yet but i would say $1200

invites- another place i am cutting back on, this can run $200 and up

wedding gown- $1000 and up

my suggestion is to come up with a number you are comfortable with (like a total cost of the entire wedding )and use a budget calculator to figure out where you will devide your money

my overall budget was $30000 and i really hope i stay under!!!!

hope i helped! good luck!

lisa

---

Lisa's Budget is pretty much identical to mine! Except that my minimum is 150 and My DJ is 1,200. Everything else is pretty much the same, I am hopign to cut back on invites as well!
XOXOXO
Kitty

Fox Hollow on a Sunday afternoon + $100/pp
photographers - $5,000 and up (including video)
flowers - depends what you want. I'd say $1500 and up
dress - $1000 and up
band - $6000 and up

I have no idea about DJs.

PS - another great saver is calligraphy. I did computer calligraphy for $1/envelope vs. hand which was $5 and up, I think.

IMO, its just an envelope. it gets tossed in 5 seconds.

important thing to remember about limos....if you are marrying AT your RH, you don't really need one! great place to shave $$$$ off the total bill


RH (also ceremony location) is around $70/person for about 150

dress: under $1k after alterations and accessories!! [got it on sale]

flowers: $700
CPs: about $4/table (16 tables)

tuxes: $119/guy...FH's is FREE

cake: estimate is $600...yikes...

photo: around $3k

video is free: having a relative do it

DJ : $1600

hair: varying by person...but mine is like $100-150
makeup:$80 for me

invites: 150 for less than $500

we did custom stamps which cost more, but it was worth it!

HM: all-inclusive for under $4k.....booked ourselves online...and it was on sale. TAs said our budget was impossible for all-inclusive