What were your budgets?

Hi girls! We are trying to make a final decision on our photographer but cost is holding us back. I was hoping that you could tell me what your budget is for the following so I can compare to mine and see if our most expensive (but of course, favorite) photographer will actually fit in our budget! Thanks!

Centerpieces
Ceremony decorations (did you decorate at all?)
Invitations
Other stationary (menus, seating cards)
Bride/groom accessories
Tux

These are the areas that I feel I don't have a good grasp on 'imagined' cost vs actual cost. I really appreciate ANY input that will help us book a photographer this weekend!!

Re: What were your budgets?

I completely over budgeted on most things, because i have no idea how much they will really cost.

Flowers - I budgeted $3K but hope to spend less
Ceremony Decoration - our venue provides the flowers for the ceremony.
Invitations - $1,500, but I know you can spend way less which is what i plant to do!
Also don't forget to add postage in your budget too.
Other stationary - $500, but again I plan on doing it for less

What accessories do we need?? I definitely do not have a budget line item for that!

I don't remember what I budgeted for a suit and have NO idea how much they cost.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Re: What were your budgets?

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Posted by kammy322

I completely over budgeted on most things, because i have no idea how much they will really cost.

Flowers - I budgeted $3K but hope to spend less
Ceremony Decoration - our venue provides the flowers for the ceremony.
Invitations - $1,500, but I know you can spend way less which is what i plant to do!
Also don't forget to add postage in your budget too.
Other stationary - $500, but again I plan on doing it for less

What accessories do we need?? I definitely do not have a budget line item for that!

I don't remember what I budgeted for a suit and have NO idea how much they cost.

Hope this helps somewhat.

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Thanks! My accessories are things like headpiece, jewelry, bowtie for the men, etc. I also have NO idea what a suit costs!

What were your budgets?

Centerpieces: Full flower budget is 2K, hoping and praying it can be done
Ceremony decorations: I'm not. The church has very strict rules and I just can't with them lol
Invitations: $500
Other stationary (menus, seating cards): DIY so only $100
Bride/groom accessories: Including shoes/DOJ/Veil $250-300 ($1500 for wedding bands)
Tux: $200 (rental)

HTH!

ETA: Suits can cost big bucks, but if you get them in a deal like Karako has, they can be more affordable. FH was able to get three suits (not the cheapest ones, the middle ground ones), three shirts, three ties, three belts, three pairs of socks all for under $700 with alterations (just hemmed the pants and took one in a little smidge)

Re: What were your budgets?

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Posted by rcotter90

Centerpieces: Full flower budget is 2K, hoping and praying it can be done
Ceremony decorations: I'm not. The church has very strict rules and I just can't with them lol
Invitations: $500
Other stationary (menus, seating cards): DIY so only $100
Bride/groom accessories: Including shoes/DOJ/Veil $250-300 ($1500 for wedding bands)
Tux: $200 (rental)

HTH!

ETA: Suits can cost big bucks, but if you get them in a deal like Karako has, they can be more affordable. FH was able to get three suits (not the cheapest ones, the middle ground ones), three shirts, three ties, three belts, three pairs of socks all for under $700 with alterations (just hemmed the pants and took one in a little smidge)

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It makes me so sad that flowers cost so much :( I'm hoping I can pull off 1k for the centerpieces but I feel like that's a pipe dream :(

What were your budgets?

Centerpieces: $1550 for 10 tables (total flower cost $2489)
Ceremony decorations: $0 since the venue provides it
invitations: $400
other stationary: $200
accessories: already have vail. so shoes, jewelry, spanx, bow tie & pocket square $400
tux: no idea :(

Re: What were your budgets?

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Posted by rcotter90

Centerpieces: Full flower budget is 2K, hoping and praying it can be done
Ceremony decorations: I'm not. The church has very strict rules and I just can't with them lol
Invitations: $500
Other stationary (menus, seating cards): DIY so only $100
Bride/groom accessories: Including shoes/DOJ/Veil $250-300 ($1500 for wedding bands)
Tux: $200 (rental)

HTH!

ETA: Suits can cost big bucks, but if you get them in a deal like Karako has, they can be more affordable. FH was able to get three suits (not the cheapest ones, the middle ground ones), three shirts, three ties, three belts, three pairs of socks all for under $700 with alterations (just hemmed the pants and took one in a little smidge)

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Ours is very close to this.. Except FH tux was free! The place we went gives the grooms tux for free (rental was $150 each for the groomsmen)

Re: What were your budgets?

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Posted by shellabella2

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Posted by rcotter90

Centerpieces: Full flower budget is 2K, hoping and praying it can be done
Ceremony decorations: I'm not. The church has very strict rules and I just can't with them lol
Invitations: $500
Other stationary (menus, seating cards): DIY so only $100
Bride/groom accessories: Including shoes/DOJ/Veil $250-300 ($1500 for wedding bands)
Tux: $200 (rental)

HTH!

ETA: Suits can cost big bucks, but if you get them in a deal like Karako has, they can be more affordable. FH was able to get three suits (not the cheapest ones, the middle ground ones), three shirts, three ties, three belts, three pairs of socks all for under $700 with alterations (just hemmed the pants and took one in a little smidge)

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Ours is very close to this.. Except FH tux was free! The place we went gives the grooms tux for free (rental was $150 each for the groomsmen)

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I must know where you went!! That's amazing

What were your budgets?

Centerpieces also depend on your # of guests. We are having 250 guests and 22 tables so ours cost $3800

Re: What were your budgets?

Don't let cost hold you back from getting the pictures you want. Your pictures will capture the most important day of you life. You will share these pictures with everyone and keep them forever. Your centerpieces will be thrown out, your ceremony decorations will be thrown out, your invitations will be thrown out, your menus will be thrown out, your seating cards will be thrown out, etc. Splurge on what really matters the most to you.

What were your budgets?

Centerpieces: I was budgeting around $1500 for ALL flowers (centerpieces, bouquets, etc) but it looks like it will be more like $2500
Ceremony decorations (did you decorate at all?): I don't plan on decorating for the ceremony, plus our church doesn't recommend it.
Invitations: Hoping for it to be around $500-$600, including postage.
Other stationary (menus, seating cards): I will probably DIY this for around $100+
Bride/groom accessories: Veils are so expensive! I never knew! lol. The veil I want is around $500. Plus, I would need shoes, hair accessory, jewelry. Groom will just need cufflinks.
Tux: Hoping to get this free, with groomsmen rentals.

hope this helps!

Re: What were your budgets?

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Posted by SweatingForTheWedding

Don't let cost hold you back from getting the pictures you want. Your pictures will capture the most important day of you life. You will share these pictures with everyone and keep them forever. Your centerpieces will be thrown out, your ceremony decorations will be thrown out, your invitations will be thrown out, your menus will be thrown out, your seating cards will be thrown out, etc. Splurge on what really matters the most to you.

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Totally agree with this! You can def cut corners elsewhere. Pictures will be with you forever. For the tuxes, we are using Lake Shore Formal in Lake Ronkonkoma.. One of our groomsmen used them for his wedding and had a great experience. So far we have too!

What were your budgets?

Definitely don't plan on cutting corners on photos because it IS what I'm willing to spend the most on!!! Our two top photographers that we would love no matter which one we choose, though, are a few hundred dollars apart from each other so I was hoping finding out I budgeted poorly would push us towards the cheaper one. However, everyone seems to be saying their budget is the same as mine, except for centerpieces. I really want to not go over $1000 for centerpieces but I'm really thinking it might not be possible.

What were your budgets?

This is a really informative thread! I really have no idea what are reasonable prices to pay for centerpieces and DJs lol! Thanks for sharing everyone!

What were your budgets?

Centerpieces – My total flower cost is slightly over $1,000. I am getting flowers from the florist who is doing the bouquets & boutonnieres, but assembling the centerpieces myself in my own vases.

Ceremony decorations – 2 small arrangements for the arch (included in the total above) + $50 on DIY decorations

Invitations – $200 - 300, I am designing them myself & printing through Vistaprint & Catprint

Other stationary (menus, seating cards) – Around $100 (also DIY)

Bride/groom accessories - TBD

Tux – $200 - 300

P.S. We splurged on our photographer. It’s worth it to cut corners elsewhere to make sure you have an amazing photographer!

Re: What were your budgets?

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Posted by Rorelai

Definitely don't plan on cutting corners on photos because it IS what I'm willing to spend the most on!!! Our two top photographers that we would love no matter which one we choose, though, are a few hundred dollars apart from each other so I was hoping finding out I budgeted poorly would push us towards the cheaper one. However, everyone seems to be saying their budget is the same as mine, except for centerpieces. I really want to not go over $1000 for centerpieces but I'm really thinking it might not be possible.

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It might be possible! It depends what you want and how many tables you will have. I will tell you my entire cost for flowers is $1470 and that's including the bouquets and ceremony decorations and everything too. I think our centerpieces came to $50 each! We didn't get anything crazy we got low centerpieces with white hydrangea and coral/peach roses in a glass bowl. High centerpieces or ones with flowers not in season etc of course would cost much more.

Re: What were your budgets?

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Posted by BOUSA312

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Posted by Rorelai

Definitely don't plan on cutting corners on photos because it IS what I'm willing to spend the most on!!! Our two top photographers that we would love no matter which one we choose, though, are a few hundred dollars apart from each other so I was hoping finding out I budgeted poorly would push us towards the cheaper one. However, everyone seems to be saying their budget is the same as mine, except for centerpieces. I really want to not go over $1000 for centerpieces but I'm really thinking it might not be possible.

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It might be possible! It depends what you want and how many tables you will have. I will tell you my entire cost for flowers is $1470 and that's including the bouquets and ceremony decorations and everything too. I think our centerpieces came to $50 each! We didn't get anything crazy we got low centerpieces with white hydrangea and coral/peach roses in a glass bowl. High centerpieces or ones with flowers not in season etc of course would cost much more.

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ooooh that sounds beautiful!! i really want tall centerpieces but will totally compromise to keep within my budget. We're hoping for 125 guests so probably about 11 tables and the $1000 is not including the bouquets or boutennieres as I won't be doing traditional flowers for those. Thanks for the info!!

Re: What were your budgets?

Centerpiece budget was part of our flower budget which was $5,000.

We are having minimal church decorations.

Invitation budget was $1,000.

The others we didn't budget for. We went with what felt right.

What were your budgets?

Centerpieces: $2400 for all flowers (I want low centerpieces and noticed that most florists have a minimum price for centerpieces if they are required to set them up)
Ceremony decorations: Fox Hollow provides them
Invitations:$1200 for all paper (STDs, invites, programs, menus, place cards, thank yous)
Bride/groom accessories: veil and shoes for me: $350...whatever accessories FH would have: $105
Tux: $210

Pictures are the main thing you have to show off your wedding day so I definitely will splurge on that. I would be willing to have cheaper shoes or simpler invites to save money somewhere so I could get the photographer I wanted.