I have read a lot of posts about people who say they are way over budget.
I'm trying to avoid this at all costs... If you don't mind, could you tell me why you think you went over budget? Did you underestimate the number of people on the guest list / who would come? Did you underestimate the cost of vendors? Did you splurge on extras? Did you decide to blow the budget on something that came up that was more expensive than you planned (E.g. - -an awesome photographer who was twice your budget)? Did the little things just add up?
Combination of the above?
I'm just curious to know so I can plan for myself. We have a budget and everything so far is staying within it. I just want to avoid any potential pitfalls.
Thanks!
drpepper318
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
I think I just didn't realize exactly how much stuff there would be that I'd need to get, and everything costs more than I thought it would. All the little (and big) things just keep adding up!
ama1771
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
great posts! any thing else that pushed you over?
PegaLega
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
everything?!
We went waaaaaaaay over budget on video, a lil over budget on photo. Thats really it, I havent booked limos yet, but I know we are going to go over on them by ALOT!
We went over budget on video-b/c originally we were only going to get VERY basic, and wound up going over the top and photo i wanted a package that included certain things, and it really just came down to finding one that was flexible and on top of that finding one that I loved...so we went over on that a couple hundred dollars.
sunflower13
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
I think it was because never having planned a wedding we didn't really know how much things cost. We corrected for it though because soemthings we over estimated and some we underestimated. So we are pretty much on budget thankfully
LaurenF
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
i found myself often rationalizing that if you're going to spend money on something, you may as well not half-a$$ it and do it right, since you're only doing it once (we all hope and pray!). 'doing it right' always means spending more money than you had originally planned! hey, if you're going to have a photographer and if you're going to spend X on a photographer, you may as well spend X plus a little more to get the photojournalist.
Tria1110
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
For me.... I had made a budget in my head without having any idea what anything cost. I just figured my wedding shouldn't cost more than $X. Then when I met with vendors I realized how expensive things really cost. I was lucky enough where going over wasn't an issue but I totally see how it happens...
Good Luck!
BKtoLI
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
We originally thought we went over budget, but in the end we were actually way under budget.
But the small things do add up....I ended up spending about $50 just to make my cake topper because I made the mistake of buying too small rhinestones. I constantly changed my mind, so that cost me more as well (3 tiaras, 3 veils, 2 pairs of shoes, etc.)
I also ended up getting things that I had my heart set on from the very beginning that I thought were frivilous midway: My heart shaped bo-k and my custom aisle runner. These 2 things put my floral bill much higher than what it started out at.
Considering we spent less than my brother did 3 years ago, and about the same as my cousin 5 years ago, we didn't do too bad.
sr081906
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
We underestimated some cost. We had no clue. Fortunatelly, we really went about $500/$1000 or so over budget (did not compile everything yet!). But it took some creativity and consensus.
Example: - DH budgeted $50 for tux. - actual: $130 - I budgeted $150 for hair and MU - actual: $600 (I added extensions too and I had a trial) - We budgeted $350 for officiant - actual $500
Then we made up on other things: -HM was cheaper by $500
We negociated, negociated.... EVERYTHING!!!!!
Audreygirl
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
Posted by preciousstone
BECAUSE YOU SET THE BUDGET W/OUT REALLY KNOWING WHAT THINGS COST... NOT ONLY WHAT A REGULAR PERSON COST... BUT WHAT YOU REALLY ARE GOING TO LIKE.. IS GOING TO COST... I THINK IT REALLY IN THE BUDGET MAKING... YOU HAVE TO POUND THE PAVEMENT... AND PRICE THINGS BASED ON WHO AND WHAT YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE... OR AT LEAST LIVE WITH... AND THEN FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU HAVE TO LIVE W/OUT OR WHATEVER... HTH... WISH SOMEONE HAD MADE THIS POST 2MONTHS AGO WHEN I STARTED PLANNING...
i would agree with this post. you can certainly find a photograher for $1500, but the kind of photographers you really want tend to run around $5000. you may say you're only going to spend $1000 on DJ, but the kind of dj you really want after seeing tons of them, tends to run more like $2000 on average.
so it's not that you budgeted incorrectly, b/c i would say that anyone can find a photog for 1500-2000 and a dj for 1000, but the quality of the vendor meets your standards is translating into a larger quanitity of money and cut of your budget.
sr081906
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
Posted by Audreygirl
Posted by preciousstone
BECAUSE YOU SET THE BUDGET W/OUT REALLY KNOWING WHAT THINGS COST... NOT ONLY WHAT A REGULAR PERSON COST... BUT WHAT YOU REALLY ARE GOING TO LIKE.. IS GOING TO COST... I THINK IT REALLY IN THE BUDGET MAKING... YOU HAVE TO POUND THE PAVEMENT... AND PRICE THINGS BASED ON WHO AND WHAT YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE... OR AT LEAST LIVE WITH... AND THEN FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU HAVE TO LIVE W/OUT OR WHATEVER... HTH... WISH SOMEONE HAD MADE THIS POST 2MONTHS AGO WHEN I STARTED PLANNING...
i would agree with this post. you can certainly find a photograher for $1500, but the kind of photographers you really want tend to run around $5000. you may say you're only going to spend $1000 on DJ, but the kind of dj you really want after seeing tons of them, tends to run more like $2000 on average.
so it's not that you budgeted incorrectly, b/c i would say that anyone can find a photog for 1500-2000 and a dj for 1000, but the quality of the vendor meets your standards is translating into a larger quanitity of money and cut of your budget.
Actually you would be surprised about how 'cheap' you can negociate. Of course, if you want there 'biggest' package with ALL theoptions, you may not be able to stay on budget.
It all depends what you want and what you are willing to spend.
Katie&Chris2006
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
In the end, we didn't go over. But that was because DH's very generous uncle paid for our HM as a surprise, and because we had about 20 less guests come than we originally expected and planned for.
However, we did go over on certain things...we added a second photographer, we got trumpeters at the church, etc. What I found helped was constantly looking at the budget, keeping it up to date, and shifting money around as necessary. It really helped to be 100% conscious of everything we were spending and writing it all down.
We also did a lot of DIY stuff...which was a lot of work but definitely saved some serious cash. Good luck!
ETA: I forgot to mention that something that also helped was the fact that DH negotiated everything. We were very frank with vendors how much we wanted to spend. You would be surprised how willing most are to negotiate if it means sealing the deal.
MrsQ-in2007
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
Posted by conigs25
Because EVERYTHING costs more than you think it will AND bc you dont budget for the 'unknown' things that 'pop up' along the way
EXACTLY!!!!
We've been trying very hard to stay within budget but still get great vendors. THis has meant that we've gone over on the RH and Photographer/Video (we underestimated cost of Photo/Video to be honest). But we're still 'within reason' of our budget if we spend less on a couple of things.
Audreygirl
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Re: Why did you go over-budget?
Posted by sr081906
Posted by Audreygirl
Posted by preciousstone
BECAUSE YOU SET THE BUDGET W/OUT REALLY KNOWING WHAT THINGS COST... NOT ONLY WHAT A REGULAR PERSON COST... BUT WHAT YOU REALLY ARE GOING TO LIKE.. IS GOING TO COST... I THINK IT REALLY IN THE BUDGET MAKING... YOU HAVE TO POUND THE PAVEMENT... AND PRICE THINGS BASED ON WHO AND WHAT YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE... OR AT LEAST LIVE WITH... AND THEN FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU HAVE TO LIVE W/OUT OR WHATEVER... HTH... WISH SOMEONE HAD MADE THIS POST 2MONTHS AGO WHEN I STARTED PLANNING...
i would agree with this post. you can certainly find a photograher for $1500, but the kind of photographers you really want tend to run around $5000. you may say you're only going to spend $1000 on DJ, but the kind of dj you really want after seeing tons of them, tends to run more like $2000 on average.
so it's not that you budgeted incorrectly, b/c i would say that anyone can find a photog for 1500-2000 and a dj for 1000, but the quality of the vendor meets your standards is translating into a larger quanitity of money and cut of your budget.
Actually you would be surprised about how 'cheap' you can negociate. Of course, if you want there 'biggest' package with ALL theoptions, you may not be able to stay on budget.
It all depends what you want and what you are willing to spend.
Certainly negotiate - but realistically, you will prob not be able to negotiate the exact $5000 package you want with that exact photographer down to $2000 or to negotiate the exact DJ you want with everything you absolutely can't live without from $2000 to $800.
I did tons of negotiation and it definitely helped bring my numbers down, but it is negitation within that similar price zone b/c the vendors KNOW what they are worth and they will only go as low as THEY think that they are worth.
