Ego Vinterop Wedding Designer

Just trying to work out our wedding budget, everything is so expensive. Even taking the honeymoon cost out of the budget I’m still struggling to keep it under budget. What was/is your budget breakdown?

Don’t worry,it will be ok just do alot of DIY and that should keep your budget down.
Im sorry but im getting married at the Office of Civil Marriages by a judge for $50,i refuse to waste money on a 4-6 hour party.

My total budget
License-$60
Judge fee-$50
Dress-$20 pretty knee length cream dress
Bridal Bouquet-Vegas have places everywhere,less than $30
Champagne for 10 witness-$50 (on sale original price $150)
Wedding Cake from best bakery in Vegas-they quoted me $50 for 15 people
Dinner for 2 after witnesses leave-$100-$150 (i don’t eat much)
See we get to thank our witnesses for being there and me and him have our private dinner time together before we go on our honeymoon.

If your looking for budget ideas.
$2000 budget

http://brideonbudget.blogspot.com/2010/02/2000-wedding-budget.html

$5000 budget

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/560479/ultimate_planning_guide_for_a_5000.html?cat=23

$10,000 budget

http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-budget/articles/cheap-wedding-ideas.aspx?MsdVisit=1

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Ex. What % of your wedding budget do you typically spend on your gown, flowers, vendor, etc.

http://theknot.com/
Use the budget calculator at the Knot. You will see it on the left, under "planning tools."

It will tell you what percentage of your budget should be spent on each item.

My husband and I were married at the courthouse in 2006 and now for our 5 year anniversary we are going to have the wedding that I never got to have back then. Our budget is $10,000 but I have no idea how I should divide that up. Could I see someone’s sample budgets? Ideas? Whatever, I just need help! LOL Thanks!

Start with your reception, because that is going to be the most $$. You can’t build the budget EXACTLY until you have an idea of how much that will be. Of course, you can estimate, but I still think that’s the best place to start.

I would recommend doing your vow renewal (if you are doing one) at the same location as the reception, find a hotel or a reception hall somewhere that has a gazebo or a nice separate place to do the vows. Not only will it save you money, but it will save your guests travel time between venues. Since you are already married, you want to make this the easiest thing possible for your guests- because they are humoring you in a re-do. You don’t want anything to be inconvenient for them. That’s what my sister did for her wedding-style vow renewal.

My wedding budget was $6000 and we were under, but we only had 50 guests.

If you are having around 100 guests (which is a more normal #, remember you can invite more than 100 if that’s your goal because not everyone will attend):
I would start by looking for a reception venue in the same price range we were in (we paid $67 per person, that’s including all taxes and service fees, the 4 course meal, the cake, the short ceremony, the flower centerpieces, and an open bar for the cocktail hour. We went with the most-inclusive package they offered, because to buy the cake and centerpieces separate would have cost more in the long run) The fees are what really kill you, most places will charge 18% and 20% for service and administration, plus meal tax. So bring your calculator to appointments, because the price they advertise per-person is much less than what you will be paying in the end.

After you find the place you love, do the math and figure out what it’s going to cost. After that, pick out your dress (I would stay under $500, but if you want to go higher you can you’ll just have to cut something else short).

So right now you’re at approx $6700 reception, $500 dress, that leaves you with $2800.

$500 is the MINIMUM you will pay for a DJ and photographer, and that’s assuming you hunt really hard and barter well. Let’s estimate $750 for each to be more realistic, so that’s $1300 after both of those.

Remember, this is assuming the cost of cake and centerpieces and ceremony are included in the reception. If they are not, you need to look for a lower price reception.

Flowers, if you can make them yourself, beit fresh or fake, give yourself about $200. It should be less, but it’s better to over budget. If you are having a bridal party, set aside $150-200 for gifts for them.

So now you have $900. You can pay for an officiant, or you can have someone you know do it for free. Nothing has to be official, so I recommend that.

Your husband will need to rent a tux, $50-100.

If you do your own invites using the pre-made invites from Micheals crafts that you print yourself, you will be spending about $50 for 50 invites (remember, it’s not one invite per person, it’s one invite per family, so you may need even less than 50) and you can print business card up for place cards $15.

So that leaves you with $735 for favors, hair&makeup, place card holders, decorations, accessories, etc. That’s MORE than enough for all of those incidentals. You may want to put part of this towards flowers and have them done professionally, that’s up to you. You can wait and order the flowers until after you have definite numbers for the cost of everything else. You can also "find" more money in the budget if you need to, by simply choosing a cheaper dress.

Don’t forget to tip your DJ and photographer after, if they did well. Also don’t forget that most DJs or photographers expect to be fed if they are there for more than 4 hours, but your venue should have cheaper "vendor" meals.

Hope that helps!

I’m not quite sure what my wedding budget is yet, but i know i want to do whatever i can to save money…making the centerpieces, and bouquets and decorating myself. Also, my friend’s dad is a chef and he has offered to give me a discount on the catering

What was your wedding budget and what did you actually spend?
What did you do to save money?
What did you spend more on than you thought you would?

Thanks

If you can find people you know that know someone that does something wedding related, total bonus! Just ask, you would never guess who people know lol. Our wedding isn’t until May 2012, so we are just starting to figure things out. As far as budget a really big thing is number of guests, the lower the number the lower the cost.

Budget: Parents are giving us 10k we are repsonsible for anything over that amount. And to give you an idea, we live in Michigan and having a guest number of around 200. All the reception venues I have looked at, and like (not super fancy but not dirt cheat either) have been about 8k (that is the cheapest) to about 12k. For a Saturday wedding.

Save money: Have your wedding on a Friday, if possible, you can save a crazy amount. Have you wedding in the off season (usually like Nov-Apr) big money saver there. Cut your guest list if you can. Don’t have a family member do your cake (I have heard horror stories), we have a "Warehouse" like place called Costco (like Sam’s club) they offer a really good sheet cake (feeds 48 I think) for like $25 (and it’s good too!), so you could do like a traditional cake with foam tears (very popular now) and then just have the sheet cakes be what is cut and served. Doing a lot of DIY stuff can really save. Also, using silk flowers can really cut costs. As far as the chef goes, be sure where ever you book your reception allows outside caterers, a lot around here don’t. Have a cash bar (if it’s an option to you) here that would cut like $20 a person off. Shop around! Don’t just go with the first photographer, or dj you see, shop around and try and make a deal with them. Hit the trunk shows and sales for a dress (maybe, depending on how you feel, borrow someone’s that you are close to, since most people keep their dress).

As far as final cost: I know I will spend more than what I thought lol. When I first started planning, I was like 10k (from parents) would be good, might have to spend like 2k myself, not so much lol. Good luck though!

I’m not quite sure what my wedding budget is yet, but i know i want to do whatever i can to save money…making the centerpieces, and bouquets and decorating myself. Also, my friend’s dad is a chef and he has offered to give me a discount on the catering

What was your wedding budget and what did you actually spend?
What did you do to save money?
What did you spend more on than you thought you would?

Thanks

If you can find people you know that know someone that does something wedding related, total bonus! Just ask, you would never guess who people know lol. Our wedding isn’t until May 2012, so we are just starting to figure things out. As far as budget a really big thing is number of guests, the lower the number the lower the cost.

Budget: Parents are giving us 10k we are repsonsible for anything over that amount. And to give you an idea, we live in Michigan and having a guest number of around 200. All the reception venues I have looked at, and like (not super fancy but not dirt cheat either) have been about 8k (that is the cheapest) to about 12k. For a Saturday wedding.

Save money: Have your wedding on a Friday, if possible, you can save a crazy amount. Have you wedding in the off season (usually like Nov-Apr) big money saver there. Cut your guest list if you can. Don’t have a family member do your cake (I have heard horror stories), we have a "Warehouse" like place called Costco (like Sam’s club) they offer a really good sheet cake (feeds 48 I think) for like $25 (and it’s good too!), so you could do like a traditional cake with foam tears (very popular now) and then just have the sheet cakes be what is cut and served. Doing a lot of DIY stuff can really save. Also, using silk flowers can really cut costs. As far as the chef goes, be sure where ever you book your reception allows outside caterers, a lot around here don’t. Have a cash bar (if it’s an option to you) here that would cut like $20 a person off. Shop around! Don’t just go with the first photographer, or dj you see, shop around and try and make a deal with them. Hit the trunk shows and sales for a dress (maybe, depending on how you feel, borrow someone’s that you are close to, since most people keep their dress).

As far as final cost: I know I will spend more than what I thought lol. When I first started planning, I was like 10k (from parents) would be good, might have to spend like 2k myself, not so much lol. Good luck though!

My fiance and I just bought a house so money is tight. We are trying to plan our wedding for this year or spring of next year (April) but I am finding it difficult to find venues or come up with ideas that aren’t cheesy and are cost effective. Our budget is $5,000 max and we will have approximately 60 – 100 people. Any suggestions for a nice, simple, inexpensive wedding that isn’t cheesy? We live in Ontario, in the GTA.

We are inviting 36 guests and our budget is $1500 for the entire day. Here are our plans.

Getting married in a Rose Garden at noon for free. (lots of outdoor venue are free or charge low prices, we found nice parks who rent their property for only $30/day. The Rose Garden we chose is free)
Small guestlist
Noon wedding, afternoon reception. Lunch food is cheaper than dinner food.
No need to decorate the garden, it’s nice enough. We are buying NO decorations.
My dress $89. Flower Girl dress $25. His suit hope to spend no more than $200
No wedding party. Only flower girl.
DIY flower bouquet from fresh cut dept. store flowers
Reception- Lunch at a nice restaurant. No need to decorate, it’s nice enough. No need to rent tables, chairs, place settings, ETC..we just show up an eat. Only pay for the food we eat. Can’t get any easier than that. Paying $16 per person. Serving classic comfort foods…nothing fancy.
Hired Photographer for ceremony only. Using disposable cameras for reception
Hired violinist for ceremony only. Restaurant will play background music for lunch reception.
Cupcakes
Invitations from vistaprint.com

That’s basically it. Our goal for the day is to simply get married and then go eat with our family and friends. Not concerned with all the other fluff that goes with weddings these days.

my wedding budget it very small (under $3,000) its going to be a small wedding (under 50 ppl) things are working out so far were in our budget thinking where we can spend and where we can save my friend that i work with is also planning her wedding and shes always bragging about how much shes spending (about $20,000) she says you have to spend money to have a nice day because its your wedding day is my day destined to suck or will everything work out?

Hi there, I don’t think your friend should make you feel bad about how much you are spending on your wedding. In today’s economy the most sensible thing you can do is skip out on a lavish wedding and save up for a mortgage or pay off your debt first.
After having recently married here are some tips I picked up:

1. Off-season weddings will save you 50% off or more. I’m not sure what city your from but you can save a ton on your wedding no matter where you are if you have an off-season wedding. Wedding season is from April to the end of September and people are charged a more for these in demand dates. Also have you considered having the wedding/reception on a Friday evening or Sunday rather than Saturday? This date change will also save you money. The hall I used offered 50% discounts to off-season weddings.

2. Don’t go to a Wedding Hall/Hotel for the reception. Try having the wedding and reception at the same location as the wedding, some churches/temples/mosques have their own party room. See if you can use that instead of a hall. You also try using a nice restaurant instead of a hall, which has a private party room. Any room can look beautiful with some matching table cloths and chair covers. I had my engagement party at a Senior Centre which was located in a historical home (it looked beautiful on the outside), which had a nice party room with tables and chairs. My mom bought table cloths at walmart, and we placed cheap candles of varying sizes all over the room. It looked stunning! The cost of this locational – only $100!

3. Serve a buffet style dinner instead of a traditional sit down meal. I did this and saved a ton and most of my guests gave me positive feedback. Many people like the chance to interact with others at the buffet.

4. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. People were more than willing to give me a discount when I asked. Give it a try.

5. Skip out on the fancy wedding attaire. My fiance used a rented tux and ended up paying under $200 for everything he wore (including shoes, tie, shirt etc). Some of my friends wore rented gowns. I opted for a new one, but I bought it at a "trunk show." This is wear they have a special sale on designer gowns from the pervious year or new collections. Also you can try going to non-bridal stores and looking for a white prom dress or evening gown.

6. Hire students or people with less experience. Consider hiring student photographers or videographer and/or an amateur highschool band/dj. Make sure you sample there work before hand.

7. Hire a professional for short amount of time. If you do opt for a professional photographer, consider hiring them for just a few hours rather than the whole day. Make most of the time you have with him by having a list of shoots you want (i.e. couple, family, mother/daughter etc). A lot of brides now leaving deposable cameras on tables at the reception. You can hire a photog for a few hours and then use deposables for the reception.

8. Don’t use a lot of flowers. Flowers are a big drain on the budget. I used flowers for my head table and found beautiful candelabras for guest table centerpieces, which I rented.

9. Avoid anything wedding specific. For example, don’t go to wedding shoe shop, you can find white shoes anywhere. Anything with the word ‘wedding’ attached will cost and extra arm and leg.

Finally, my own personal piece of advice, please write up and sign a contract with anyone and everyone you hire. Specify what you hired them for, what hours they will be working, and how much they will be paid. Just in case anything goes wrong, you can refer to it. Congrats on your upcoming nupitals and good luck!

I’m not talking like do-it-yourself kinda cheap, but like a weekend wedding at a decent venue with catering and have a photographer and flowers and blah blah blah. Just choosing the cheaper options.

don’t include the dress, i haven’t set a dress budget
I’m estimating the wedding guest list will be 200+
The reception is more of an open house and we’ll send invites to everyone

I know that if I wasnt doing somethings on my own then my wedding budget would be close to $10,000, but then I am inviting 200 people. By doing some of the things on my own I am probably saving somewhere between $3,000 to $5,000. I havent really figured out the totals yet. Just be prepared for things to be really expensive.

In order of importance, how should we establish a wedding budget to keep track of the average price we’d be spending on each part of the wedding?

Find out for sure how many people are attending.

Then get out a calculator and start doing lots of division.

For example: Let’s say you have 93 confirmed guests on your list and you’re looking into hiring a live band that wants to charge you $1,700.

That live band will be $1,700 divided by 93 which is approx.:

$18.28 / guest for the live band.

Start doing that for the rest of the items on your list.

Most people, however, just do one large tally. They add up ALL costs and then divide that into the total number of guests.

For example, let’s say after hiring the band, venue, limo, flowers, tux, pastor, DJ, cake, gifts, food, etc, the cost is $9,252.

Then your average cost per guest would be

$9,252 divided by 93 which is approx:

$99.48 per guest for the wedding.

You can now decide if you’re over budget or not.

If, say, you were trying to stay below $45 / guest, then you know you will have to cut out some things or haggle with your vendors.

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In order of importance, how should we establish a wedding budget to keep track of the average price we’d be spending on each part of the wedding?

Find out for sure how many people are attending.

Then get out a calculator and start doing lots of division.

For example: Let’s say you have 93 confirmed guests on your list and you’re looking into hiring a live band that wants to charge you $1,700.

That live band will be $1,700 divided by 93 which is approx.:

$18.28 / guest for the live band.

Start doing that for the rest of the items on your list.

Most people, however, just do one large tally. They add up ALL costs and then divide that into the total number of guests.

For example, let’s say after hiring the band, venue, limo, flowers, tux, pastor, DJ, cake, gifts, food, etc, the cost is $9,252.

Then your average cost per guest would be

$9,252 divided by 93 which is approx:

$99.48 per guest for the wedding.

You can now decide if you’re over budget or not.

If, say, you were trying to stay below $45 / guest, then you know you will have to cut out some things or haggle with your vendors.

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