Mrs. Butterscotch, Seattle
Age and Occupation: 29, Advertising Sales Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, City Worker
Engagement Date: September 24, 2006
Wedding Date: August 11, 2007
Blogging Since: June 19, 2007
Venue: church ceremony and private club reception
About Me: I am marrying my high school sweetheart 11 years after high school ended! I am a self professed shoe fanatic with a closet full of shoes and only two feet. Planning a wedding has been my fun project since he surprised me with a proposal in Paris. We are spending our last few months preparing for our big day by wrapping up all the small things, buying a house and best of all preparing to live together for the first time.
Third Time Is a Charm
June 29th, 2007 @ 1:40 pm by Mrs. Butterscotch
This is my third attempt at writing out my budget. Why three times you ask? Well, each time I would start, I would get distracted: remembering something not done, or someone not called. I would think about saving what I had done so far, but then I’d be disheartened by the massiveness of what I had yet to do.
Hence, my third time going at this. But finally I’m at a point where I don’t care what I have left to do! I’m going to be strictly positive about what I have accomplished. And I have accomplished a lot (see, positive thinking already at work!). I will make this as reader-friendly as possible. Please keep in mind we are not quite married yet, so some numbers are estimates. Our budget was loosely set at $12,000 with 150ish guests.
Reception venue: $1150 (tables included, and a discounted rate since we are members of the community)
Church: $950 including pastor, building fee, and coordinator
Pianist: $150
Dress: $1600 with alterations
Veil: $25
Shoes: $40
Hair: $230, including trial
Makeup: $30
Garter: $12
Groom tux: free! Gotta love Men’s Wearhouse!
BM gifts: also free! My grandma made each girl an afghan.
GM gifts: $100 total
Parents’ gifts: $150
Invitations and programs (DIY): $450
Favor fans with menu & donation info: $50
Donation to charities as favors: $200
Catering: $4500 (including a full dinner buffet with waiter service and rental of plates, flatware, and glasses)
Rentals (linens and chairs): $750
Cake: $300
Cake Topper (DIY): $50
Flowers: $1600
Photographer: $2400
Videographer: Free (we are having a family friend do it and then we’ll edit it later)
DJ: estimated $800 ( we are still looking for a DJ, but this is my max amount I would like to spend.)
Photo guest book: $35
Flower girl dresses: $80 for two
Flower girl baskets: $20 for two
Petals for aisle: $100
Total cost of wedding to-date: $15,772
Memories that will last a lifetime…priceless. 
I didn’t include the rings because they were not really a “wedding day” expense in my mind. I also didn’t include the honeymoon or rehearsal dinner costs for the same reason.
Ok, so we are over budget, but as I said in the beginning our budget was loose and I knew I would have some wiggle room. I went over on my estimated photographer, DJ and floral costs, but I really did do a lot of research and tried to get the most bang for my buck on all aspects of the wedding.
