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Real Budgets Feature Launched: July 3, 2007 About: Real wedding budgets submitted by former brides.
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The Cost of ‘Priceless’

July 3rd, 2007 @ 3:09 pm by Real Budgets

(A guest post on budget from former bride KM

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Isn’t the most special day of your life “priceless”? Well yes…and no. The reality is that there are costs involved. Most people don’t plan weddings for a living, so how does one even begin to figure out how much to spend? Hopefully the monetary details of one 2006 wedding can help provide some perspective.

Our Circumstances – Being over 40, we were older than the average couple planning a wedding for the first time. Until recently my ideal wedding involved an elopement or at most a very, very small, intimate ceremony, followed by a kick-ass large party on a later date. But that was before we were both struck by a hit-and-run driver while crossing the street on the way to dinner one night. Ironically, it took this horrible accident for us to finally get engaged – we hadn’t seen the need, having already bought a home together and with no plans for children. Our long recovery (and the continued recuperation of my husband who was more severely injured than I) and the close bonds that were forged between both our families and our wonderful group of friends and neighbors made us rethink how our nuptials should unfold.

We now wanted it to be as much a witnessed union and celebration of life, as well as an expression of gratitude to the important people in our lives. So a large wedding and reception it became — the only caveat being we would to pay for it ourselves, without going into debt. And thankfully, that rule held true.

***

Location – Southern California City
Initial Budget – Fluid; $50K (a made-up figure, with little supporting data at the time)
Guests – 210
Planning time – 7 months

Ceremony & Reception - A private  mansion/estate for both ceremony & reception, located at the top of the hill where we live: Gratis (due to the generosity of the owner, a neighbor — hence the Sunday wedding date, which turned out to be a blessing as most of our first choice vendors were available, even at the last minute)

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Food/Wait Staff/Service Charge/Valets/Shuttle Vans/Parking Fee: $19,500 (one of the best decisions we made was to go with a caterer who was already very familiar with the venue)

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Bridal Gown/Veil & Alterations/Pressing: $2,705 (wasn’t sure I would wear a traditional wedding attire and then found a very simple yet elegant, lightweight silk gown at the first bridal shop visited)

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Bridal Accessories (shoes, hair ornaments, antique choker and earrings, stockings, undergarments): $1,200

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Groom/Fathers Tuxedo Rentals (3): $375 
Flower Girls’ Dresses: $55

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Stationery/Postage (Postcard save the dates; Letterpress invitations; included personal stationery with both our names, some of which were used as thank you notes): $2044

Photography: $11,500 (splurged on an expensive package, but we could never have put together as beautiful an album for us and our parents as the one they designed)  

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Videography:  $2,369 
Music for Ceremony/Cocktail Hour (Classical Guitarist): $650
DJ & assistant: $1800

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Floral & Lighting Design: $15,799 (where we decided to really splurge — for us, it was well worth it. Family and neighbors enjoyed the centerpieces for days and the pool floral arrangement graced our front yard for a week)

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Wedding Cake/Mini-Desserts for later in the evening: $1,125

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Officiant:  Gratis – a close friend who was ordained over the internet.
Wedding Coordinator: $2,000 (came aboard 4 weeks before wedding; one of the best values; wish we had hired her sooner)
Hair/Makeup: $400
Wedding Bands: $3702

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Dove: $100 (released in memory of husband’s recently deceased 96-year-old grandmother) 
Chinese Lion Dance Troop: $500

Guest Sign-In Art Piece: $500 (another splurge, but it now provides unique ambient light in our home; we weren’t interested in a framed large photo or Chinese embroidered silk that we wouldn’t hang in our home or an actual sign-in book we’d rarely look at after the wedding)

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Photobooth Rental: $2,150 (another worthwhile splurge — we still enjoy looking at the album that was put together) 

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Photobooth Scrapbook/Scrapbooking stuff: $103
DIY paper stuff (escort cards, menu cards, game card, glassine envelopes with thank you sticker): $135
Liquor (dinner wine was a gift from groom’s parents): $531
Wed Insurance: $195
Rehearsal Dinner: $1,220

*****

Actual Total Spent - $70,658

(A few other special touches — we faced our guests during the ceremony; didn’t have a center aisle, so no bride or groom’s side; showered guests with flower petals after the ceremony)

Obviously if we were both in our twenties and at the start of our careers, we would have had a very different wedding — a more modest, but hopefully still creative one. As it were, sure I would have liked to have had more time for additional crafty (maybe even cost-saving) stuff but the reality was I had a department to run and health issues for both of us to consider. Being true to our vision of the wedding through good value and not necessarily the lowest cost worked best for our situation.

Sharing that special day with those whom we owe so much to was truly priceless.

(Professional photos - which most of these are - were taken by The Image Is Found)

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24 Responses to “The Cost of ‘Priceless’”

1.
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Guest
MK

Was your wedding planner Love & Splendor? Your pics look REALLY familiar to me, especially the one of the flower arrangement in the pool.

If so, isn’t Angel wonderful? She is such an amazing person and a wonderful support– I feel like we’ll be old friends by the time I get married.

Congrats on a lovely wedding– it looks like it was a really special day for everyone.

 
2.
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frances

i love the guest sign in art piece. if you don’t mind…where did you get it? it’s so much better than the traditional sign in books!

 
3.
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cc

Your story is heart-warming - thank you so much for sharing it!

 
4.
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aoedorothee

i love that sign-in art piece! where/how did you do that?

 
5.
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Amy

Beautiful wedding - thanks for sharing! I also love the sign-in art. That is really fun and kind of funky.

 
6.
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lauren

Gorgeous wedding filled with personal touches- you really pulled off a splendid event.

 
7.
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Didi

What a beautiful wedding! very cute and creative!

 
8.
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Samantha

Your wedding was beautiful! Where did you get your cake toppers at…they are so unique.

 
9.
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My

Your wedding looked truely wonderful. I love the sign in art piece.

 
10.
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Miss Snow Pea

Gorgeous. Thank you so much for sharing!

 
11.
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Red

Love the sign-in artpiece. We looking do something similar as well.

 
12.
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KM

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. Glad I could share because I really enjoy this site and have benefitted so much from all the posts.

MK - Yes, Angel was our coordinator and she was fantastic.

Frances, aoedorothee, amy - the sign-in piece was something I dreamed up and had fabricated by a guy found at a local farmer’s market. He normally makes heavy dute metal or stainless steel wire-like pieces that hold outdoor plants. Our design was like a large upside down tomato cage (it’s about 6 ft tall), on a very sturdy base (with a light also attached). Bought purple, orange, green, red, smoke colored acrylic pieces and had them cut into uneven rectangles with small hole drilled in top. Left a bunch of silver, gold, white metallic pens at a table. Had a few examples already hanging on the piece (simple shower curtain hooks) and asked my cousin, who was manning the booth to make sure guests wrote or even drew something (DJ also prompted throughout the night). The piece now resides in a corner of our living room, we have added a couple strings of cafe lights for even more colorful illumination.

Samantha - you can find the resin cake toppers ($20 ea) at…

http://www.zippergifts.com (look for “wedding cake topper” under Entertaining section)

 
13.
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Keny

Wow! Your wedding was beautiful. Your story is very sweet too. I hope you and your husband are doing better.

 
14.
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Mrs. Bell Pepper

Wow, such an extravagant yet lovely wedding!

 
15.
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alison

gorgeous! Your site look amazing!

 
16.
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2ingkos

Beautiful! I, too, LOVE the sign-in art piece. I’m so jealous you had the photo booth. :) I really wanted to do that but we had to cut it.

 
17.
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Tea

i also am loving the art sign-in piece. so creative!

 
18.
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M&M

wow! love how creative and beautiful everything was!

 
19.
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Miss Pumpkin

Wow! What a beautiful wedding, story and couple. Neither of you look a day over 30 btw! Thanks so much for posting.

 
20.
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weddingbelle

beautiful! ok, now i feel better because no matter how hard i try, i can’t get our budget down to under $55K…and that’s already taking our honeymoon, wedding bands, second reception out of the running. i think ours will run about 60K or so in the end. *sigh. we have a photobooth too! :D

 
21.
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Weddingbee » Blog Archive » Watercooler

[...] The Cost of “Priceless” by Real Reader Budgets [...]

 
22.
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Weddingbee » Blog Archive » Update: Real Reader Budgets - Show Me The Money!

[...] has so generously submitted, and setting up posts to include some pictures of actual weddings like this one, to show how different brides got the most bang for their [...]

 
23.
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loi

Beautiful pictures! Congratulations on your wedding. Thank you for sharing the details. Who did you use for your Chinese dance troupe?

 
24.
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nopushover

Dear loi,

Thank you for the kinds words. We used
East Wind. If you’d like their contact #, email me at notapushover@yahoo.com

One of my best friends growing up is very involved with the troupe and I contacted them through him, but I’m not sure if that is the regular way to get in touch with them.

 


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