Weddingbee Blog

After seeing all the recent budget talk, I thought I should chime in on the hot topic. While I’m far from knowing our final verdict of what the wedding will cost us, I can let you in on how my family approached it.

Much like Miss Corn’s post, our number has been evolving ever since we got engaged. The way we found the sweet spot was to jump in headfirst (research-wise, that is) and see the broad range of costs. Once we saw all that was out there, we were able to narrow down our vision and thus hone in on a general figure.

Mr. Peppermint and I both come from fairly traditional families in that everyone agreed (and generally assumed) that the Bride’s family would pay for the wedding. Mr. Peppermint’s family will be paying for the rehearsal dinner. Some extraneous things (such as wedding gifts and rings) will be paid for by me & Mr. Peppermint.

My parents have graciously taken on the task and thus our journey began. While my parents hold the purse strings, I’ve been lucky in that they haven’t held it over my head. They genuinely want me (and Mr. Peppermint, of course) to make the decisions. They have been extremely involved, but never over-bearing. Always willing to give input, but really helping to create the day that Mr. Peppermint and I envision.

Papa Peppermint began the process by reading articles about what the average wedding costs, as well as ask my Aunt and Uncle (who co-hosted their son’s wedding two years ago) for a general figure. I did my homework by devouring countless articles, books and magazines on just this subject as well as beginning to research venues. I was at first frustrated that my Dad didn’t give me a flat out number to live by because, as most of you know, there is such a range in price that I felt like I needed something to help me narrow it down. Ultimately I really can’t complain though, because this ‘process’ allowed all of us to consider the options and really talk about what we wanted (within reason, of course ). This is when we created our list of possible venues that led to our December 2006 weekend trip to scout out Palm Springs venues. Once we settled on the O’Donnell House it helped determine a ballpark figure. Luckily, because of our venue we have flexibility in the vendors we choose and thus how much we are willing to pay.

As the quotes come in from various vendors, our figures have begun to materialize. While we originally had planned for something in the $20-25K range, it appears it will be closer to $30K. After the wedding I will give all of you a more accurate figure…

p.s. the piggy banks above can be found at:
www.impressionsareeverything.com, so cute!!