One of the most common pieces of advice for wedding planning is to ’stick to your budget’. So is it weird that a frugal bride like myself never had one clearly established?
I love weddings, but had never looked into it besides the floral aspects (being a floral design hobbyist) prior to our engagement. Like with most purchases I make, I did not go in with a preset idea of what I’m willing to pay. My pockets are far from deep, they’re just made of stretchy material. My goal is not to spend the minimal amount I can, but to attain the highest Bang-Over-Buck ratio (affectionately referred to as ‘BOB’ in our household).
Working without a budget is not for the faint of heart, and I don’t recommend it for everyone. But if you have self control, allowing for adjustments can yield great results. Splurging on the right deal can have high positive impact. The right deal should be one you can reasonably afford, make a noticable difference, and make you happy. For us, it was this:
http://www.sfwhitecrane.com/vids/oakfestjong.wmv
Since we only want to spend money on one or the other, the Chinese Lion Dance beat out the photobooth for its festive nature and distinctiveness. For a good chunk of our guests, this may be the only time they will ever see such a performance. And even for the others, it is not something they get to see live often, not to mention up close and personal. We have attended so many weddings and to be honest, I’m not sure I will remember any of them in detail ten years from now. So this is our attempt to leave a slightly bigger imprint in their (hopefully fond) memories. 
I worked this way too! And it worked for us.
How cool is that! A great choice to nix the photo booth for the dance. As a guest, I would absolutely want to see something totally cultural and unique … plus it will make for some wicked photos!
Sorry that this is unrelated but as a floral hobbyist are there any good resources for DIY flowers you can recommend? I am currently stumped on how to transport 30 vases.
Lion dances are indeed fun, but make sure they don’t drag it out.
I LOVE the Lion dance! Wow! That’s an amazing thing to have at your wedding. Fun.
I’ve been so reluctant to answer when someone would ask about our budget , I thought people would think I was totally crazy for planning this way. Imagine my relief to hear that I wasn’t the only one to rationalize our choices this way!
Completely with you on the “BOB” method as we have been considering all our selections with that in mind.
We fall in the middle of the continuum. I’m frugle by nature, so I didn’t really need a budget. We did our research at the beginning to see what things cost, then worked out a list of what things we wanted and our expected costs (our “budget”) so that we knew how much $$ to save up. That gave us a framework, but we haven’t been scared to vary from it.
I think this approach works best when you know about the options available. It works well for us with home remodeling and decorating, and other projects that we are familiar with…. but since we didn’t know anything about wedding planning prior to our engagement, it caused for a bumpy beginning.
I will say that the overall cost of the wedding has increased over time, because there were BOB (I like that term) items we decided to add… but doesn’t that happen in all weddings?
This is what we’re doing too. We’re not having an over the top wedding but certainly not trying to save as much as possible. I’m lucky that my brother belongs to a lion dance troupe. So we can splurge a little for a photobooth too. Otherwise, I would have chosen the lion dance over the photobooth.
@vyeta7: not sure what you mean by DIY flower resources, but I do plan on posting some of my own. Transporting arranged vases can be tricky depending on what you’re working with (size, type, height of arrangements). Most practical would be to set them up in boxes of sorts that are padded to minimize sliding/slipping. The arrangements should be made with durability in mind (must be sturdy enough to hold shape during transport). It’s best if someone besides the driver is there to help manage the flowers (in case something tips over, etc.) 30 vases is quite a bit, is it possible to arrange them on site?
OMG!! and my friends called me crazy!!..lol…I want a lion dance too!
Mrs. Green Tea, Sacramento
Age and Occupation: 30, Tea Analyst
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Coffee Critic
Engagement Date: November 17, 2006
Wedding Date: August 23, 2008
Blogging Since: June 10, 2008
Venue: Vineyard on the Delta
About Me: I'm just your average obsessive compulsive, arts & crafts loving, funky-on-the-inside/boring-on-the-outside girl, who dares to say 'Hey! I can make that!' Nerdy professional by day, goofy won-ton by night. The won-ton sometimes comes out during the day when I'm fed the dollar breakfast at Ikea. Since our engagement, wedding planning has put me on high alert for bargains and I've been pushing my nimble fingers through callous building experiments!
I’m with you…working with a budget wasn’t working for us. Crazy? Maybe. But we’re still aware of what we still have to pay for and well aware of what we can and can’t afford in the end…so we’re okay with it…it is tough when people ask, “what’s your budget for this?” and i kind of want to say, “tell me what you will provide, how much you want, and i’ll tell you yes or no.” Hmm…great post.