Wedding Blog
Unfortunately, this has been a pretty stressful week of wedding budgeting in our candy land. Mr. CC and I have been cutting costs wherever we can since we decided to pull our contract with our photobooth vendor.
I signed a contract with them in March and hadn’t heard a single thing from them at all. I figured, it’s June, shouldn’t I have at least gotten a confirmation that they received my signed contract? I don’t know why it took me so long to realize I had never heard from them, I guess I thought one of their e-mails got lost in the sea of wedding-related e-mails I’ve been collecting for over a year now.
My initial “Oh my god, why haven’t I heard from them at all?” panic led to some innocent Googling, where I discovered a number of uber negative reviews about this company. They were all relatively recent, so I couldn’t have seen them back when I was researching earlier this year. I know it’s normal to have a handful of negative reviews because that’s just the way it is, but after searching for hours on the Internet, I couldn’t find one positive review, and the company is large enough that it should have at least one happy bride review by now.
The negative feedback I was reading was enough to make me a nervous wreck (several brides complained about how the booth didn’t take one picture during the entire time it was there, or how the photobooth assistant got photo ink on the guests’ clothes). I quickly regretted putting down the nearly $400 non-refundable deposit. My parents, the dear mom and pop candies that they are, offered to call the company to see if they would be willing to give us our deposit back, but they weren’t (which I can’t blame them, it was in our contract). They were nice to my parents on the phone, but I just wasn’t willing to dish out another $400 on a vendor that I have grown to have absolutely no faith in.
So, this left us without a photobooth. I quickly began browsing the web for another vendor and found this great local company called Festive Fotobooths. I highly recommend them - they are incredibly nice and get back to you right away and are willing to be flexible with what you want. (PLUS, they have a prop bin. Just sayin’.) There are a bajillion positive reviews online for them, so that was also comforting. For two hours of unlimited photos and other goodies (with double printouts, one for the guest and one for our scrapbook), it adds up to a little over $1,000.
I was really looking forward to having a photobooth, but I also really look forward to eating something other than ramen for the rest of my meals leading up to October. I wish we could say that we budgeted for this unexpected blip in the wedding planning, but we didn’t, so we have to cut costs where we can, which ultimately meant that we wouldn’t be having a photobooth. I e-mailed my parents to let them know that we wouldn’t be having a booth, and I got a call within hours from them saying they would cover the costs!!! Insert me being incredibly grateful and doing a happy dance here ________.
I also scratched calligraphy off my list of “must-haves.” As much as I love love love Besty Dunlap, it’s something I can do myself (though not nearly as well!) to save some money. I also highly recommend Betsy–she offered the best prices I could find in the style we wanted, plus she’s the cutest wedding-related e-mail correspondent ever.
When I was budgeting for the aforementioned, Mr. CC and I were going to have to save a little over $600 per month, until October. Now we will just have to save about $330 a month, which will put a lot less stress on our relationship and a lot more food in our bellies.
Did anyone else have to make some rough decisions while finalizing their budgets?
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So far we haven’t had to make any changes, we will see as times goes by though.
Something that might help you for your wedding:
Get a Polaroid and enough film for everyone. My co-worker told me she did that. Found it all online for less than 300$, everyone loved it. All her guests took pictues of themselves and wrote little notes and she gets to put those in her guest book.
Migh be worth looking into and you could tell your guest to leave at least one picture of them in a special box you make for them by the guestbook.
Oh yea I know all about the budget. I got engaged in Dec 2007 and we have set our date as Sept 26 2009 because we didnt want to be stressed at last minute for money. But knowing that it is so far away we are still trying to budget like crazy because we want our money to go to more visual things. Such as no save the date magnets that would have cost 1.15 each I am now DIY at $.84 each which adds up the same with decor, invitations, centerpieces, and favors. Hang in there!!
I know you said its a good thing, since you don’t have to save so much per month now, but How about asking your photographer to set up a photobooth (just a camera, tripod, and backdrop)…it may cost much less than $400… good luck!
Just about every one of the weddings I have done this year have had the photobooth…. or some variation of it…. I have to say that they are always so much fun and guests really love them. I am so sorry to hear about your nasty little experience with your vendor and I think that you made the right choice… but don’t throw your original photo-booth idea out the window. I agree with other posters that you can still have it…
-The Polaroid (you can still find some here and there if you look hard enough and the film is aplenty)
-Setting up a backdrop, a digital camera, and a digital printer (I’ve had a few brides do this and just ask that someone “man” the station during cocktail hour but then leave it open throughout the evening for guests to use at their leisure)
-Having your photographer set up a make-shift studio (typically not that expensive as an add-on… and usually will ensure that you get the digital negatives as well as the photos on your photo site so that guests can purchase as well)
I think that you are absolutely on the right track with saving money and keeping the whole finances manageable… but also remember that there are alternatives as well- it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing sort of deal.
Good Luck- loving your posts and looking forward to your wedding!
Eeee, I got a call from my parents last night saying they knew how important the photobooth was to me and that they’d pay for it. I was all !!!!!!!!! hehe. I like the polaroid idea, my brother did that at his wedding and I thought it was super cute.
@Shay:
Yay to saving on things that add up in the long run!
@Angela:
Thanks for the idea! My parents ended up saving the day and saying they’d cover the photobooth costs, which surprised me and made me as happy as a little clam! 
Aaaaaagh! Miss Candy Corn, you’re the Bee to whom I relate most, and this post has me worried. Could you please give the name of the (former, lame) photobooth company? Ours is also based in Philadelphia, and I have a baaaaad feeling it’s the same one…
That’s really sweet of your parents to pay for the photobooth!!
Ohh yeah, we have had cutbacks. We just got notice that my fiance was receiving less than 1/4 of the amount of money from his school that they had told us he would be getting, so we had to cut the wedding budget from it’s already-insanely-low $10,000 to $5,000.
Yep.
$5,000.
I guess it makes you realize that it’s the marriage that matters, and not the production you put on for it.
@Laura:
I don’t feel comfortable naming the company here, but you can private message me if you’d like! They weren’t based in Philadelphia like our new rockin’ company is though I think you’re safe 
My fiance and I are paying for the wedding all ourselves so when we finalized the budget I realized that our ‘rough decision’ was that I wasgoing to have to sacrafice having a venue/location with all those outdoor elements I envisioned. We also wanted convenience which to us meant being local and no established venue worked out in our budget. Our next option was wide open spaces such as parks, orchards etc. As soon as we started pricing out catering, tables, chairs, tent etc..it bust our budget. We ended up going for a casual banquet room with character that is 5 minutes from where we live. Even though it’s not the ulimate atmosphere I wanted I don’t regret the decision because I can breath…I don’t have to worry about a bunch of different vendors, don’t have to worry about weather, and this allowed room in the budget for me to spend on other things that will make the wedding memorable.
My biggest sacrifices so far are fancy linens and a wedding planner. Also, we substantially lowered our flower budget. Sorry about this blip, CC, but it sounds like it ended well!
i have only recently come to terms with the fact that we can’t afford to have super 8 wedding film (like from layer cake films–they do an awsome job). if someone had told me i would care about this detail, oh, say six months ago, i would have scoffed, or maybe guffawed.
you guys are EATING after the wedding???
FI and I have decided that eating is HIGHLY overrated and we won’t be doing THAT anymore after the wedding.
After my fiance tried to convince me that he could BUILD a photobooth, I decided to get a second job to contribute to the wedding fund. My biggest piece of advice to anyone now is to start saving as soon as you get engaged, unless you plan to win the lottery!
Just wanted to let you know that I have also heard great things about Festive Fotobooths. Our DOC has worked with them a number of times and highly recommended them.
@Miss Candy Corn: Miss Candy Corn, I’m also looking into a photo booth and would also like know the name of your first photo booth company.
Yes! Unfortunately yes. 1. I did not get my dream aisle runner from The original Aisle co. I had been looking a those darn things for 2 years. In the end it was not possible. I also wanted to buy my bridesmaids more than I did. I did get them all a nice gift in the end but wanted to give them more! At the last minute I had enough for a videographer. I mistakenly paid him in full …he never showed. After 6 months of hard core saving that $520.00 was devastating to lose when he did not show. We can not find him our money is gone. I could go on and on about what I did not have at my wedding b/c of budget. In the end NONE of my guests noticed or cared. They all said it was the best wedding they had ever been too! I wanted a photo booth as well..it got the ax in the end. I asked my photographer to focus on all the guests at the end of the event. That worked out well and we got alot of candid shots.
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Mrs. Candy Corn, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 24, Senior Editor/Writer & Freelance Illustrator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Inventory Manager for a Music Publisher
Engagement Date: September 1, 2004
Wedding Date: October, 2008
Blogging Since: May 6, 2008
Venue: Pennsylvania Museum of Archaelogy and Anthropology
About Me: I enjoy people watching (especially in New Jersey malls), obsessive collecting, drooling over contemporary art, browsing flea markets for vintage finds and eating an absurd amount of cheese. In my Philadelphia abode, I create mixed media artwork and one-of-a-kind home accessories in the company of my farmer-tanned husband, our Westiepoo (Betty White), our three rabbits (Cadbury, Willie Nelson and Applesauce) and our two frisky chinchillas (Ethel Funk and Maude).
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