Wedding Blog
… keeps the debt away! *Fists up*!
One sunny Saturday, I was having an all-out brawl with our budget. Meanwhile, Adam was having a Super Soakers war with his little cousins. I think that means we were pretty much in sync that day. 
That morning, I created a budget worksheet to keep track of our wedding expenses. I made four columns: Item, Percentage of Budget, Expected Cost, and Actual Cost. I put in the numbers for catering (food, drinks, cake), and it came out to 70% of our budget! That basically left tiddlywinks for the dress, suit, photographer, DJ, florist, invites, gifts, rings, ceremony, and the 20+ other items on the sheet.
So I asked myself, while typing intently at my laptop, Carrie Bradshaw-style:
Is it possible to have a weekend evening reception for 200 guests
on a reasonable budget?
We could buy a shiny new car with our wedding budget. Alas, it’s not enough. What are my choices?
Well, at first, I considered making a few changes:
If I were being smart-Parfait, I would have made any of the above changes lickety-split! However, the wedding brings out the hopeless romantic, dreamy-Parfait who shyly shakes her head at doing any of the above. I don’t think dreamy-Parfait is getting me anywhere in this battle.
Since then, we signed our contract with the reception venue/caterer that’s closest to home, yet still affordable. Our food, drinks, and cake won this fight, taking over the hefty 70% of our budget. Here’s hoping we find bargains for everything else!
Do you ever feel like your budget is more of an opposing force than a helpful guideline? What’s threatening to take over your wedding budget?
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Share this post: A Battle a Day…
Yikes! I’m sure you’ll find a way to save on the other items on your list. You can buy a secondhand dress and find an up-and-coming photographer on the cheap. Good luck!
Our photographer & videographer were the biggest things that ate through our budget, but it was also the one thing I wouldn’t compromise on. I figure everything else I can DIY or find a less expensive way to do it, but I won’t sacrifice our memories. I’m very happy with our decision, although it was more than we had initally intended to spend.
Our venue and food costs are 70% of our budget as well, which makes for tough decisions with every other aspect of planning. It’s definitely teaching us to prioritize. We’ve made a lot of sacrifices in other areas to get our dream venue.
I’m in the same boat. The worst part is that each time I get a quote for a new vendor (florist, DJ, etc.) I know that it’s not in our budget. Time to start haggling, I think…
Our venue, food and alcohol also ate away at our budget. It wasn’t 70% but it was a lot.
We had to cut it down to just beer and wine with a champagne toast, but we kept venue, food and drinks to only 50% of our budget. Thank heaven the FMIL is picking up the photographer or we wouldn’t have one!
Our reception venue and photographer make up the bulk of our budget. However, the venue includes so much, and we apparently way underestimated what was “typical”. We’re having a Friday afternoon (4pm)ceremony, and evening reception. It was never an option for us to have a Saturday wedding- for us it’s not worth the premium pricing every vendor adds. We also were very strict with our guest count: our max is 75. That works for us, but I know it doesnt work for everyone. Good luck!
The reception food and alcohol will be about 50% of our budget, maybe a little more. I felt very fortunate we were able to keep it that low. I’ve managed to keep the other expenses down to not eat up too much of the budget, but the flowers/decor are what could potentially turn my slightly-bigger-than-average budget into a platinum wedding! I never knew it cost $5,200 to drape a room and that’s what I was hoping to spend on all flowers and decor.. sigh..
Our venue, food and alcohol are taking the bulk of our budget. We are actually cutting open bar down to just 2 hours so we have more wiggle room. My mom just offered to pay for the cake so that helps us make an upgrade!
I agree with you on the budget guide. It’s just smart to keep track!
@Miss_Carmel: Yep, sounds like it’s time for us to bust out the negotiation skills!
@alohababy28: Thanks! Our venue is pretty all-inclusive, too, so that makes me feel slightly better. 
We took the budget guidelines ultra-seriously, which meant whenever we came in under, even just a little bit, there was celebrating, fist-pumping, etc. Take THAT, budget! W00t!
Your guests will appreciate that you spent the money on them– food, booze, time of day, day of week, are all considerations that involve the guest. I know I really appreciate it when I see the bride has forced herself to cut back in areas that may have been more important to her– dress, decor, paper etc.– in order to throw a great party. good for you.
I am having a 200 guest evening weekend wedding in June under the “buying a small car” budget.
Our hall/food/drinks will be about 50% of the budget. Because of the guest list size, we looked for something in a neighboring county where the household income is a little lower. It’s not my dream venue, but it’s well within budget. I got a SWEET deal on my photographer by finding an up and coming photographer from a smaller town, but who travels for free! Invites are a huge money saver by being DIY and the flowers will be at cost because my step-mom is a wedding florist. So, the flowers are essentially DIY too.
Our food, drinks and cake were apx. 60% of the budget. That was the most important part to us. We are doing beer and wine not cocktails. Some other things were more expensive than I had budgeted - photographer, invitations. But other things we just aren’t doing - limo.
I DIYd my veil, presents for bms, jewelry for bms. Found a very affordable florist.
I forgot to budget things like OOT bags (not expensive but still), premarital counseling (we went to a real counselor which is expensive but definitely the MOST important thing).
Is there any way to change the venue? The fact that we only paid $50 to rent a city park for an entire weekend gave us a lot of budget freedom (including being able to provide our own alcohol).
Good luck!
We cut a lot out by having just beer and wine, plus a signature cocktail (we were married last November and went for hot spiked cider - a huge hit!). We skipped the champagne toast and nobody seemed to notice…and my husband and I still had fabulous champagne flutes that we filled with white wine! 
Ouch! Ours also came out to about 70% of the projected budget… which means we went over-budget. Oops!
Our food & drinks are taking up the majority of our budget… we’re planning on a lot of DIY and budget-friendly items so we don’t go too much over budget
Our venue/food/alcohol is about 50% of our budget.
Our biggest issue is the guest list. My parents are paying for the wedding and therefore feel entitled to invite everyone they know. Its getting insane. We’re going to have to cut the guest list to keep everything to 50% of the budget.
I feel like every single vendor is way over our budget. The photographer was twice what we budgeted for, and everything is adding up so quickly. My FI feels like we have plenty of money left in the budget and I think we’re going to go way over at this rate.
Our food/venue/booze is also about 60 percent of our budget. It’s an all inclusive type thing and was definitely one of the cheaper places we looked at!
We can’t cut the guest list…we’ve already cut it as much as we could. We’re doing a lot of DIY and skimping in other places. For example, we switched our ceremony from $1200+ chapel to a $100 park. Cha-ching!
I’m so frustrated budget wise, because it just seems like it has gotten totally out of control. I don’t have a set budget, but was aiming for a certain number. Now it looks like it might be DOUBLE that amount. Like, embarrassing number amount. I thought I was going to be able to do so well because I do graphic design and art land. Wrong. I feel like a moron so much for spending so much of my parents’ money. They’re too nice. :-/
Hmm.. I wouldn’t skimp on the photographer. Everything else just DIY, costco/sam’s club or cheap etsy. Good luck!
wow, that’s quite the squeeze! i’m sure you’ll be able to find fantastic advice from fellow bees. good luck
I remember being overwhelmed by the amount of budget that was eaten up by those factors! Lucky for us, we found some good deals on several things and were able to move some things around. I’m way over the “suggested” spending % on some things, but way under on others…I figure that it all evens out!
We felt the same way! We had to make some changes and cut out some really awesome things. But we figured it’s a party for ONE day. Yes, we’ll only get married once, but we also want to eat after we get married.
Perhaps you can cut the open bar and do signature cocktails. I’m sure there are ways to still have the wedding you want but with some compromises
And switching to day time wedding is not the end of the world! If it saves you a buttload of money, you can use that money to hire your photog for longer hours and THEN go take pictures at sunset with your new hubby.
I found this spreadsheet incredibly helpful:
http://public.sheet.zoho.com/publish.do?docurl=3aMZKTxfYCPwr0RMplgKMII%2B951D0b1EbfLrx1nymXdv6IVSMgLe3A%3D%3D&name=e5mJLiMObhs%3D
By entering in the numbers that were already set, I was able to adjust what was left to “make it fit” within my chosen budget.
Also, with this economy, do NOT be afraid to negotiate with vendors. My gown was $100 LESS just because I asked, and my photographer literally cut her rate in half when I gushed about her work and wished aloud that I could afford it. Hope this helps.
haha Miss Parfait I set up a spiffy Excel budget spreadsheet as well! I have to say it does make me more aware of what we’re spending and where the bulk of our budget is going. I realize now that I set pretty unrealistically low budgets for things but I stuck to them so we’re able to have a Saturday night reception for 175 people with an open bar for not a huge chunk of money. Did anyone have trouble explaining to their fiance just how much weddings inherently cost though? I think mine was a little amazed at the fact that wedding photographers often start at $3,000 for their minimum package! (We got 8 hours of coverage for $750 so not too shabby!)
@marigold: and @fiftyfootbride: Yeah, if I’m honest with myself, I think I know we’ll be spending more than our budget. How does this happen?
@Anonymous: Thanks for the spreadsheet and the advice!
@Irishbride85: YES, every price was kind of a surprise…to both of us! You got a really great deal with your photography package!
I blew my budget on my photographer.. I knew that these pictures were the most important thing on my wedding day so I felt OK splurging on them.. I say that if food drinks and cake are the most important things to you then its worth it. You’ll find other ways to cut back :0)
OMG I’m looking at ALL FIVE OF THOSE OPTIONS right now!!!
Finally, a bee whose life I can relate to
Let us know what bargains you find along the way!
Food. Food takes over everrrrrything. So it better be good! I set up my budget initially by looking at those “helpful” % guidelines in every bridal mag… then I trimmed the fat where I could. It hurts.
70%?! that’s… woah.
good luck with the rest of the budgeting! hope you work something out
@daydreamwanderer: Haha, great minds think alike? I’ll definitely let you know what I find!
After we booked our reception venue, I realized that our costs were about 70% of our total budget too (for a 250 person wedding in May in Philadelphia)
But we’ve gotten great deals on a photographer, videographer and my dress (@ Running of the brides!). Recently, I’ve scored some great deals on my shoes, jewelry and veil. I’m trying to DIY as much as possible for the rest of the things and if I follow my plan, I’m believing I can stay on budget - gotta have the faith! :o)
Good luck with all your decisions!
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Miss Parfait, Chicago
Age and Occupation: 26, Teacher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Senior Online Consultant
Engagement Date: February 14, 2009
Wedding Date: April 2010
Venue: Signature Events
About Me: I have a soft spot for all things sweet and romantic. Desserts, love songs, sappy movies? Yes, yes, and ohh yes. My fiance and I enjoy singing to our dogs, creating crazy ice cream sundaes, and generally being lovey dovey cuddle bunnies. We also do socially acceptable things like dancing, throwing Frisbees, playing high stakes board games, and taking unreasonably fun road-trips. We're planning a Korean/Serbian wedding with plenty of playful, personal touches!
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