The Tulips’ Budget, and Budget Wedding Tips
July 16th, 2008 @ 4:13 pm by Mrs. Tulip
There’s an interesting thread on the Weddingbee boards at the moment discussing what it means to have a “budget wedding.” Some say the term means sticking strictly within a defined wedding budget. Others believe it’s a synonym for “inexpensive,” especially if you are able to pull off something that looks more expensive than its actual cost.
In our case, I’m not sure how well we did with #1. We spent what we spent, and I made some unwise and even wasteful purchases. But I’d like to think #2 came out well. Everyone has different definitions of “inexpensive.” But Mr. T and I were married in an extremely expensive area, with a celebration that included everything we cared about … for $8,800.
Here’s the breakdown of how we spent that sum, along with some tips for other would-be “budget” brides. (And some last favorites from Punam Bean’s wonderful photos!):
This Wedding Brought to You By Dr. Pepper and Snapple
June 27th, 2008 @ 5:35 pm by Miss Cookie
Weddings are expensive, and it seems like every time Mr. Cookie and I say “wedding,” the price seems to triple, if not quadruple. I think what is even worse is the nickel and diming - corking fees, cake cutting fees, food shortage surcharges, photography usage fees - it’s vendors trying to squeeze every last penny out of you! Mr. Cookie and I want to have a nice wedding, but we don’t want to auction off our first child to do so! But one bride did something similar!
Real Budgets: Brooke and Richard
June 9th, 2008 @ 11:13 am by Real Budgets
Brooke and Richard – March 29, 2008
Location – San Marcos, Tx
Initial Budget - $13,000
Guests – 120
Planning Time – 13 months
Ceremony & Reception – My parents’ home in San Marcos, TX. 60 acres of ranch land, equipped with 13 cattle, so not quite a rustic cattle ranch, but not your average backyard wedding either. Obviously this was a free venue, but we did have to add on a lot of the rentals that are usually included in some venue packages. The best thing is that San Marcos is it’s smack dab in the middle of San Antonio and Austin, so we were able to use the best vendors out of both cities.
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Deep Thoughts from Pina Coladaville
May 27th, 2008 @ 10:29 am by Miss Coconut
(Image from mywedding.com)
On this Memorial Day, I ran a ton of errands and thought a little about the Coconut wedding motto. No, we’re not selling a How-To Guide, don’t worry! But while it’s great to read about pretty things and believe me I do love it too, sometimes it’s good to know what’s behind all of it. You dig?
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Money Matters
May 2nd, 2008 @ 11:10 am by Miss Cupcake
Budgets are always part of the wedding-planning equation. The budget is a necessary evil and, without a doubt, the major determining factor in the majority of wedding-related decisions. But along with the logistics of how much lighter your pockets will be after paying for all the wedding expenses, I have also found that others don’t hesitate to let you know what they think about your wedding dollars and cents (or, rather, sense).
We are having a wedding with close to 200 guests and I realize how lucky we are to have the financial support of our parents to make the wedding and all of the events surrounding it happen. But at the same time, we are, by no means, having an extravagant, lavish, six-figure kind of wedding. Our parents have been really great throughout the process and have not made things at all painful when it comes to money discussions. They have been generous and reasonable about everything.
What it really boils down to for me is that how much money we (meaning Mr. Cupcake and me, and our parents) are spending is ultimately our choice, and no one else’s business.
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The Begrudging Budget
April 19th, 2008 @ 1:02 pm by Miss Pineapple
When To Save And When To Splurge…
February 13th, 2008 @ 2:39 pm by Mrs. Hummingbird
When I first started working on putting this whole crazy day together, wedding magazines overwhelmed me with stuff I had to have or fancy little art projects I had to do. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t fall under the spell of some of it. As I’ve mentioned before in my blogging, sometimes it’s hard to focus on what can actually and practically be done. After all, Martha Stewart’s Siren Song is pretty loud here in wedding world and has caused many a good crafter to crash/have a nervous breakdown in the midst of wedding planning.
However, a lot of the time, as much as we hate to admit it, all of the stress and panicked phone calls to try and find more Stardust paper is often for nothing, because 90 per cent of the things we do for our weddings go unnoticed by most of our wedding guests.
Before becoming a bride, I fully admit to being an unobservant wedding guest. Not intentionally of course, but as someone not in that arena of life, I didn’t know all the work and decision making that went into doing everything. This fact became glaringly obvious to me when I got engaged and first sat down to talk details with Erin, my Matron of Honour and FSIL Hummingbird.
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The Kiwi Budget Pt. Dos
January 18th, 2008 @ 3:50 pm by Mrs. Kiwi
We had a Catholic ceremony, the most basic version minus the communion. Lucky for us, the church waived their fee for us, saving us at least three hundred dollars.
The Kiwi Budget Pt. 1
January 17th, 2008 @ 2:11 pm by Mrs. Kiwi
I didn’t realize how much junk went into budgeting, and this will have to be part one- the clothes and accessories for us and the wedding party.
As most of you know, Mr. Kiwi and I paid for our own wedding, although we did have a few gifted items here and there! Since the total cost of our wedding (give or take a few hundred dollars I didn’t keep track of in the beginning) was $12,688.51- in Los Angeles, this is pretty much a bargain.
Here’s the breakdown in order according to my budget sheet:
Flowers
FINALLY, We Have A Budget
January 11th, 2008 @ 1:21 pm by Mrs. Corn
So…many, many moons ago, I posted about our non-existent wedding budget that had originally started out around $5,000 when we were joking around, hovered around $20,000 for a while and ended up around $30,000.We had a very complex vendor spreadsheet with all of our payments (cash and credit) that we worked with for most of the planning. However, in addition to the vendor spreadsheet, I had about a bazillion little receipts for everything from postage stamps to craft supplies to misc food items we needed the day of the wedding that I just got around to adding to the spreadsheet.
So, FINALLY, I have pulled it all together and figured out what our wedding actually cost.
Submitted By: Mrs Corn
City: Newport, RI
Budget: $30,000 + $10,000 from Mr Corn’s parents
# of Guests: 120
