Mrs. Earrings, Fresno, CA/ Nelson, New ZealandAge and Occupation: 20, Student, Wannabe Writer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 19, Photography StudentEngagement Date: February 14, 2010Wedding Date: January 2011Venue: Gardens of the WorldAbout Me: I'm a girl from down under who grew up in Indonesia and I'm marrying a California boy. I'm addicted to all things sweet, have never met a chocolate silk pie than can get the better of me, and have dreams of one day being a fulltime novelist. I go weak in the knees for lace, tea cups, and a beautifully crafted sentence. When I get excited about something (whether it is historical linguistics or the Beatles) I tend to go overboard in research, and planning this wedding is no different. Mr. Earrings is my high school sweetheart, my best friend, and somehow we combine all our quirks into one big happy mess.
When it came to our wedding budget we had one goal: To not go into debt! Which, for us (both college students), meant sticking to a wedding budget of $10,000 NZD ($8134 USD, according to the current exchange rate). Given that the average New Zealand costs around $30,000, we knew we would have our work cut out for us.
Staying within budget definitely involved a bit of compromise in some areas, but we were also not afraid to splurge in other areas that were important to us. Below I have broken down the costs into major categories. In some cases where I thought it might be helpful, I have broken down the costs further within each category. I have written the $$s in New Zealand dollars, with the US equivalent in brackets beside each amount.
Here’s how it all worked out in the end, down to the last cent (thanks to my obsessive Excel tracking!):
Mrs. Seal, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 25, Personal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Sales and Support SpecialistEngagement Date: December 12, 2009Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Sts Peter and Paul Church/The Bently ReserveAbout Me: I am a goofy, wannabe crafty, well-intentioned Renaissance Woman (OK, perhaps "aimless wanderer" is a more aptly suited term for me, but hopefully you get the point)—basically I dabble in just about everything and pride myself in such. Without warning, I occasionally breakout into soulful improvised songs and interpretive dances and there's just no stopping me! As so many others before me, planning our wedding has unearthed a deep, intense passion for all things bridal and I secretly fear the day it will come to an end. Mr. Seal and I are quite the pair and life with him by my side is extremely rewarding—I am so thankful to have found him. Together we are planning a black-tie San Francisco affair for 250—light on the stuffiness and with lots of extra Seal-y flair.
We have a winner! (And she will be announced at the end of this post to forever live inBEE GLORY!)
In Part I, I introduced you to Mr. Piggy and asked you all to wager some guesses as to how much he was worth. If you recall, Mr. P was housing the savings for our favors (which I promise to reveal soon) and we set a goal of around $600.
Big Brother Seal is a coin aficionado (a hobby passed down from my maternal grandma) and he and FSIL Maria kindly agreed to help me sort out my change one evening.
We started out with this:
I don’t know if you can see that fat stack of cash on the left—Big Brother Seal told me putting cash in the piggy was cheating. I said my Piggy doesn’t discriminate—money is money!
Mrs. Jam, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 25, Writer/Associate Wedding CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Structural EngineerEngagement Date: December 23, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Hunter’s Ridge, Princeton, ILAbout Me: I’m a penny-pinching cat lady getting ready to marry the frugal dog lover of my dreams. Our ideal Saturday morning includes rummaging around people’s junk at garage and estate sales followed by an afternoon date to our favorite café, where we only eat sandwiches that include the word “salad.” We actually love it so much, it’s sort of our unofficial wedding theme: Look at our delicious finds, eat homemade ham salad, and celebrate our love…barndance style. When we’re not obsessing over our love-fest shindig, we’re planning themed parties for our best friends and jamming to '90s music.
Our $10,000 budget was a huge consideration when wedding planning, especially as our guest list ballooned from an anticipated 150 people to more than 220 invited guests (in the end, about 170 attended). To be honest, our strict budget was in the driver’s seat for every single wedding-related decision; it was more tiring than you can even imagine.
Of course there were things we wished we could have spent more money on, but we’re pretty happy with our spending decisions overall. The best compliment we received (other than the raging drunks coming up to us that night telling us it was the best wedding in history) was hearing that people thought our rumored “budget” was $20,000 or more. High five to the Jams!
So, as promised, here’s our (almost) $10K budget breakdown:
Mrs. High Wire, DallasAge and Occupation: 23, Legal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Director of CommunicationsEngagement Date: October 9, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Clark GardensAbout Me: My loves include yoga, anything spicy, our eccentric cat, our rambunctious dog, and Mr. High Wire, of course! Like the steadiness act of the tightrope walker, this gal is busy balancing life while planning a wedding to the man of her dreams. We’re hosting a laid-back, vintage-inspired, bird themed wedding with heavy doses of love, good eats (did someone say tacos and margaritas?), and endless Texas charm. Mr. High Wire and I are so happy to have you along for the walk across the tight rope.
I don’t know about you, but I managed to make it through twelve years of public education and four years of undergraduate study, and never took a class on personal finance.
After college, I wanted to set up my own savings account, find more affordable health insurance, and figure out how to not have less than $20 going into my next paycheck. I had absolutely no idea how to accomplish any of this. But I knew there was a way to live life that didn’t involve each and every “surprise” expense completely sidelining me and driving me bankrupt.
So, I checked out a few (free) books from the library, got some advice from my FI who was a finance major in school, and felt myself getting more familiar with many new terms. Things didn’t seem quite so scary anymore.
I thought I’d share some tips I’ve picked up along the way for how you can save some cash for your wedding (or really, for any savings goal you may have). Read more…
Mrs. Marmalade, Norwalk, CT/Raleigh, NCAge and Occupation: 27, Administrative AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Army OfficerEngagement Date: December 31, 2009Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: Old Cadet Chapel/Highlands Country ClubAbout Me: I'm a Tri-State area "lady," through and through. A big chunk of my life has been split between NYC and Connecticut, and I'm finally heading down south to live with Mr. Marmalade. Our long distance relationship has been one adventure after the next, we've spent time in Texas, Louisiana, Florida,and Georgia, thanks to his military career. Next to Mr. Marmalade, my loves include live music, useless trivia, shoes, design, and my crazy half-tiger kitty, Oliver. I have a passion for food and wine, and I've been known to travel long distances to get my hands on the best meals. I come from a tight-knit big fat Greek Ecuadorian family---we're loud, we talk with our hands, and we spend hours talking loudly with our hands over large meals. I'm going to miss them so much as I pack up and begin my life, far away from home. But with Mr. Marmalade by my side, I'm ready to take on whatever may come. Next up: our wedding!
As luck would have it, I didn’t have to wait long to speak with Mr. Marmalade after my outburst. Funny how things work out that way. Sure, I didn’t want to waste the little time we had to speak by going over our wedding, but it couldn’t be avoided. So, he figuratively talked me off a ledge from thousands of miles away. I hung up the phone and tried to process the conversation, which only got me started again; the room began spinning a little, my heart skipped a beat, my brow furrowed (worst habit ever—please please let me break that habit soon).
Mrs. Marmalade, Norwalk, CT/Raleigh, NCAge and Occupation: 27, Administrative AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Army OfficerEngagement Date: December 31, 2009Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: Old Cadet Chapel/Highlands Country ClubAbout Me: I'm a Tri-State area "lady," through and through. A big chunk of my life has been split between NYC and Connecticut, and I'm finally heading down south to live with Mr. Marmalade. Our long distance relationship has been one adventure after the next, we've spent time in Texas, Louisiana, Florida,and Georgia, thanks to his military career. Next to Mr. Marmalade, my loves include live music, useless trivia, shoes, design, and my crazy half-tiger kitty, Oliver. I have a passion for food and wine, and I've been known to travel long distances to get my hands on the best meals. I come from a tight-knit big fat Greek Ecuadorian family---we're loud, we talk with our hands, and we spend hours talking loudly with our hands over large meals. I'm going to miss them so much as I pack up and begin my life, far away from home. But with Mr. Marmalade by my side, I'm ready to take on whatever may come. Next up: our wedding!
I came across this gorgeous wedding by Maggie Harkov via Brooklyn Bride and my jaw dropped. This wedding is all at once sophisticated, sweet, simple, and elegant. It’s everything I want our wedding to be. But there’s one huge difference staring me in the face…
Mrs. Funnel Cake, Zürich, Switzerland/Columbus, OhioAge and Occupation: 24, Visual Communication DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Application EngineerEngagement Date: May 30, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Catholic church followed by a botanical conservatoryAbout Me: I'm an American designer who moved to Switzerland for love after a fairytale beginning at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I love travel, photography, museums, learning German so I can speak with my mother-in-law, cooking (eating), cuddling, and I'm not afraid to try something new even if it terrifies me. My Swiss/Brazilian man and I are both down to earth people planning a traditional Catholic wedding in my hometown with some quirky cultural exceptions to reflect our different backgrounds. We look forward to celebrating with friends and family from all over the world in a classic, sophisticated fusion of heritage and love.
Early on in wedding planning, Mama Funnel Cake made it clear that she would not be entertaining any ridiculous dress expenses. She firmly believes that the quality of wedding dresses is similarly poor throughout the whole range of prices and that it is simply not worth it to spend more than $100-200 for a dress you wear for one day.
When Sister Funnel Cake was discouraged by how unflattering bridal shop sample gowns were on her petite figure, it was actually Mama Funnel Cake who found her a wedding dress used on Craigslist for $75. Sister Funnel Cake went to try the dress on and figured, “Hey, for $75, this gets the job done.” It might not have been her dream dress and she did voice some feelings of dissatisfaction about her decision at the time, but the dress was such a good deal that she couldn’t pass it up.
Mrs. Cannon, Toledo, OHAge and Occupation: 27, Financial AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, AssemblerEngagement Date: February 28, 2011Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Epworth UMC & Ward PavilionAbout Me: I'm the curious combination of being a go-with-the-flow, laid back, obsessive planner. I try desperately to stay as busy as possible at all times (and am succeeding big time right now!) My biggest loves in life are Law & Order: SVU, Community (the show, not the concept, although I like that, too), ice cream, white cheddar popcorn, beer, hiking, knitting, decorating, writing, being outside, spending time with friends and family and musical theater. Mr. Cannon is pretty sweet, too. We've had a lot of fun traveling and having adventures all over the country, but have finally moved back near our hometown to settle down. We're planning a low-key, colorful, fun wedding and an awesome-to-the-max reception.
I know there are a lot of posts here on post-wedding budget breakdowns, but I haven’t seen too many on how to make your budget in the first place. I’m hardly an expert and I’m not going to tell you how to make your budget, but I will tell you how I came up with ours.
Budgeting for the wedding was obviously going to fall in my lap, as I budget our income on a regular basis. Mr. Cannon pretty much leaves all our financial planning up to me since I enjoy it and am pretty good at it. One of my undergrad majors was finance, and I’m currently working on my master’s in accounting. (Have I mentioned yet that I’m wedding planning, blogging about wedding planning, working full time, and working part time on my master’s while chasing a toddler? I like to keep busy!)
Anyway, your budget will be mostly dependent on where you are and what you want. We live in a pretty cheap part of the country to have a wedding. Of course, how cheap really depends on what we want out of the wedding. We want it to be fairly small and casual, which goes a long way in saving money. There are two major considerations when planning your budget—how much you have available to spend and how much it’s going to cost.
When determining how much you want to spend, you need to consider who will be contributing to your wedding and whether you want to use only available cash or get into loans or credit-card debt for the wedding. I won’t give any lectures on how you shouldn’t go into debt for your wedding, because everyone has heard it before. If you’re going to do it, you will. That’s your business. We are using straight cash. No additional debt for us. We both felt that our parents would contribute to the wedding but didn’t feel comfortable initiating that conversation, so I budgeted as if we were paying for the whole thing. We will just consider any money from our parents as a sort of bonus that will save us money. We are not increasing our budget with any parental contributions. They will just leave us with more money in our pockets. Read more…
Mrs. Magic, Chapel Hill, NCAge and Occupation: 30, Licensed Clinical Social WorkerFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, ResearcherEngagement Date: December 1, 2009Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Barn at ValhallaAbout Me: I’m a tall drink of water (5’10”!) and a Southern bride with an enormous appetite for Mexican food, good deals, anything French, and all things wedding! By day I am lucky enough to work with individuals with autism and their families. By night, I’m even luckier to be able to spend time hanging out with awesome friends, crafting, shopping, thinking about exercising, and kicking it with Mr. Magic and our two cats. I tend to have sudden, intense cravings that will not be denied (seafood enchiladas! new jeans!) and I’m prone to being a disorganized mess of anxiety and stress. After waiting (and waiting!) to get engaged, I am finally planning the colorful, fun, fabulously awesome Fall wedding of our dreams. In an effort to share the fun and craziness that is wedding planning, I’m gonna blog about it for y’all---the good, the bad, and the pretty!
I may have mentioned once, twice, or a hundred times that I am not so hot with numbers, math, and especially money. I’m also not so organized, although I really, really wish I was.
A while ago, I wrote about some legitimatemoney savingtechniques. That’s not what this post is about. This post is about cooking the books.
Here is a definition of “cooking the books” from Wikipedia: Creative accounting and earnings management are euphemisms referring to accounting practices that may follow the letter of the rules of standard accounting practices, but certainly deviate from the spirit of those rules. They are characterized by excessive complication and the use of novel ways of characterizing income, assets, or liabilities and the intent to influence readers towards the interpretations desired by the authors. The terms “innovative” or “aggressive” are also sometimes used.
Here are some tips on how to cook the books in a creative, novel, and innovative way for your own wedding budget!
1. If it’s a gift, it doesn’t count towards the overall wedding budget. Good rule, huh? Read more…
Mrs. Funnel Cake, Zürich, Switzerland/Columbus, OhioAge and Occupation: 24, Visual Communication DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Application EngineerEngagement Date: May 30, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Catholic church followed by a botanical conservatoryAbout Me: I'm an American designer who moved to Switzerland for love after a fairytale beginning at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I love travel, photography, museums, learning German so I can speak with my mother-in-law, cooking (eating), cuddling, and I'm not afraid to try something new even if it terrifies me. My Swiss/Brazilian man and I are both down to earth people planning a traditional Catholic wedding in my hometown with some quirky cultural exceptions to reflect our different backgrounds. We look forward to celebrating with friends and family from all over the world in a classic, sophisticated fusion of heritage and love.
Bees, let me fill you in on a little something that plays a big part in our wedding planning that I don’t think is bothering many other brides—exchange rates.
We all scrimp and save to pay for the wedding of our dreams. The wedding we can afford…or can’t afford. Everyone has their own reasons for how they spend their money, but I feel like my American counterparts planning their weddings in the States can be slightly more relaxed. They work, they plan, they budget, and they buy. All in U.S. dollars. It’s relatively simple.
Mr. Funnel Cake and I, on the other hand, are working and earning Swiss francs, while paying for many of our wedding costs in U.S. dollars. This presents a few problems, namely international bank transfer fees, import/export fees, unstable exchange rates, and the general unavailability of funds.
Mrs. High Wire, DallasAge and Occupation: 23, Legal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Director of CommunicationsEngagement Date: October 9, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Clark GardensAbout Me: My loves include yoga, anything spicy, our eccentric cat, our rambunctious dog, and Mr. High Wire, of course! Like the steadiness act of the tightrope walker, this gal is busy balancing life while planning a wedding to the man of her dreams. We’re hosting a laid-back, vintage-inspired, bird themed wedding with heavy doses of love, good eats (did someone say tacos and margaritas?), and endless Texas charm. Mr. High Wire and I are so happy to have you along for the walk across the tight rope.
Poring over wedding-inspiration blogs was a hobby of mine long before I got engaged. OK, don’t get creeped out! I just really liked looking at the pretty pictures, I swear. I’ll prove it to you because when the time came that we were actually engaged, I had NO idea where to start, and I had nothing picked out.
Now that we’re on the way to getting this here shindig planned out, I thought I’d back up a bit and give you a few gentle suggestions (that will make your life a lot easier) on where you should start when it comes time to really plan out the details of your actual, specific wedding.
There’s three big main to-dos when starting to plan.
Ms. Sloth, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 35, Account Manager and Fashion BloggerFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Design AdminEngagement Date: December 25, 2009Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Bartram's GardenAbout Me: I'm an internet junkie and music snob with a good eye for a bargain. I couldn't live without thrift store shopping, cheeseburgers, sushi, Coke Zero, websites devoted to silly photos of baby animals, Photoshop, and Mr. Sloth. Speaking of which, he and I are a pair of goofball homebody nerds who love our beagle (the most ridiculously adorable dog EVER) to an embarrassing degree. We're planning a low-key and intimate yet festive and quirky outdoor wedding with DIY details and deeply personal touches, and it's all taking place in the city where we fell in love and call home: Philadelphia.
I’m trying to fill time between now and the time we get our pro pics back, so I figured I’d give you all our budget breakdown.
Ah, the budget.
When we first started off planning our wedding, we wanted to stick to a $10,000 budget. But we quickly discovered that that number wasn’t going to happen. We bumped it up to $15,000 but we quickly went over that as well. Weddings in Philly are expensive, period, and tented weddings are even more expensive because you have to rent everything. We could’ve saved a lot of money if we’d used a different venue, but we had the wedding we wanted. And I don’t really mind the fact that we went over budget, because I think that we spent the money fairly wisely. Sure, we could’ve had a much more affordable wedding, but we didn’t go into debt and we had no regrets.
And that’s my advice when it comes to budgeting. If it’s possible, try for no debt and no regrets. We don’t regret anything we spent money on, and we don’t regret forgoing anything we didn’t spend money on. We spent a lot of dough, but we’re okay with it. Read more…
Mrs. Seal, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 25, Personal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Sales and Support SpecialistEngagement Date: December 12, 2009Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Sts Peter and Paul Church/The Bently ReserveAbout Me: I am a goofy, wannabe crafty, well-intentioned Renaissance Woman (OK, perhaps "aimless wanderer" is a more aptly suited term for me, but hopefully you get the point)—basically I dabble in just about everything and pride myself in such. Without warning, I occasionally breakout into soulful improvised songs and interpretive dances and there's just no stopping me! As so many others before me, planning our wedding has unearthed a deep, intense passion for all things bridal and I secretly fear the day it will come to an end. Mr. Seal and I are quite the pair and life with him by my side is extremely rewarding—I am so thankful to have found him. Together we are planning a black-tie San Francisco affair for 250—light on the stuffiness and with lots of extra Seal-y flair.
OK, kids. We all know weddings are expensive, right? I mean…we live in a country where a $10,000 wedding is considered a “budget” wedding. I don’t know about you guys but ten big ones still sounds like a hefty chunk of moolah!
Thankfully, as I’ve mentioned before, the Seal parents are helping us pay for the majority of our “more-than-10K” wedding. While I am supremely grateful for their generous support, this support does not come without some self-inflicted guilt. Though Mama and Daddio Seal insist they are contributing of their own free will, I have a hard time shaking the feeling that Mr. S and I should be doing more.
Anyhow, born of this guilty conscience was a heightened desire to save. Miss Seal here does best at saving money when I am saving towards “mini goals” rather than big, scary intimidating ones. For example, instead of saving to “buy a car,” I’ll tell myself that I am saving for the down payment on a car—it’s a mind game that works for me, especially when applied to the wedding.
So, hive, I wanted to share my new favorite method of achieving wedding “mini goals”: Read more…
Mrs. Pony, Bloomington, ILAge and Occupation: 25, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, AttorneyEngagement Date: March 22, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Mackinaw Valley Vineyard; Bloomington Center for the Performing ArtsAbout Me: I found my Southern counterpart in law school and since he popped the question last March, we have been busy graduating, job searching, bar taking, and wedding planning. My loves include must see TV, magnets, quotes, anything green, my car, fun socks, the Cubs, and my Mr. Together we love wine, playing outside, and exploring the world together. Stay tuned to see our Midwest wedding full of Southern charm, vintage flair, lots of DIY details, and a whole lot o’ wine.
Now that you’ve seen the goods, I thought I would break down just how much our beloved STDs cost us. Considering the original plan was to find a super deal on postcards just to get the word out, it was difficult to admit exactly how much we spent on our STDs. But, in the interest of full disclosure, here is the breakdown of our STD costs:
100 picture prints from Winkflash = $4.99 (with coupon for first 50 prints free)
Postage @ $0.61 per envelope = $41.48 (We hand delivered a few.)
TOTAL: $221.37 (yikes!)
Price per STD: $2.99 (for 75 STDs)
All prices include shipping and taxes, where applicable. Read more…
Mrs. Hyena, College Station, TXAge and Occupation: 23, Marketing SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Aerospace Engineering Grad StudentEngagement Date: January 8, 2010Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Downtown 202About Me: I'm a Texas girl who met my future hubby in high school, then headed up to Oklahoma for a college education (BOOMER SOONER!) before moving back to the Lone Star State to be with him. I love reading and recycling, Photoshop and reality TV, making lame jokes and then laughing at them, quoting movies, and Mr. Hyena most of all. I'm perpetually early and I like to get things accomplished. When my cat meows at me, I meow back. We're planning a laid-back, unintentionally DIY wedding with a cocktail-party vibe, and can't wait to celebrate our nuptials with our nearest and dearest!
Unique Wedding Favors
