how much is your budget for the wedding? how much are you parents contributing?

[Harleigh]

DW in Maui for 30 people...not sure on budget...we''re just taking and making decisions as it comes and paying for things as we go...FI is not a planner, and spending money on something like this doesn''t seem to faze him, but I am frugal and working on getting the best deals around...I''ll get back to you with an updated cost when I know more, which will include the condo for the week of the wedding, wedding (including planner, location, photographer, harpist, videographer, etc...), dinner reception, honeymoon in Maui, flights, Mad Money for our bridal party, etc...

Wedding rings (ering and wrings) are not included in any of the costs...they cost more than the wedding, I think!

My parents are helping zilch, zip, nada...FI''s are not helping with the wedding itself but would like to provide a welcome lunch in Maui for the guests before the wedding @ appx. $25 per plate.

We are also having a reception for 300+ people when we return in August.

I think the costs are going to be WAY outta hand!!!

 

[anchor31]

Casual to semi-formal daytime wedding in the greater Montreal area (not doing it in the city saves us a LOT of money...).
Saturday August 2nd 2008, 90 guests invited, 70 expected.
Budget: approx. $4K. I''m still a student and FI is paying for a lot of stuff for the both of us, so saving up isn''t easy.
Bride''s parents contribution: approx. $4K (half the vendors and everything that has to do with me, my wedding party and our side of the guest list, plus a few extras)
Groom''s parents contribution: drama and 0$
Total costs: approx. $8k
Limited open bar (no hard alcohol), lunch reception (cheaper) at a reception hall (not a hotel ballroom = less expensive), quite a few DIY projects (also cheaper, but kind of time consuming), rings and honeymoon not included.

Good luck with your wedding plans!

 

[lovehersomuch]

Date: 3/4/2008 11:09:55 PM
Author: anchor31
Casual to semi-formal daytime wedding in the greater Montreal area (not doing it in the city saves us a LOT of money...).
Saturday August 2nd 2008, 90 guests invited, 70 expected.
Budget: approx. $4K. I''m still a student and FI is paying for a lot of stuff for the both of us, so saving up isn''t easy.
Bride''s parents contribution: approx. $4K (half the vendors and everything that has to do with me, my wedding party and our side of the guest list, plus a few extras)
Groom''s parents contribution: drama and 0$
Total costs: approx. $8k
Limited open bar (no hard alcohol), lunch reception (cheaper) at a reception hall (not a hotel ballroom = less expensive), quite a few DIY projects (also cheaper, but kind of time consuming), rings and honeymoon not included.

Good luck with your wedding plans!

thats great! sounds like you guys have a great wedding in store.

what type of DIY projects did you do to bring the costs down?

 

[anchor31]

Date: 3/4/2008 11:28:16 PM
Author: lovehersomuch
thats great! sounds like you guys have a great wedding in store.

what type of DIY projects did you do to bring the costs down?

- Invites: My mom and I bought the DIY kits and some extra cards at Micheal's Arts and Crafts. It went up to 1,50$/invite compared to 3$+/invite...

- Cake: No way I'm paying 400$+ for a cake when I've got so many talented bakers in my family... My sister offered to make it, and cake ingredients are not expensive at all, so it won't cost us a penny.

- Ceremony music: My musician friend flaked out on me, so my brother offered to put something together for us. He's pretty good with mixing music and that kind of stuff, so that helps.

- Favours: At 2$+/guests, those get expensive pretty quick! My dad offered to make wine (we'll probably give one bottle per couple) and my mom wants to make the little tulle candy bombonnieres, which isn't very expensive to make.

- Decor: In case you hadn't noticed, my mom and I love arts and crafts... We're planning and making some bows to dress the chair at the reception, and I'm almost done with a gorgeous stichery project that I want to hang up.

Another tip I should give you: Negociate, negociate, negociate. Asking never hurts, the worst that can happen is being told no! Pretty much all my vendors added some free stuff in our packages just because we asked.

 

[v!v!]

my mom is graciously paying for the cost of the ceremony, reception, and food and beverage. i hadn''t planned on her paying and certainly didn''t expect it. she knew what venue i considered my "dream wedding" and she surprised me one afternoon when we were out together by telling me she had booked the venue for my date! i was so excited and touched that i started crying (and if you knew me, you''d know that doesn''t happen very often)! anyway, the cost of what she''s paying is around $25,000-30,000 for 125 - 150 guests. i''ve budgeted about $12,000 for all the rest (photographer, dj, florist, favors, invitations, save the dates, etc.). i''m hoping i can keep to this budget! my fiance''s parents are going to pay for the reception dinner and our honeymoon, which i''ve estimated to be around $7,000. the total cost should come in somewhere around $49,000... (yikes, that''s the first time i totalled that!)

 

[IWantAMilkshake]

130 guests for a tented evening wedding at FI's family's historic estate farm in VA.

All in, budget around $28K (including formal rehearsal dinner Thurs night, vineyard tours and golf for guests Friday, picnic lunch for guests and wedding on Saturday -- not including Friday welcome reception for OOT guests that is being thrown by a friend of the family's, but does include shuttling all guests to all events).

Reception includes cocktail hour with heavy apps, sit down family-style dinner, 5 piece band, open bar.

We saved tons on catering and invitations but are bleeding about the tent and rentals, which add up to around $7-8K -- beware the backyard tented wedding. The $1K fancy restroom trailer was also a heart attack but non negotiable (FMIL wanted contruction porta-johns...um no).

Sorry, edited to add: Our parents agreed to pay for specific items rather than contribute money. My family's probaby adds up to $6K, his family's $8K, we're doing the rest.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Date: 3/3/2008 4:33:54 PM
Author: scm1012
We are doing a ''weddingmoon'' in Europe. Haven''t set a budget for that yet.

Nuptial celebration - will be sometime in early October 2009 and it will just be a formal dinner for 115.....haven''t done the math yet but $10-12k would be awesome since we just want to do a meal, beer/wine plus one signature cocktail, dessert bar and light flamenco music. Oh, the amount is lower because we wouldn''t need to pay a site fee since we''ll do the dinner at my parents beautiful home in NorCal.

Sprry to thread jack, but are you getting married in Spain. If so, where? Eloping to Barcelona was my dream wedding so I am going to vicariously live through yours I think!

I have no clue what it will come out costing, but Denver isn''t too expensive and we are having 75-100 guests. My parents are covering everything so we really didn''t set a budget, they just pay for things as they come

 

[lovehersomuch]

Date: 3/5/2008 8:05:03 AM
Author: anchor31

Date: 3/4/2008 11:28:16 PM
Author: lovehersomuch
thats great! sounds like you guys have a great wedding in store.

what type of DIY projects did you do to bring the costs down?

- Invites: My mom and I bought the DIY kits and some extra cards at Micheal''s Arts and Crafts. It went up to 1,50$/invite compared to 3$+/invite...

- Cake: No way I''m paying 400$+ for a cake when I''ve got so many talented bakers in my family... My sister offered to make it, and cake ingredients are not expensive at all, so it won''t cost us a penny.

- Ceremony music: My musician friend flaked out on me, so my brother offered to put something together for us. He''s pretty good with mixing music and that kind of stuff, so that helps.

- Favours: At 2$+/guests, those get expensive pretty quick! My dad offered to make wine (we''ll probably give one bottle per couple) and my mom wants to make the little tulle candy bombonnieres, which isn''t very expensive to make.

- Decor: In case you hadn''t noticed, my mom and I love arts and crafts... We''re planning and making some bows to dress the chair at the reception, and I''m almost done with a gorgeous stichery project that I want to hang up.

Another tip I should give you: Negociate, negociate, negociate. Asking never hurts, the worst that can happen is being told no! Pretty much all my vendors added some free stuff in our packages just because we asked.

those are a lot of great ideas and i appreciate the advice. thanks!

some of the things we are doing to keep the costs down since we are haivng a 2 day wedding ceremony are the following:

-no wedding favors
-possibly DIY wedding invitations/thank you cards
-have her mom make the wedding cake for one of the days
-book one of the ceremonies at a hall versus a restaurant style or hotel style venue
-have a coworker do the photography - hes a photographer on the side - seen some of his work.
-no alcohol at wedding - should help reduce the cost per head...
-maybe work through some cousins to see if they know a DJ for one of the ceremonies

 

[Lynnie]

I plan on budgeting $13- 15K for our wedding (April ''09). We are paying for the entire shin-dig ourselves

Aprox. 100 guests (Philadelphia area)

I haven''t checked out any reception sites yet, will do that VERY soon.
Mom works at a florist (as did I, through nursing school), so I plan to use that hook-up to the fullest!
I went to high school w/ a photographer, who has offered his services (haven''t discussed price yet)
I''m only having a MOH and Best Man, ( = no limo and less gifts to buy )
MOH''s Grandpop has 2 classic cars to choose from to tote the four of us around
Plan on making my own invites (if you are too check out envelloperinc.com, I''ve searched around and they have the best prices that I can find)
FI has a buddy who''s a DJ
Making CD''s at home for favors

What matters to me the most is good food, open bar - his fam''s Italian and mine''s Scottish/German, so lotsa wine and beer is a must!

We''ve got 6K saved up so far - lots of OT in my future

Anyone got a money tree seed they can sell me???

 

[anchor31]

Date: 3/6/2008 12:48:55 AM
Author: lovehersomuch

those are a lot of great ideas and i appreciate the advice. thanks!

some of the things we are doing to keep the costs down since we are haivng a 2 day wedding ceremony are the following:

-no wedding favors
-possibly DIY wedding invitations/thank you cards
-have her mom make the wedding cake for one of the days
-book one of the ceremonies at a hall versus a restaurant style or hotel style venue
-have a coworker do the photography - hes a photographer on the side - seen some of his work.
-no alcohol at wedding - should help reduce the cost per head...
-maybe work through some cousins to see if they know a DJ for one of the ceremonies

That sounds great! Do you guys have a date? I''m glad I could help... Have fun!

 

[designchica]

This is a little embarrasing to admit because I dont'' even have my ring yet, but we''ve already been doing some planning together and already have the contract drawn up with the ceremony site and wedding planner.

Our wedding is going to be Sat. Nov. 1st in Napa Valley, California. We are only inviting 20 guests and the budget is 30K. I realize that''s a lot for a small wedding but we wanted this to be very nice for the few guests that we are inviting. We are getting everyone gift baskets filled with champagne, chocolates, and a bunch of other goodies plus gift certificates to the spa so they can get massages before the wedding. Our reception is going to be at a nice restaurant where guests will order whatever they want off the menu and we are doing a wine pairing with very good wine so we are budgeting 8K just for that. The budget is definitely more than I''d anticipated for a wedding of this size, but during the process of planning it together, we both agreed...we want this to be about spoiling and pampering our guests and showing them what we as a couple are all about. (we are big wine/food/spa fanatics).

My mom is giving me $10K, I will pay for another 10K and boyfriend will pay the other 10K. We will probably make this trip our honeymoon because after this expense, I am not sure if we will have the money for a big trip.

 

[violet02]

This total is not including engagement ring, or wedding rings or the cost for renting the house which is $4700 for a week and the honeymoon is what we registered for.

Outdoor wedding at private residence in Carmel, CA on a Saturday (day doesnt matter since its a house), relatively formal. 70-80 guests. Tented reception.
Cost of wedding: 43k so far, may go up a bit. (orig budget 50k, after we found out what parental contrib was, new budget was around 38k - we cut about 30 guests)
Brides parents: 25k
Grooms parents: 10k

We're paying the rest.

 

[largirl]

Date: 3/4/2008 11:09:55 PM
Author: anchor31
Groom''s parents contribution: drama and 0$

LMAO at this....you are hilarious.

 

[Octavia]

Date: 3/6/2008 5:05:11 AM
Author: Lynnie
I plan on budgeting $13- 15K for our wedding (April ''09). We are paying for the entire shin-dig ourselves

Aprox. 100 guests (Philadelphia area)


I haven''t checked out any reception sites yet, will do that VERY soon.

Mom works at a florist (as did I, through nursing school), so I plan to use that hook-up to the fullest!

I went to high school w/ a photographer, who has offered his services (haven''t discussed price yet)

I''m only having a MOH and Best Man, ( = no limo and less gifts to buy )

MOH''s Grandpop has 2 classic cars to choose from to tote the four of us around

Plan on making my own invites (if you are too check out envelloperinc.com, I''ve searched around and they have the best prices that I can find)

FI has a buddy who''s a DJ

Making CD''s at home for favors


What matters to me the most is good food, open bar - his fam''s Italian and mine''s Scottish/German, so lotsa wine and beer is a must!


We''ve got 6K saved up so far - lots of OT in my future

Anyone got a money tree seed they can sell me???

Lynnie, I''m in the Philly area too! Hoping to spend $17/18K for 125 guests. My parents are planning to contribute, but I don''t know exactly how much yet. To us, the most important thing after being married is good food/drink and fun with our family and friends

Are you planning a city or suburban wedding, and do you have any venues in mind yet? I''d love to hear your experiences once you start looking...I''m not really going to be able to do much until the summer (we''re planning an October ''09 wedding).

 

[Lynnie]

Date: 3/8/2008 12:01:49 AM
Author: Octavia

Date: 3/6/2008 5:05:11 AM
Author: Lynnie
I plan on budgeting $13- 15K for our wedding (April ''09). We are paying for the entire shin-dig ourselves

Aprox. 100 guests (Philadelphia area)


I haven''t checked out any reception sites yet, will do that VERY soon.

Mom works at a florist (as did I, through nursing school), so I plan to use that hook-up to the fullest!

I went to high school w/ a photographer, who has offered his services (haven''t discussed price yet)

I''m only having a MOH and Best Man, ( = no limo and less gifts to buy )

MOH''s Grandpop has 2 classic cars to choose from to tote the four of us around

Plan on making my own invites (if you are too check out envelloperinc.com, I''ve searched around and they have the best prices that I can find)

FI has a buddy who''s a DJ

Making CD''s at home for favors


What matters to me the most is good food, open bar - his fam''s Italian and mine''s Scottish/German, so lotsa wine and beer is a must!


We''ve got 6K saved up so far - lots of OT in my future

Anyone got a money tree seed they can sell me???

Lynnie, I''m in the Philly area too! Hoping to spend $17/18K for 125 guests. My parents are planning to contribute, but I don''t know exactly how much yet. To us, the most important thing after being married is good food/drink and fun with our family and friends

Are you planning a city or suburban wedding, and do you have any venues in mind yet? I''d love to hear your experiences once you start looking...I''m not really going to be able to do much until the summer (we''re planning an October ''09 wedding).

OCTAVIA - where abouts are you? I''m in NE Philly. I actually am in the midst of making appointments at the following places:
P & P Caterers - you ever hear of the Southampton Room? They have a complex of 3 or 4 ballrooms on Southampton Rd off the Blvd. I hear they''re really reasonable ($65 a plate, all inclusive of taxes/tips etc) http://www.pandpcaterers.com/
Valley green Inn - It''s in Fairmount Park, near Kelly Drive. But their reception room looks kinda small from the pics, and it says it only holds 100 - and my date (Apr 1 is booked http://www.valleygreeninn.com/weddings.htm it looks real pretty though!
Romano''s in Juniata. REALLY nice people, reasonable prices, but I''m concerned about the not-so-great neighborhood http://www.romanoscatering.com/
The Regal Ballroom (Caterered by Grasshoppers) on Oxford Ave. The place looks stunning! http://www.grasshopperscatering.com/home.asp
The Cottage Green Inn - no website - it''s on Ashton Rd.
La Luna in Bensalem http://www.lalunabanquethall.com/home.html - but I heard their food isn''t all that great
I also thought this place looked cool - http://www.manayunkbrewery.com/splash.htm - if you e-mail them they send you a PDF of the menu/prices etc. The food looks classy (stuffed flounder, filet mingnon etc) The price seems reasonable until you add up all the extras (included is a 3-hour bar - I would want 4 or 5 - cake is not included either)

So, I am kinda staying in the NE Philly area - I can''t afford to have it downtown, although some of those places are gorgeous!! The Kimmel center is my absolute favorite!

My mom works at a florist - Stein''s on Frankford Ave (I am forced to make that suggestion - lol!). Seroiusly, though, they have a great selection and are reasonable.

I am nervous that the place I fall in love with will be either booked or too expensive - from what I''m reading here people have their venues booked like 16 months in advance!

SO I will definitely keep you informed. Our budgets are so similar! I had wanted to actually see places this week, but of course my best friend had to go and have her baby

. And our mothers decided to throw an engagement party this Saturday.

When''s your wedding gonna be?? Oct 25th?? (that''s my birthday!)

 

[Isolde]

We've asked our parents not to contribute, simply because, there is not much they could put money toward even if they wanted to. He and I have decided that we only want a ceremony at church, with no reception to follow. Apart from the church donation, transport (cabs, since we live downtown), our clothing, a photographer, a small fairly local honeymoon, and some other relatively minor costs, there are no other expenses that could potentially break the bank. We've budgeted about $5,000-8,000 (mainly because the photographer we are set on having is expensive), and we already have this and more in savings.


Sidenote:

Date: 3/3/2008 4:53:15 PM
Author: Pandora II

We are inviting 120 guests, venue is an 11th century Abbey, buffet meal and I've hired a singing pianist for the evening.

Oh, Pandora, what an absolutely amazing venue!

 

[sklingem]

Well, for my first marriage with 80 guests we spent a grand total of 4K and paid for it ourselves! That included a lot of personal work (flower arrangements, I made our own wedding cake), we got a friend to cook an awesome buffet-type dinner (he had done it before) and rented a 16th century house (community center, wedding was in Germany) to have the wedding reception. And my brother (who is a DJ) took care of the music. It was really wonderful and I can''t say how happy I was to not spend huge amounts of either our money or someone else''s money (we did not want our parents to pay because it was our wedding).

 

[lovehersomuch]

Date: 3/14/2008 9:52:48 AM
Author: rob09
Well, for my first marriage with 80 guests we spent a grand total of 4K and paid for it ourselves! That included a lot of personal work (flower arrangements, I made our own wedding cake), we got a friend to cook an awesome buffet-type dinner (he had done it before) and rented a 16th century house (community center, wedding was in Germany) to have the wedding reception. And my brother (who is a DJ) took care of the music. It was really wonderful and I can''t say how happy I was to not spend huge amounts of either our money or someone else''s money (we did not want our parents to pay because it was our wedding).

thats great that you saved money and had done things yourself.

i think a lot of it depends on where the wedding is held logistically and when the wedding was.. i know a decade or 2 ago prices must have been cheaper.. not sure when your 1st wedding was but im sure it played a role due to inflation now..

 

[sklingem]

Actually it was 6 years ago ... so not much inflation since!!

 

[crystalheart1]

Hi - I am from the Philly area too !!!-In Bucks County This is a second wedding for us (actually 3rd for him ) ha
My In-Laws hosted my first marriage at their house, so my parents did not contribute. So far they have not
volunteered anything this time In Fact my Mother asked who was paying for everything - since I have two college kids and
no support from Ex, and my fiance has child support payments.... Hopefully she will volunteer something . Do I ask if they are
planning to contribute?

My future In Laws will probably give us what they can..

It will be around 50 people and would like to keep it around 10K, I would love to do a classy affair - Maybe like
a Cocktail Party with Gourmet Stations in a Nice Resteraunt that has room for small weddings.
For those in the Philly area, Maybe Earl''s Prime or Marsha Browne in New Hope.

 

[Independent Gal]

Ah, but 6 years ago in Germany, the dollar went oh, so much further.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

In Virginia we are trying to spend under $25,000 if possible. I may have found a reception venue where it's possible. So the break down is:

My parents: Like 80% of it...engagement party, my dress, ceremony, reception, bridal portraits, etc.
Us: We're paying for the day of photographer, rings, and maybe the cinematographer.
His parents: Sigh. Well, bridesmaids dresses since his sisters are the bridesmaids, the rehearsal dinner, and boutonnières (I think that's spelled right). Oh and like 80% of the guest list.

I have such a tiny family and his is HUGE.

ETA: When I was looking at March this was a lot cheaper.

But now that I am looking at June of 2009 or 2010 it's the in-season prices. So yay.

 

[Maisie]

When Gary and I got married in the UK it cost us £6,500 (approx $12,675). We paid everything.

We had 50 guests and a church wedding.

We are going to New York to renew our vows (just us two) and it will cost in the region of £15,000 (approx $29,250).

Its a lot of money for just two people but we are having the best of everything. Posh hotel suite, upgraded flights ... Sylvia Weinstock cake (I know - its silly but I gotta have one - any PS'ers living in New York can come and share in the cake!)..... expensive wedding bands, my fantastic wedding dress and lovely suit for him, fab photographer... car and driver to take us around the sights and beautiful flowers.

We are paying.

We are also hoping to go to Thailand for the honeymoon we never had, but that isn't included.

Its worth every penny to us

 

[lovehersomuch]

Date: 3/14/2008 2:29:34 PM
Author: SarahLovesJS
In Virginia we are trying to spend under $25,000 if possible. I may have found a reception venue where it''s possible. So the break down is:

My parents: Like 80% of it...engagement party, my dress, ceremony, reception, bridal portraits, etc.
Us: We''re paying for the day of photographer, rings, and maybe the cinematographer.
His parents: Sigh. Well, bridesmaids dresses since his sisters are the bridesmaids, the rehearsal dinner, and boutonnières (I think that''s spelled right). Oh and like 80% of the guest list.

I have such a tiny family and his is HUGE.

ETA: When I was looking at March this was a lot cheaper.

But now that I am looking at June of 2009 or 2010 it''s the in-season prices. So yay.

im also from virginia - northern va... what venues have you looked into? we are thinking about the torpedo factory as one of the venues...

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Date: 3/14/2008 3:17:49 PM
Author: lovehersomuch

Date: 3/14/2008 2:29:34 PM

Author: SarahLovesJS

In Virginia we are trying to spend under $25,000 if possible. I may have found a reception venue where it's possible. So the break down is:


My parents: Like 80% of it...engagement party, my dress, ceremony, reception, bridal portraits, etc.

Us: We're paying for the day of photographer, rings, and maybe the cinematographer.

His parents: Sigh. Well, bridesmaids dresses since his sisters are the bridesmaids, the rehearsal dinner, and boutonnières (I think that's spelled right). Oh and like 80% of the guest list.

I have such a tiny family and his is HUGE.


ETA: When I was looking at March this was a lot cheaper.

But now that I am looking at June of 2009 or 2010 it's the in-season prices. So yay.

im also from virginia - northern va... what venues have you looked into? we are thinking about the torpedo factory as one of the venues...

Wow that sounds really cool! Well we looked into the Charlottesville area and Richmond area mostly so we looked at:

In Charlottesville: The Boar's Head Inn, Clifton Inn, Keswick Hall(sp) (Wow this place is near Charlottesville and about 50k!), Oak Ridge Estate.

Richmond: The Jefferson, The Omni, Sunday Park, and Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens.

If you want reviews of any of these places let me know we actually visited all the ones in Richmond all the others I only have prices and photos. I think we are at this point deciding between Lewis Ginter and The Omni.

Oh and have you looked at Top of the Town I think it is in Arlington? It looks beautiful!

ETA: For ceremony venues we looked at mostly all of the methodist churches in the area, but St. John's Church (I think that's the name) is a really pretty historic church in downtown Richmond-area.

 

[Anna0499]

I''m not really planning a wedding right now but I just wanted to comment that it''s so great and encouraging to see a lot of couples with 1) groom''s family helping with a substantial portion of the cost and/or 2) couples paying a substantial part (or all) of it between the two of them. I always thought the tradition of the bride''s family paying for all of it was getting outdated in today''s world, as there is no need for a dowry anymore!

In my heritage, the bride typically joins the husband''s family (physically living with them in some cases) and the groom''s family pays for the majority of the wedding with the bride''s family contributing with manpower/labor. My parents and I have agreed that any expenses will be split between our family and my FH''s family or his own finances as a happy compromise.

To answer your question, my older sister''s wedding cost around $25,000 and was split between my family and my brother-in-law''s own savings. He is in the Army and was in Iraq for the last couple years before their wedding so he had a lot saved up and paid for the wedding share and her e-ring straight up. Anyways, my family is more well-to-do than he was and had more guests (including about 20 out-of-towners who were invited to the very formal rehearsal dinner even though they weren''t part of the bridal parties) so they ended up paying about $17,000 while he paid about $8,000. This is also in Indiana so I''m sure things would''ve been more expensive in CA or NY.

 

[lovehersomuch]

Date: 3/14/2008 3:33:07 PM
Author: SarahLovesJS

Date: 3/14/2008 3:17:49 PM
Author: lovehersomuch

Date: 3/14/2008 2:29:34 PM

Author: SarahLovesJS

In Virginia we are trying to spend under $25,000 if possible. I may have found a reception venue where it''s possible. So the break down is:


My parents: Like 80% of it...engagement party, my dress, ceremony, reception, bridal portraits, etc.

Us: We''re paying for the day of photographer, rings, and maybe the cinematographer.

His parents: Sigh. Well, bridesmaids dresses since his sisters are the bridesmaids, the rehearsal dinner, and boutonnières (I think that''s spelled right). Oh and like 80% of the guest list.

I have such a tiny family and his is HUGE.


ETA: When I was looking at March this was a lot cheaper.

But now that I am looking at June of 2009 or 2010 it''s the in-season prices. So yay.

im also from virginia - northern va... what venues have you looked into? we are thinking about the torpedo factory as one of the venues...

Wow that sounds really cool! Well we looked into the Charlottesville area and Richmond area mostly so we looked at:

In Charlottesville: The Boar''s Head Inn, Clifton Inn, Keswick Hall(sp) (Wow this place is near Charlottesville and about 50k!), Oak Ridge Estate.

Richmond: The Jefferson, The Omni, Sunday Park, and Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens.

If you want reviews of any of these places let me know we actually visited all the ones in Richmond all the others I only have prices and photos. I think we are at this point deciding between Lewis Ginter and The Omni.

Oh and have you looked at Top of the Town I think it is in Arlington? It looks beautiful!

ETA: For ceremony venues we looked at mostly all of the methodist churches in the area, but St. John''s Church (I think that''s the name) is a really pretty historic church in downtown Richmond-area.

i have heard of the top of the town but havent seen it... one of the main criteria for the reception/ceremony venue is that it allows outside catering.. im pretty sure i recall that top of the town doesnt allow outside catering.

 

[UCLABelle]

We are having 30 guests in Laguna Beach and my parents are paying for the whole thing.

I was able to find some places to cut, and it will be about $20K-25K for the whole thing minus the honeymoon which is $10K---

 

[Cleopatra]

We are inviting about 275 and expecting around 225 to show up - small town church wedding.

Total price of wedding will be around $18,000
My parents contributed $13,000
FI's parents are contributing $5,000 to the wedding
My dad is buying the band for us at $2,000
Rehearsal dinner is costing my FI's parents around $2,000
Honeymoon out of our pocket: $5,500

Total price of our wedding is: $27,500
ooiii - my head hurts

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Date: 3/7/2008 8:04:26 PM
Author: designchica

Our wedding is going to be Sat. Nov. 1st in Napa Valley, California. We are only inviting 20 guests and the budget is 30K. I realize that''s a lot for a small wedding but we wanted this to be very nice for the few guests that we are inviting. We are getting everyone gift baskets filled with champagne, chocolates, and a bunch of other goodies plus gift certificates to the spa so they can get massages before the wedding. Our reception is going to be at a nice restaurant where guests will order whatever they want off the menu and we are doing a wine pairing with very good wine so we are budgeting 8K just for that. The budget is definitely more than I''d anticipated for a wedding of this size, but during the process of planning it together, we both agreed...we want this to be about spoiling and pampering our guests and showing them what we as a couple are all about. (we are big wine/food/spa fanatics).

oh wow, designchica- your wedding sounds like it''s going to be FABULOUS! hubby and i are also big wine/foodie people (and me more of a spa-goer than he, but he''s getting there!) we were married at a small winery in Temecula, and loved our wedding.

anyway, can''t wait to hear more about yours!