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ideal wedding budget?

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E B

E B

Ideal_Rock
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(Sorry for two threads in one day....I just thought this might be a fun Thursday discussion for both brides AND ladies in waiting.....)

If you don't mind my asking (and it's certainly fine if you do), what are your ideal wedding budgets? Being realistic, around what do think your wedding will cost, and why? If you've already had your wedding, how much did it end up costing, and was it over/under intended budget?

I'm trying to keep mine at $10k, $11k at the most. My desired location (rumor has it) is around $4k, so I have to keep everything else a bit lower than expected. As of right now, our plan is to be married in Dallas, TX. I'll spill more details when you spill yours!
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Ours is about 10k, too. But we''re thinking of doing the boat cruise thing, we get a 4 hour cruise aroudn Newport Beach, CA, our ceremony is included, the food, music, flowers, photography, DVD, and beverages as well, and it''s about 75.00 per person, 100 people. Sounds good, no?
 
Date: 1/19/2006 5:58:34 PM
Author: AmberWaves
Ours is about 10k, too. But we''re thinking of doing the boat cruise thing, we get a 4 hour cruise aroudn Newport Beach, CA, our ceremony is included, the food, music, flowers, photography, DVD, and beverages as well, and it''s about 75.00 per person, 100 people. Sounds good, no?
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That sounds awesome! And it leaves quite a bit for a really beautiful dress
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We ended up spending about 48K for our wedding, which was about 18K over my initial estimate/budget. That seems like a lot now that I am typing it out. But we did have two receptions/banquets, so we spent on two photographers, two cakes, two wedding worth of flowers, etc and it also included rings, honeymoon, travel and lodgings for the two locations. The good thing was the cash gifts from family and guests ended up covering the bills of the two banquets (about 22K), so we spent 26K out of our pocket. It didn''t seem that much when you are spending money over a period of planning time, but now looking at the total, it looks outrageous.
 
We are rather fortunate in that my parents are helping us out and then we are paying for some of it but it looks as though we will be spending around 60K for a formal wedding with around 200 guests. Not including rings or honeymoon but including eveyrthing else plus the rehearsal dinner. Getting married in San Diego is expensive! I know that I could cut stuff out but this is what it is going to cost as of right now.
Nicole
 
my parents are going to contribute about 10-12k and fi and I about 4-6k, and I think we''ll be fine on that budget. I''m hoping to keep it intimate, 100-110 people at most. Plus we''re doing it right before xmas, so we dont have to spring for church flowers.
 
Nicole, I''m in San Diego too. Where are you planning to get married?
 
Sadly - around $20k.. and there isnt much way around it.. Right now we''re SLIGHTLY under.. but that is not counting things like hair appts, attendant gifts...
 
Hey PeonyGirl!
We are having our ceremony at the Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church then our reception is at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. As far as our list of our major vendors:
Flowers: Holiday Flowers
Cake: Edelweiss
Videographer: Jeff Roldan
Photographer: Jim Reed Photographic Design (Tucson, AZ)
Month of Coordinator: Unforgettable Events
DJ: Mike Hogan

All of our stuff is pretty much done, just working on the final details. Where are you getting married? :)
Nicole
 
Date: 1/19/2006 11:36:13 PM
Author: MelissaSue
Sadly - around $20k.. and there isnt much way around it.. Right now we're SLIGHTLY under.. but that is not counting things like hair appts, attendant gifts...
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I don't think that's too bad at all. I think it's under the national average.

Mine's looking more and more like $12k. I might have forgotten certain things and as it stands at around $11-$11.5, I'm going to be on the safe side. The $11-$11.5k budget DOES include the more expensive dress, though.

I think I'm saving the most money by not having any attendants on either side. Oh, and I plan to get the flowers from VONS. Another knottie bride did this and spent $150.00 total on a TON of flowers. I also found great invitations for around $2.00 a piece. Wedding bargain shopping is so much fun!
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Ummm, 5K, and that''s the ceremony and reception and all the stuff that goes into it. 100 guests and we got really lucky on several of our vendors. I don''t feel like we cheaped out on anything either, but relatively inexpensive decisions/wants, luck, and being in the midwest helped a lot.
 
nicolejrx, I''m actually not even engaged yet, but both the Prado and the Thursday Club sound appealing. I want to find a pretty site and that''s not super expensive. Did you find any other locations you really liked when you were looking at venues? We''re talking about getting married in Dec 2006 or June 2007.
 
Like qtiekiki as i type this out it sounds insane, but spending it over time makes it not seem like so much. Our wedding was about an hour outside of the DC.

We were fortunate that my parents paid for pretty much everything related to the wedding and reception. Ive never heard the final total, but it was somewhere around 20K for 260 guests. About 10K over what we thought we could originally do it for. Most of the money was spent at the reception on food, liquor and the band and photography.

Everything else (wedding night lodging, our 2 day mini-moon, 2 week honeymoon, attendant gifts, rings, DHs tux, my shoes, table cards, favor cards and wedding programs) DH and i paid for and totaled about 15K.
 
OMG.... WOW...


We are spending about 6000 for everything. Meals for 130 guests, party favors, decorations, flowers, church, music, dresses.. wow

3000 reception
700 for flowers
500 DJ
200 Dress
100 shoes crinoline etc.
100 party favors, bubble, etc.
380 for bridal party hair and make-up
400 Bridal portraits...
40 for invitations (100 at Michaels)

And a few odds and ends stuff. We have a relative who is a prof. photographer.. he is going to do our pictures as a wedding present.

We are having the wedding at a Jockey~horse county club.

We made a lot of the decorations, centerpeices, etc.

But we have bargained BARGAINED and Bargained shopped a million times over.
 
Wow, I am grateful to live in the midwest. When I got married last summer we spent $3600 on the actual wedding...invitations, reception, flowers, dresses, gifts etc. The most expensive item was my husband''s new suit...he bought a nice navy blue suit rather than rent a tux. My dress was only $300. We spent about $5K on our honeymoon....And a lot more on our rings.
 
The more i have thought about this since my post, we didnt do anything over the top either or hire people to do work, which is pretty sad for the total price. It really was the number of guests, which we couldnt avoid because everyone lived within 10 miles. There was actually a playful arguement between my parents of "well you tell your family their not invited!" We did a lot ourselves (centerpieces, decorating the reception, bought liquor on base=tax free) and my dress was $500 including veil and alterations. Cake was $300 made by a friends mother...

I honestly think it is fantastic that so many of you all are being able to find what you want for such a small amount of money!
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We originally wanted it to be around 10k, after all it is in Vegas! However, now food/beverage is just over 10k for 50-60 people! Between the open bar and the flambe station for the bananas foster and cherries jubillee the prices just seem to jump. It looks like we will do the entire wedding day for 16k, not including dresses, rings, transportation to vegas or the rehearsal dinner. I really need to keep it under 20k!
 
I gave myself a budget of $6000, for about 100-110 guests. Our parents are contributing probably about $2500, of that. My G''ma bought my dress, veil, and tiara so that saved us $500. The ceremoney/reception is going to take up most of that budget. I''m hoping we don''t go over.

This of course doesn''t include the honeymoon.
 
Our budget is about $15,500.00 for about 50-75 people.

Ceremony/Reception/Hotel $7325.00
Flowers $900.00
DJ $550.00
Photographer $1510.00
Invitations $350.00
Cake $330.00
Chair covers $400.00
Attire/Beauty $900.00
Misc. $235.00
Honeymoon $3,000.00

I think we are doing pretty well for what we are getting.

P.S. I didn''t include my wedding set because I''m not paying for that and my fiance''s ring I''ll take care of that.

 
I think we will end up spending about $17k on everything for 150 people in Miami, FL. My sister is making my dress, my mom is a hair dresser/make up artists, so that's taken care of. The $17k includes ceremony, reception, food/bev (sit-down dinner), cake, band, photographer, decorations, etc. My mother and I are making the flower arrangements for the reception/ceremony. I originally wanted to spend >$10k, but then the guest list exploded to 150 from 70! (My fiance has a huge family!)

Here are some pics the reception/ceremony site

http://www.beth-david.com/
 
Gee, I guess I got lucky in the midwest too! We spent around $3,000 for the location, flowers, dress, 2 suits, minister, and food. Two friends took photos, and our mini-moon probably cost us $500.

ETA: About 40 guests attended
 
Ugh, NYC prices are insane. My fiance and I are paying for the whole thing. Looks like it'll be around $40,000 for 135 people. Putting it in writing makes me sick to my stomach! BTW, this is kind of a bargain in this city...

ETA I forgot to include hair and makeup, church, menus/placecards/programs, cars. That should bring it up to about $45000. Oh man, I should just elope.
 
i don''t know the amount it will end up costing, but i know it''s over what we thought we could get away with spending.

so far:

3000 reception (food, open bar w/ reasonable limit, waitstaff, etc.)
300 table linens
450 cake
750 church
300 ceremony music
2500 Bridal portraits & engagement pics & albums
1800 band
? for flowers
? Dress and Accessories
? videographer

150 for bridal party hair (although i''ll probably pay for so it''s not included in budget)
? party favors (i''ll probably pay for so it''s not included in budget)
? for invitations (i''ll probably pay for so it''s not included in budget)
 
It''s so expensive getting married in L.A., too! Which is why we''re really thinking of the cruise idea. I love it, but my future sister-in-law said, oh, don''t do it on a boat (did I mention she''s a millionaire, but probably won''t help us out?), but come on, we''re almost paying for the whole thing ourselves, and we''re just going to do it our way. And ya know what? I don''t think I want any bridesmaids, either. All my close friends are guys, and they won''t stand next to me! :) We''re thinking of using Fantasea Yachts, but I forgot about Electra Cruises, thanks!
 
Now I feel totally embarrassed to say our total, we got married on the beach in Palos Verdes, CA and had about 175 guests and our wedding costs, not including rings or honeymoon was probably over 75K.

I think everything in LA is a lot more expensive, they kinda gauge you with prices here, but our wedding day was absolutely perfect and I wouldn''t have changed one bit of it. But now that we are in the process of trying to buy a place, that moolah sure would be handy right now
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Los Angeles really rips you one, doesn''t it? It''s impossible to do things here on a budget!
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Still, I have a year to save, it should be fine.
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Ivana,
My fiance is from PV and we are actually moving to LA next month (right across from the grove???). Anyway, his mother really fought to have us get married in LA (some wayfarers chapel near their house), but we really wanted Vegas. With that price it was probably a good call! I thought the four seasons in vegas was pricey!!! However, I bet your wedding was gorgeous!
 
Hmmm, perhaps I''m being a bit optimistic - but we are going to TRY and come in at around $4000. We are getting married at a resort in Hawaii and there will probably be about 30 guests. We are having no attendants. This doesn''t include the dress and rings. I work for the hotel company, so I''m hoping to score a discount on the Food & Beverage (and also our accommodations will be complimentary), and a good Friends & Family rate for our guests. Not going crazy with flowers because I figure Hawaii is beautiful enough on its own. The girl who would have been my MOH, had I had attendants, is an excellent photographer - so that is another huge savings. We are also planning a morning wedding on a Tuesday with either a brunch or luncheon reception. Not really picking a specific color or theme (just Hawaiian), so we''re not doing chair covers, fancy centerpieces, etc. We probably will opt for a Hawaiian duo or trio for about 2 hours, and then hope to set up our ipod and speakers. We are thinking of having some sort of group activity after lunch (mini golf, maybe?) and then having the wedding cake afterwards, in bathing suits by the pool or lagoon. I don''t know, what do you guys think?
 
Date: 1/20/2006 11:53:13 AM
Author: AmberWaves
Los Angeles really rips you one, doesn''t it? It''s impossible to do things here on a budget!
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Still, I have a year to save, it should be fine.
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Yes, I''m in LA and trying to do a $10K budget is so hard (even for just 60 guests), especially when we want it on a Saturday night (that''s the only part of my wedding I''ve ever envisioined is that it would be a fun party on a Saturday night). Even our restaurant requires a $4K minimum for the night on food and beverage (and then charges 26.5% on top of that for service charge and sales tax). We''re over budget already and haven''t done anything with flowers, limo/transport, tux, groomsmen gifts, rehearsal dinner, oh god it''s adding up already!! I''m gonna be sick. Okay, so let''s say we''ll spend $13K. But I am trying to cut corners on the little stuff (like finding votive candles at Big Lots 20 for $1, doing my own flowers, getting BM jewelry gifts in China for 1/5 the cost I''d pay in the states, etc.).

Luckily my parents are hleping pay for the LA wedding.

In Slovenia we don''t even have a budget but it won''t be such a production and I have no expectations (flowers on the tables...who cares!). Airfaire alone will be $2K+. I hope his parents will help us but he hasn''t asked them any specifics yet.
 
Another L.A Woman here. Hey gals, we should have an L.A gathering!

Anyway, back to the subject. I too am optimistic- we''re gonna try to do it for $15k (75 guests). FI and I are paying for it. We''re hoping to have it at a winery in Temecula (will finalize by end of the month).

Our cost-cutting ideas include:

- Very small wedding party, only MOH & BM
- family friend is doing flowers, which will be minimal- only for wedding party/family (candles/rose petals for centerpieces)
- music will be through our iPod. A friend who does sound for local bands will provide AV and will serve as MC (he''s a hoot!)
- heavy hors d''oeurves or family-style dinner reception. We''re not fans of long, drawn out reception dinners.
- I have my eye on a JCrew wedding dress ($350). I don''t plan to wear a veil.
- DIY inviations. MOH is very crafty (stamper, scrapbooker), and has great ideas.
- I travel extensively for biz, so will use hotel/airline points/miles for HMoon and spulrge on food/drink, spa treatments, etc...

Our priorities are to have an awesome photographer, gourmet cake, and premium wine/champagne. We''ll pay top-dollar for that!

I''m in the VERY early planning stages, so all this could easily change.
 
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