How to budget a wedding...

[WeLoveLilo05]

Fiance and I are planning a small (about 40-50 people) wedding. There is a resort that does ceremonies and receptions, the ceremony on the beach and the reception inside. It is $100 a plate and it seems as though linens, centerpieces, bridal suit, 5 hour bar,champagne toast, set up, planner all included, does that seem right?
I cannot come up with a budget for a wedding because I have no idea how much certain things cost. Like how much would flowers be? I am only have my sister who is my maid of honor and my daughter as my flower girl. Fiance is only having his best friend as best man.
How much does a photographer usually cost?
Average cost of dress and tux rental?
cake?
what else am I forgetting?
We will not be needing a limo.
any help would be appreciated. But we want our wedding to be no more than $8000.

 

[luckyfin]

Where is the wedding located? In New Jersey?

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

yes, I wanted Disney, but I know it would just be too expensive haahaa.

 

[tghamilton]

This website has some awesome ideas.

http://www.projectwedding.com/blog/2009/06/15/vote-budget-savvy-bride-contest/

Scroll down and you will see 5 different weddings (they are/were running a contest and thee 5 are the finalists). 1) Planning a Backyard Wedding 2) Cut Costs not Corners 3) Joy's Plan for Our Wedding 4) Bride from Tennessee and 5) It's All About Priorities.

 

[delmar411]

We were married in NJ (since location matters for pricing) and flowers for everything (reception, church, bridal party, mothers/g-mothers, fathers, etc) was $700. We used a local flower shop that had made nice arrangements for the family in the past. I just let them know our theme(beachy) and colors and they figured out the rest. We had a lot of flowers so I'd say to cut down to the amount you need you're looking at $300 max. Although it depends on the season you get married in and whether you're looking for pricey flowers for your bouquet.

Photographer for the wedding and reception was $800 (6+hrs) plus another $400 to release the negatives and rights to us. We didn't get pictures printed through them. (This was the least expensive photographer I found that still did quality work. Others were about 25-50% more expensive)

My original dress cost $750 plus another $250 for veil and shoes and alterations. (we were married 2x, once by a JP and then a year later in the church) Since I was HUGELY pregnant at our church wedding I found a dress on Ebay for $250 and paid $150 for alterations (massive alterations).

DH bought his tux for the first wedding and wore it again for the 2nd. Not sure on cost. But we did rent the best man his tux and it was less than $50 for the weekend.

Cake was $500 just because I wanted a certain amount of tiers for some reason (clearly not that life changing as I can't remember why!) and was made by the reception location. Would have been much cheaper to get just the amount we needed. I'd think for your guest number you are looking at $150 for a cake.


You should be able to come in at less than 8k easily if all that other stuff is included in the $100 per plate cost. Make sure to see if the open bar is included in that as well.

 

[CarolA]

Never having been married... take this with a grain of salt.

However, I have been involved in LOTS of weddings. The "do it myself to keep it cheap" to the lavish everything done for me and spend more then the national debt.

One thing you have to keep in mind is that on the "do it myself to keep it cheap" it's a LOT more work for the bride. Some folks love it, some folks seem to HATE it...so know yourself! If it's going to detract from the expereince to have to "manage" every second then pay a little extra if you can and get something like you are looking at where it's done for you!

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

We were married in NJ (since location matters for pricing) and flowers for everything (reception, church, bridal party, mothers/g-mothers, fathers, etc) was $700. We used a local flower shop that had made nice arrangements for the family in the past. I just let them know our theme(beachy) and colors and they figured out the rest. We had a lot of flowers so I'd say to cut down to the amount you need you're looking at $300 max. Although it depends on the season you get married in and whether you're looking for pricey flowers for your bouquet.

Photographer for the wedding and reception was $800 (6+hrs) plus another $400 to release the negatives and rights to us. We didn't get pictures printed through them. (This was the least expensive photographer I found that still did quality work. Others were about 25-50% more expensive)

My original dress cost $750 plus another $250 for veil and shoes and alterations. (we were married 2x, once by a JP and then a year later in the church) Since I was HUGELY pregnant at our church wedding I found a dress on Ebay for $250 and paid $150 for alterations (massive alterations).

DH bought his tux for the first wedding and wore it again for the 2nd. Not sure on cost. But we did rent the best man his tux and it was less than $50 for the weekend.

Cake was $500 just because I wanted a certain amount of tiers for some reason (clearly not that life changing as I can't remember why!) and was made by the reception location. Would have been much cheaper to get just the amount we needed. I'd think for your guest number you are looking at $150 for a cake.


You should be able to come in at less than 8k easily if all that other stuff is included in the $100 per plate cost. Make sure to see if the open bar is included in that as well.

Thanks, you have helped me put this into perspective a bit more. It seems more doable now. Where in NJ were you married?

Also, thank you to everyone else who has posted suggestions.

How much do invitations cost?

 

[delmar411]

Thanks, you have helped me put this into perspective a bit more. It seems more doable now. Where in NJ were you married?

Also, thank you to everyone else who has posted suggestions.

How much do invitations cost?

We were married in northern NJ. Closest large city would be Newark, I guess.

I bought invites online and printed the addresses myself on my home printer. Less than $200 total for the invites.

 

[Fire14]

One thing I've read and actually did for my wedding was get a sheet cake for serving and your showy cake for pictures cutting etc. I had my heart set on a heart shaped cake for some reason so I had heart teir that was kept for first annv. bottom teir was cut and served along with sheet cake after pictures etc were done.


Another option is check local grocery store bakery or walmart. Walmart taste tastes great to me and I've seen some super cute wedding cakes from there.

 

[mrsklamc]

The best thing to do is call around, research who is available for your date (yes even this far in advance, some service providers get booked up 2 years in advance) and get bids for them for what you want.

ETA I got my invites from rexcraft.com, they were the most complimented part of the wedding except the dress, and they were cheaper to buy than I could have made them.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

One thing I've read and actually did for my wedding was get a sheet cake for serving and your showy cake for pictures cutting etc. I had my heart set on a heart shaped cake for some reason so I had heart teir that was kept for first annv. bottom teir was cut and served along with sheet cake after pictures etc were done.


Another option is check local grocery store bakery or walmart. Walmart taste tastes great to me and I've seen some super cute wedding cakes from there.

Can you believe that in NJ NONE of our Walmarts have an actual grocery section, or bakery, deli for that matter. Just thought that was so funny that you mentioned it. Fiance's parents live in NH and when I went to their walmart I thought it was so cool that they could get beer, food, and clothing all in the same store. I would have to go to 3 different stores for that!

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

The best thing to do is call around, research who is available for your date (yes even this far in advance, some service providers get booked up 2 years in advance) and get bids for them for what you want.

ETA I got my invites from rexcraft.com, they were the most complimented part of the wedding except the dress, and they were cheaper to buy than I could have made them.

Thank you! This site looks awesome.

 

[RachaelA]

Do you have a Costco? A lot of brides do DIY flowers from Costco. You can also buy sheet cakes from Costco.

theknot.com will have some low cost wedding ideas as well as a NJ wedding board. just be careful posting on the national boards.

you can buy invites for like $40 for 100 at michaels, joann's, walmart, target, etc. and print on them at home with your regular printer.

 

[JoiseyMom]

DS just got engaged and just booked their reception. For a Saturday night it was 114 for a sit down with open bar, cocktail hour, center pieces, cake, linens etc. Since they are doing it on Labor Day weekend, they got it knocked down to 108/person. So your price for that seems to be in the range. They haven't started shopping the other items yet.

We live in Monmouth County and they are getting married right near the beach.

 

[meriface11]

you can do a lot of research on theknot.com and weddingchannel.com.

i can happily say that i strictly adhered to my wedding budget 4 years ago by doing a lot of the work myself, but it was A LOT of work; much more than i anticipated.

i had 200 invitations printed (thermography) by a vendor i found online for about $100. can't remember which one, but if you google wedding invitations, you can do a lot of research. it included inner and outer envelopes and response cards. they looked beautiful and my friends couldn't believe how cheap i got them compared to the very expensive ($1K+) engraved invitations they had gotten for their weddings.

i purchased boxes on ebay for about $.50 each and filled them with custom colored M&Ms that matched our wedding colors. about $1 per guest.

I did the flowers myself by ordering through a online bulk flower vendor and bought vases at michael's for about $2 each.

made placecards with scrapbooking supplies and printed my own programs.

our photographer only stayed through our first dance--saved hundreds of dollars for him to be there for less time and had table cameras for guests to capture candid moments throughout the rest of the reception.

don't forget music...DJ's are significantly cheaper than bands (especially in NJ). if you want a live musician for the ceremony, you might try scouting local colleges or high schools-cheaper than hiring a professional musician

 

[ah1126]

I got my flowers done at a local grocery store. Also do you have friends that might be able to provide services as gifts? My cake, flowers, video, and photographer were all gifts! It really cut down on the cost of things. Also our hotel room for the wedding night (dinner and breakfast too) was a gift. We made our own invitations. I did get the reply cards printed, but did the rest my self. My dress was the most expensive item of our wedding. Everything including the honeymoon was about $5000.

You can do it!!

 

[ksumn1]

I say definately, if you're willing to do a little work. Alot of time the convenience factor is what you pay for. I would start out by doing a web search for "budget wedding" and finding some sites you like. theknot is one that seems to be pretty popular. Definately use your local library, too. Last time I checked (for SIL's wedding 3 years ago) there were over 20 wedding books in system, and at least 8 or 9 were do it yourself type of books. I have to agree that grocery store or non florist flowers can be a great money saver, especially if you want a simple or casual bouquet. One thing I never quite understood was spending alot of money on the little table gifts or favors your guests take home and eventually throw out. I really liked what my SIL did...she gave a small wallet sized photo frame that had a simple poem about love inside typed on her home computer in a fancy font and printed out on a cream paper on her home computer, and on and on the back of the frame was a little sticky with their names and the date on the leg. It was so pretty that I still display it in my home. Also pretty inexpensive.

Congratulations and happy planning!!!

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

DS just got engaged and just booked their reception. For a Saturday night it was 114 for a sit down with open bar, cocktail hour, center pieces, cake, linens etc. Since they are doing it on Labor Day weekend, they got it knocked down to 108/person. So your price for that seems to be in the range. They haven't started shopping the other items yet.

We live in Monmouth County and they are getting married right near the beach.

NO WAY! We live in Monmouth County too, Spring Lake Heights, where are they getting married if you don't mind me asking? Are they getting married this labor day weekend or 2010?

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

you can do a lot of research on theknot.com and weddingchannel.com.

i can happily say that i strictly adhered to my wedding budget 4 years ago by doing a lot of the work myself, but it was A LOT of work; much more than i anticipated.

i had 200 invitations printed (thermography) by a vendor i found online for about $100. can't remember which one, but if you google wedding invitations, you can do a lot of research. it included inner and outer envelopes and response cards. they looked beautiful and my friends couldn't believe how cheap i got them compared to the very expensive ($1K+) engraved invitations they had gotten for their weddings.

i purchased boxes on ebay for about $.50 each and filled them with custom colored M&Ms that matched our wedding colors. about $1 per guest.

I did the flowers myself by ordering through a online bulk flower vendor and bought vases at michael's for about $2 each.

made placecards with scrapbooking supplies and printed my own programs.

our photographer only stayed through our first dance--saved hundreds of dollars for him to be there for less time and had table cameras for guests to capture candid moments throughout the rest of the reception.

don't forget music...DJ's are significantly cheaper than bands (especially in NJ). if you want a live musician for the ceremony, you might try scouting local colleges or high schools-cheaper than hiring a professional musician

Thank you! Those are some good ideas, I like the M&Ms idea!

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

Thank you everyone, I feel a lot better and feel that "I can do this" and stick to my budget and maybe even be under.