Hi Everyone,
I posted this somewhere else but felt it's worth posting in a more general location.....I'm new here and recently engaged! I'm planning to marry in Feb 2015 in Turks and Caicos at the Crossing Palms Villa on Long Bay Beach. My wedding party will include 4 bridesmaids and groomsmen; 2 Dads, 3 moms for a total of 13 people not including myself and the groom. Our colors are tangerine, peach/coral and cream. We're inviting 30 people excluding the wedding party.
We've been looking for ways to cut costs without totally compromising the wedding and so far we've done the following:
1. Traditional bouquets and boutonnieres quoted cost: $ 1,000.00
1A. Instead we'll be using brooches and creating brooch bouquets and boutonnieres. So far I've spent about $200, and a little over 75% complete so I don't expect to spend more than another $100 - $125. Total savings $700.00
2.Traditional cocktail hour and wedding reception (plated dinner following the cocktail hour) - some of the estimated costs were fairly steep ranging from $5k to $10k depending on the resort.
2A. Instead since the wedding will be at a private villa with pool and swim up bar, we'll be doing a reception Beach BBQ/pool party with open bar and iPod for music. We've been quoted about $3500. Total savings $1,500.00
3. 3 tier Wedding cake for 40 people we were quoted about $600
3A. Since everything will be outdoors and the catering company will come with cake and other desserts we felt a traditional wedding cake would potentially melt etc so we're not having 1 and we don't think anyone will miss it. Lol... total savinigs $600
Overall, we think about all the weddings we've been to and we think about which items were memorable to us. Of which the main things were the overall atmosphere, the wedding setup/decor and the amount of fun we did or did not have during the reception. We quickly realized that spending a lot of money on items no one would remember or care about was not the best for us. If you guys have any other tips/ideas/advice please let me know! And by all means, if you can afford to go all out then do what your heart desires!!!! Happy planning all
*** On anoter note, if anyone has information regarding another catering company aside from the obvious island favorite, please let me know