Under of Over Budget?

[MissHoneyBee]

Hi Ladies,

 

I thought the DW would be much cheaper than a wedding here in DC but after updating my budget today that doesn't seem to be the case.  I know talking about wedding costs in real figures can be taboo for some, so can you just tell me if your grand total was below, at or way beyond your budget? 

 

Any tips or words of advice for cutting back? I'm not spending our entire savings - we have a business to run and kids to save for (after we have them ).

 

Thanks!

[QueenDiva]

I kinda knew that my DW wouldn't be that much cheaper than something I would do here. I still wanted some of the bells & whistles so planned accordingly.

[june11bride]

I don't know--which means I'm sure it's over budget. We have been bad and haven't been keeping track of anything. We haven't really decided to include anything waay out of our budget but if we really want something, we'll do it. We aren't rich but this is our big day!! We are also very reasonable people, though, and aren't going to blow it for stuff that doesn't matter.

To be honest I don't want to know how much its' going to cost total!!

I'll have to soon though...

[merrylee]

We haven't actually paid for anything truly but when I kept talking to myself about this, and doubting my choice I had to remember that I am including my honeymoon expenses in my wedding expenses so I am not spending the same amount, I'm getting more for my $$

[sunstarsmoon]

If I don't add in the cost of the actual 2 week trip to Jamaica I would say I am pretty much around what I thought I would spend. 

[clgriffi7]

So far the budget is about what I expected to spend but way more than what my fiance thought it would cost.  He thought a DW would be about $10K - but he wasn't factoring in a lot of things.  However, I am adding on a lot of nice to have items to the budget that will run up the price but that should make the time very special for friends and family.  For instance I am budgeting about $1500 because I want to charter a catamaran for everyone. 

 

We are planning on staying at the same resort for a few days after the wedding, but waiting to have a separate honeymoon around our 1-year anniversary.  So even with my "extras", we will have enough money leftover from saving for the wedding to pay for the honeymoon.  My fiance is freaking out at the total cost, but I just have to remind him that we have the money and that it will be okay.....

[BeachBridein11]

Right there with you! LOL  Though I am keeping a spreadsheet, just not updating the fiance on all purchases. LOL  I blame it on the OOT bags!!!!!!

 

Originally Posted by june11bride 

I don't know--which means I'm sure it's over budget. We have been bad and haven't been keeping track of anything. We haven't really decided to include anything waay out of our budget but if we really want something, we'll do it. We aren't rich but this is our big day!! We are also very reasonable people, though, and aren't going to blow it for stuff that doesn't matter.

To be honest I don't want to know how much its' going to cost total!!

I'll have to soon though...

[Lua]

we're pretty bang on budget so far ($5K) .. but i'm not very picky either   we're doing the free wedding package at our resort with no real upgrades (only the cake to accomodate our guests)

[JayKay]

The first thing we did was sit down and make a budget.  We knew we wanted a DW and one of the reasons being the cost-much cheaper then having it locally.  We are simple people and don't care about alot of things included with weddings.  We chose to have a smaller wedding to keep cost down.  As well, we aren't doing OOTs, paper invitations, reception and dance and other things to keep cost down.  We also chose a resort with a free wedding.  Therefore, most of our cost, probably a little more then half our budget will be for our travel expenses.

[MissHoneyBee]

 

 

Originally Posted by clgriffi7 

 

So far the budget is about what I expected to spend but way more than what my fiance thought it would cost.  He thought a DW would be about $10K - but he wasn't factoring in a lot of things.  However, I am adding on a lot of nice to have items to the budget that will run up the price but that should make the time very special for friends and family.  For instance I am budgeting about $1500 because I want to charter a catamaran for everyone. 

 

We are planning on staying at the same resort for a few days after the wedding, but waiting to have a separate honeymoon around our 1-year anniversary.  So even with my "extras", we will have enough money leftover from saving for the wedding to pay for the honeymoon.  My fiance is freaking out at the total cost, but I just have to remind him that we have the money and that it will be okay.....

 

I agree, the FI thought we would be spending less but he had little basis for comparison.  We are also thinking of chartering a catamaran which I explained was $1600 of our budget in addition to a separate outing for our bridal party.

 

I hadn't thought of the fact that our honeymoon costs are being bundled in with wedding costs.  That's one way to help us rationalize what seems like a large bottom line. :-)