Wedding Where did you splurge or save?

[Amanda.Rx]

I was just curious... which wedding essentials did you splurge on and which did you save on? How did you go about the savings?

My biggest splurges are venue, reception food & beverage, and photography.

I''m thinking about saving on flowers, dress, and stationary... but I haven''t gotten that far in planning yet...

 

[galvana]

We saved on:
dress - under $800
All accessories are borrowed
Programs, place cards, menu cards, doing all ourselves at home
Bathroom Baskets - bought all stuff at The Dollar Store, got nice baskets from a friend
Got 1 limo instead of two as we originally wanted
NO Videographer, family member taping ceremony only
NO open bar, just 2 bottles of wine on all tables all night
Card box, cake topper, both from ebay, less than $10 each

Splurged On:
Photographer - $3500
Rings - $4000 for both
Honeymoon - 2 weeks disney and mexico
My wedding makeup: $250 for me and 2 maids
Our wedding gifts to eachother: $3000-$5000 each i think
flowers: $1300

hmmm thats all i can think of for now

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Splurge:
- entertainment for the wedding
- my dress
- honeymoon


Save:
- no limos/transportation
- no midnight buffet
- invitations
- party favors
- decorations for the venue

Everything else was pretty much in the moderate/average range in terms of $$$.

 

[DMBFiredancer]

save -
dress ($400)
photog ($750)
bouquets / flowers (just wholesale cost of flowers - friend is doing)
makeup - friend is doing for me
gift to FI / me - we decided against it
no transportation - hotel is 1 mile from venue so we're just going to get a ride from a friend
no flowers for centerpieces....making shell ones

splurge -i guess the venue is our splurge for us...still cheaper than most places we looked at, though.
total including tax and tip will be about 11k with top shelf open bar for about 80 people

for me personally, the invites were a splurge because i thought i was just going to buy $50 worth of do it yourself kits but ended up going with nice ones for $300

 

[DMBFiredancer]

oh, i forgot...i may splurge on having someone make panel fan programs for me, since i would not be very good at making those myself!

 

[Kellybell]

Save -
Rings (simple platinum bands for each of us)
Grooms attire (khaki pants/navy blazer - which he lives in for most of the year)
Reception Music (DJ)
Gifts to each other (we aren''t doing them)
Honeymoon (going to Nantucket for a few days post wedding)
Guest List (we are having a small wedding - hoping for around 80 people)

Splurge -

Almost everything else -
Invitations
Reception location and food, alcohol
My dress
Transportation the day of
Flowers
Lighting
Rentals
Tent
Wedding Planner
etc.

 

[Sabine]

I saved by borrowing some accessories, getting alterations done by a private shop, not the dress shop, finding a cheap dj (don''t know if I would suggest this though), not having a limo/transportation, and not really ordering any prints from my photog, instead just bought the rights to reprint.

 

[honey22]

We refuse to scrimp on our wedding rings and photography. I was going to spend less on my gown, but when I put my dress on, the budget flew out the window!!!

 

[FrekeChild]

Splurge on wedding package and hotel room. Saved on pretty much everything else. So far anyway.

ETA:
Dress isn't a wedding dress. And it was half price.
MOH dress was $35 marked down from $160
Shoes were both on sale
Jewelry was on sale
I'm DIYing the invites/STDs
No special flowers
FI's suit was my dad's christmas present to him
No honeymoon for a while
Small guest list
Hardly any traditional elements...

I'm sure there is more.

 

[BigDiamonds]

Save:
Music at reception (iPod)
Dress
Invitations/paper products
Wine/beer only instead of full bar
No videographer
Flowers

Splurge:
Photographer
Reception venue
Food
Honeymoon

We tried to concentrate on the things that were important to us and would make the most difference. We both love travel and photography, so the photog and honeymoon were no-brainers. We decided to splurge on a nice venue and good food because it sets a nice atmosphere, and allows us to save a little on flowers, decorations, liquor, etc. without feeling cheap.

 

[Elmorton]

Splurge:
Dress/veil/shoes/jewelry etc
Hair and makeup
Pre-wedding personal training
Reception Venue
Catering
Microbrewed beer at reception (Boulevard)
Cake by French pastry chef
Vera Wang cake cutting set engraved
Engraved toasting glasses
Hotel room for getting ready
Photography - and album, prints, afterward
Rehearsal dinner (tons of guests invited)
Honeymoon

Save:
Flowers
No DJ (iPod)
Invites - very simple, DIY inserts
DIY Save the Dates
Chairs and PA system at ceremony
Ceremony venue was in a park, so it cost $50
DIY Centerpieces
DIY Favors (bookmarks/donation)
DIY Menu cards and placecards
Student musicians for ceremony
Friend officiated
Very minimal on linens (no chair covers)
"Ball of light" ($20 disco ball type thing) for reception lighting during dancing portion
No planners
Did our own set-up and tear down for reception

 

[E B]

Splurge:

- Venue
- Photography
- Dress
- Hair/Makeup (though I shopped around for a good price)
- Booze (supplied our own, but brought beer, wine and different kinds of liquor)
- Day-Of Coordinator (priceless)

Save:

- Flowers (found a woman starting a new business, did them at around cost for portfolio)
- Favors (didn't have any!)
- Rings (mine: Tiffany 'inspired," husband's: plain titanium)
- Anything Bridesmaid/Groomsmen related (didn't have BMs or GMs)
- Music (used speakers and iTunes instead of a DJ)
- Programs/Menu Cards (DIY)

Everything else was somewhere in the middle.

 

[jstarfireb]

Oooh, I like this because I''ve been planning the wedding with a strict budget in mind, and I think I found some awesome bargains! Even my splurges probably aren''t really that bad by wedding standards.

Splurge:
-honeymoon: skydiving, scuba, and swimming with dolphins ain''t cheap!
-venue: $1600 rental fee, $250 ceremony fee, and has a cake cutting fee

-catering: exclusive contract with venue, costing around $7000 for 125 guests
-photography: $1450 (that IS a splurge for me!)
-dress alterations: not done yet but quoted around $300-350 - more than half the cost of the dress!
-veil: $135 (I liked the Swarovski crystals)
-BM gifts: about $100 x4 bridesmaids
-my ring: $1000 for platinum eternity band
-big guest list (not my choosing, but my mom''s...I wanted small and intimate; she wanted My Big Fat Polish Wedding)

Save:
-dress: $550 from David''s Bridal
-groomsmen''s attire: buying matching ties and having them all wear their own solid black suits and white dress shirts
-flowers: maximum budget $500; no floral centerpieces (using candles instead)
-DJ: found one for about $600
-cake: wouldn''t go above $500; found one for about $300
-decorations: almost ALL of them are from Wal-Mart, the dollar store, or Marshall''s/TJMaxx
-shoes: rewearing my $100 or so prom shoes that are almost 10 years old and still in great shape!
-accessories: using necklace and bracelet that I already have; bought CZ earrings from Overstock for $22
-invitations, programs, etc.: DIY with print-your-own kit; also didn''t have STDs, just used word of mouth
-favors: about $1 per guest
-no open bar, beer and wine only
-hair: my family''s stylist (she''s been doing all of our hair for like 10 years!) only charges $25/updo; also, she''s only doing the bridesmaids'' hair, not mothers, etc.
-makeup: DIY for me and bridemsaids
-his ring: $135 for plain white gold band
-no limos/transportation (reception and ceremony at same site)
-officiant: friend, will get gift but no fee
-planned the whole thing myself with my family''s help (no planners)

 

[Gypsy]

Save:
Dress (fell in love with 4000 dress. Bought 500 dress, spent 400 on alterations. Got the same look for 1/4 of the price)
Shoes (bought $80 silver wedges I plan to wear all summer long now)
Paper (nixed menus and programs, used ebay for invites)
Veil (made by my seamstress super cost effective)
Ceremony Chairs (went with the second least expensive option. No chivari chairs. But they looked quite wonderful)
DJ (Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate)
Officiant (John's uncle and it was amazing!)


Splurge:
Makeup and Hair (1,000. Yes, you read that right, it included 7 hours of my MUA following me around the wedding for pics making sure I looked right. Two hairstyles, and a lot of personal attention)
Flowers (I tripled our original budget. But I also got a great deal from my florist, so I got a lot for my money)
Parasols and fans (and SO happy I did for these, our guests really appreciated them, and the bottles of iced water available for the ceremony-- outdoors in September in CA)
Favors (these were my mom's project and she really went all out)

Neither splurge or save:
Alcohol (we went with beer wine and champage only, so it sounds like a save. But then when you look at how much our guests managed to put away, you realize. No savings there)
Food (we didn't upgrade anything, but the caterers were quite pricey to start with. Food was fabulous though)
Cake (I got what I wanted, for what I was willing to pay)
Hair peice (more than I wanted to spend by 30 bucks, but it was priced significantly less than other similar peices I had seen, and I LOVED it).
Photography, I wanted excellent photography and got it. I paid more than many brides I know... but I also love my pictures much more than theirs. The pictures are all I have now that the day is gone. And I loved my photographer! And she is VERY reasonable for the quality I got.

Recouped:
Earrings (sold them on ebay!)

 

[bee*]

Biggest splurges are venue and photographer.
Saved on-invites and programs (diy), flowers, favors

 

[emeraldlover1]

Splurge:
- Entertainment (Band and DJ)
- Venue (w/food and open bar)
- Cigar Roller
- Dress
- Photography
- Hair and Makeup Artist
- My shoes
- Hotel Rooms

Neither Splurge Nor Save (I consider this to be what was in our budget is exactly what we are spending)
- Floral Design
- Bridal Party gifts
- Rehersal Dinner

Save
- Invites, Save the Dates, and wedding Stationary (I opted not to go for letterpress and found someone with an new paperie willing to do what I wanted under budget)
- Cake (included in our catering fee w/no extras)
- Video (my mom hired one cause she couldn''t live without it so we saved, she did not)
- Hair pieces (I have two veils, a hair flower, and a hair feather piece all for under $200 and my budget was $400) One of the veils I am selling
- Favors (I am making them myself)
- Ceramony music (done by my sister and her boyfriend)
- Wedding Bands (plain platinum from wedding ring hotline and under $700 for both)

Can''t think of anything else right now except we haven''t booked transportation yet and we haven''t booked our honeymoon yet. We are trying to find out what is happening with my fiance''s job before we do.

 

[emilina22]

saved:
invitations ($100 for everything, invitations, envelopes, rsvp cards and their envelops)
dress (went from $1600 to $900)
accessories (veil-$50, shoes-$50, hair piece-$0 cause its borrowed)
photographer ($500-wedding photography student who is amazing)
ceremony venue($0- its the church we are members at and grew up in)
reception music ($0-ipod)
no videographer (the church is filming it and then my younger cousin will have his camera on his all day, its what he does)
we dont drink so their wont be any alcohol at our reception
programs and menus ($40)
his suit ($300)

splurge:
reception venue(its casue we didnt want to go with what everyone else has already had)
flowers
transportation (not really sure if its a splurge but we''re renting out a Porsche for $475)
honeymoon (which wasnt really a splurge since becsue we didnt book last week we saved $500!!!!!!)

thats all i can think of right now....

 

[elrohwen]

Let's see ...

Splurge:
Dress: I had hoped to save on the dress and get something for less than $500. I ended up falling in love with one that is $1600, so that was a bit of a splurge. Though compared to many dresses, $1600 is quite cheap! It's all in how you look at it I guess.
"Party Bus": We're getting a bus to take guests to and from the hotel. It's around $1k, which seems like a lot of additional expense, but I think everyone will have a much better time knowing they don't have to drive. We won't be getting separate transportation for ourselves though, in order to afford this.
Food and Booze: Our price per person is actually quite cheap for the area, but the quality is great and we're paying more to get the premium options. We're also paying more to get the beer and wine we want.
Photographer: He was a little more than we wanted to pay, but his service is fantastic and we get a DVD with all of the pictures. I keep telling FI it could've been way more than the $3500 we're paying

Bridesmaid Dresses: The dresses are $250 so I've offered to pay for half of each of the two girls' dresses. Their dresses weren't in our original budget, but since I'm the one who choose the really expensive dress, I feel I should help pay for it.
Rehearsal Dinner: We may or may not be paying for this, but right now I'm assuming we are. It's at our all time favorite restaurant and isn't cheap, but it'll be wonderful. We're keeping the price down by keeping the guest list small.
Hair and Makeup: It's kind of expensive, but I'm willing to go with it. I'll be paying for myself and the hair for both of my girls, which will be around $300-400 (I can't remember exactly).
String Quartet: As a cello player for many years, this was something I absolutely had to have during the ceremony and cocktail hour.


Save (it seems like we're trying to save on everything, so I'm sure I've left a lot off of this list):
Honeymoon: We originally wanted to go to Europe for 2 weeks, but decided to save money by staying in the States and going to California. This way we won't have to completely drain our savings which helps my peace of mind. There's always next year for Europe!
Flowers: The venue price includes simple rose centerpieces in any color (I can get other seasonal flowers for $15 a table ... so we'll see). They can also do my bouquet and MOH/bridesmaid bouquets cheaply with their in house florist. The guys won't get bouts (they think they're silly anyway) to save money.
Decor: I'm not really adding anything to the decor of the location. Maybe some mini-pumpkins to hold the place cards, but that's about it.
DJ: I told the DJ that all I wanted was someone to show up and play music. No lighting, no props, etc.
Rings: I want a plain platinum ring for the practicality of it, plus I often travel to manufacturing plants and the only jewelry allowed is a plain wedding band. I really want a bezel band similar to the Tiff Jazz, but I'll have to save it for an anniversary. FI is getting a tungsten band which will be around $200.
Guest List: Trying to keep it to around 70 people. This is partly to save money, and partly because it is just our ideal wedding size.
Invites: Got cheap save the dates, getting cheap invites. They still look cute, and that's what matters

 

[katamari]

Splurge

Travel: We are getting married in Ecuador, doing a lot of travel while we are there and taking a couple mini-moons after the fact

Creating a party for the celebration/reception when we return: Lots of entertainment--gaming consoles set up on projectors, disc golf, lots of booze, dancing. We are even using one of our friends (who was a former camp director) as our event planner.

Transportation: We are hiring vans and drivers to shuttle our guests back and forth from the hotel to the reception until the wee hours of the morning (see previous point). We want people to have a grand time, and for our friends and family, that means drinking.

Rentals: Tents, chairs, tables, china, linens, etc. It adds up so fast!

Shoes: Since they are what you can wear again, I am not pulling out any stops

Ridiculous invite list for the celebration/reception: We are popular people, what can I say

. We hope only 200 can show, but will probably invite closer to 250


Save

Dress(es): I got my dress at the Running of the Brides. It isn't my dream dress, but it was far cheaper than my dream price. Even with a reception dress, too, and alterations for both, I should come in under $1K

Food: Serving barbecue/Southern soul food from a delicious restaurant (owned by a family member! Family discount = at cost!)

Calling in "gifts" from our talented family and friends: meaning we get free invite design, homebrew, day-of-coordination, hair and makeup, etc.

No flowers: Instead we are decorating using the paper cranes I am folding FI as a wedding present

Photography: We found an artistic photographer who just started a wedding side business, so he still has cheap prices

Cake: FI and I are addicted to Cake Wrecks and wouldn't have anything else

Venue: FI's parents have a ginormous and beautiful home in a breathtaking and secluded area, so we are having our party in their backyard

 

[meresal]

Splurge:
Photog

Floral
Shoes

Venue

Makeup
Rings

Save: (These are not really "Amazing Deals", but more places where we decided not to splurge)
DJ- $850
Dress- $700 incl alterations!!

Honeymoon- We don't have 2 weeks to take a vacation, so this one falls in the average category. Cruise of Southern Caribbean

No wedding gifts

I'm more than postitve I'm leaving things out...

 

[newbie124]

Splurges
Venue - By far the biggest splurge at $9,000 (and that was after negotiating and moving to a Friday). But the setting can't be beat (although wish I could say the same for some of the staff) and is really "us."

Photographer - Just over $6k, but they have been very flexible in working out the package with us, including right to print all of the images ourselves and also regarding trip fees for coming out to Chicago for our e-session.

FI's suit - He had his custom-made and it ended up costing more than my dress! Oh well, at least he can wear his outfit again after the wedding.

Chivari chairs for reception (countered by selecting cheapest chairs for the ceremony)

Honeymoon - Going to Denmark and Madrid for 1.5 weeks

Saves
FI's ring - He didn't care about metal and wanted the simplest of bands, so we got a titanium one which came to just over $100.

My band - It was still a little costly (around $800), but I chose to go w/ white gold rather than platinum.

Favors - We're baking chocolate chip cookies to give as end of night favors.

Transportation/Videography - None other than our rental car to get around.

Flowers - B/c our venue has such great scenery, we're able to save on decor. I also found a very flexible and reasonably priced florist.

Somewhere in between
My dress - I paid $1600 plus alterations, but I got it as a brand new sample and the retail price would have been almost $5k! So, I kind of consider that a bargain even though it's more than I initially thought I'd spend.

Invitations - Ended up spending a lot more than I expected for a DIY project, but still cost less than if we had hired someone to print letterpress stationery for us. Cost: About $700 for materials and printing of 50 sets of 2-color STD, hotel insert, 3-piece invite suite, envelopes, calligraphy and stamps.

Accessories/shoes - Got a great pair of shoes on sale for around $20 and borrowing jewelry from relatives. My earrings were the biggest "splurge" at about $40 for the pair.

Food - Food is definitely important, and I guess $78/head is kind of up there. But we also didn't go way over the top splurging on a lot of extras. Also did a lot of negotiating w/ the caterers and limited our selection to just steak or vegetarian.

Bar package - We're doing BYOB, but it's still going to cost $900 NOT including the booze

plus an extra $100 for them to make a signature cocktail.

Day After Picnic - This wasn't something we had to do, but thought since we have a lot of OOT guests, it'd be a nice way to say goodbye before everyone takes off. It's not going to be anything too fancy (probably just pick up platters from Costco), but we did reserve a park space with a bocce ball court, which should be fun

Also, instead of inviting everyone to the rehearsal dinner, we're hosting a wine/cheese welcome at our rental home after dinner for people to pop in and say hi before the big day.

The crazy thing is that I've realized even though it looks like about 40% of our invited guests are not able to come, it's only going to shave off about 5% of our total budget!

 

[jcrow]

splurge -

-stationery
-dress
-videographer
-band for wedding [over dj, wasn''t a really expensive band]

save -

-no transportation for guests
-no transportation for bridal party to ceremony or reception
-no favors
-reused bm bouquets for table decor at reception
-no lighting at reception
-no alter decor at church
-only every third pew on the front section of the church had flowers
-food options [but plenty to go around]
-reception location - no venue cost, no chair, table, etc. cost
-did our own makeup
-no bouquet or garter toss so saved on duplicates to throw

that''s all i can think of right now.

 

[Lanie]

Splurge:
Photographer (just over 5K, not including e photos)...and I''m getting boudoir photos as a surprise gift to FI

Venue food and alcohol (huge family = huge bill)
Invitations (they were DYI, but not cheap)
Church fees (our church was expensive, but didn''t want to give up on that!)
String trio (can''t wait to hear them when I walk down the aisle!)
Honeymoon (Greece baby!)
Unnecessary paper products that most go without (Save the dates, menu cards, RD invites)
Favors (coasters with our picture inside they can remove and reuse for themselves)
Huge wedding party (bouquets, gifts, etc)

Save: Save? I don''t really know what that word means...
No transportation (using one of my dad''s collector cars. An old 61 white Chrysler that is 2 blocks long)
My shoes (I have never really cared about them that much!)
Veil (not too bad...got online)
Hotel for night of (we don''t want to go over about 180 bucks for that)
My jewelry (120 for day of)

In between:
Cake (600 for 180 pieces)
Dress (not too bad...about 1200 with alterations)
Makeup
DJ (800)
Flowers (about 1500)

 

[Yimmers]

splurges:

food
photography
dress (but alterations were thrown in for free)
hair/makeup - I am paying for myself, 4 bridesmaids, mil, and just my mom''s makeup as part of my gift. Bless my mom, but I can''t have her do her own makeup...
rings

saves:
cake (it just needs to taste good, and everything seemed to cost $1000+ and ours will be well under)
DYI invites (but, they still cost a pretty penny to make...)
DYI save the dates
DYI menus, place cards, programs
veil is borrowed
flowers will be done by my bridesmaid

 

[jstarfireb]

Date: 3/16/2009 5:37:05 PM
Author: jcrow
-reused bm bouquets for table decor at reception

Jcrow, I''m doing this too and am really excited about it for some reason! I think it''s a fabulous idea, because what do bridesmaids do with their bouquets after the wedding anyway?

 

[musey]

Splurged:
Photographer
Men''s attire (purchased suits instead of renting tuxes)
Rings
Honeymoon
Dance floor draping


Saved:
Venue/catering (this was more of a mid-range save, not a cheapo save)
DJ
MOH and FG attire (fabric district material, sewn by my mom)
Decor (except for the dance floor draping... DIY and limited flowers, no ceremony decorations at all)
Paper items (no programs, semi-DIY escort cards, no other paper)
DIY Makeup
No veil
Family member officiated


Mid-range budget-conscious choices:
Bridal gown
Shoes
Bar (beer/wine/champagne only)
Invitations/save-the-dates
Mid-range hair stylist



My wedding: Musey''s Pro Pics

 

[AmberGretchen]

Splurged:
honeymoon (two actually, a minimoon and then a longer trip a few months later)
photographers
flowers
gifts/events/celebrations for wedding party (nice gifts + luncheon/dinner + hotel rooms, etc...)

saved:
music
invites (DIY)
dress

 

[redfaerythinker]

so far... saving on dress, shoes, and wedding bands

splurging on jewelry.. sort of.. it was all on sale but a tiny bit out of our budget.

 

[Kim N]

Splurge:
Photographer
Wedding band, at least mine

Honeymoon
Hair and makeup (seems very expensive to me, but apparently this is standard in my region)

Save:
No programs
Invitations (DIY)
Flowers (DIY)
Bridesmaid dresses (cocktail dress from Macy''s)
No videography
No favors
No transportation
No full bar, just wine/beer
No STDs
Student musicians for ceremony
iPod music for reception
No planners
Friend officiant and MC
Venue
Veil (DIY)
MOB dress (75% off)
Shoes (max $50)
Cake

In between:
Alterations (seems standard at $200)
Dress (bought from RK Bridal to save money, but still a significant amount for me)
Accessories (fakes, but still more than I wanted to spend)

 

[teapot]

We splurged on photography and videography (1/3 of our total budget). My bouquet, I had 4 bunches of mini calla lilies in my bouquet and had to get those imported. I splurged on this since I wanted my flowers to last all day.

We saved on:
*invites, we ordered the invites and than diy-ed the inserts. We matched the paper, type face, etc so we were able to do our invites for $4.20/invite instead of $10/invite. Not bad for having two languages so I essentially printed up two sets of 100.
*favors, we diyed them and everybody was shocked that they were $1 each. Everybody thought I broke the bank and paid $5 each.
*flowers, we bought seasonal flowers from the wholesaler and made them ourselves.
*dj & musician, got bids from gigmasters and interviewed all of the bidders
*cantors/singers for ceremony, asked family and friends to do it.
*hairsylist, it was a gift from my friend who was a hairdresser
*my dress and veil, my aunt had a friend who owned a boutique and I got my dress and veil for 30% off.
*ceremony. As a parishioner I didn''t have to pay rental fees or anything. The church just asked us to make a donation to the alter servers ($10/each). We also donated money to the church and priests as a thank you.


I think I would have spent less on a videographer and my bouquet if I had to do it again.