Apparently having 2 incomes in our household means nothing when planning a wedding. We got engaged and I was (still am :) excited about it but was immediately brought back to reality when I looked at how little (if any) extra money we would have to spend on this shindig. So my mom offered to use her and my dad's money to do this for us. She said they've always wanted to do this and it made me SO happy. See, most people expect that from a parent but I don't expect that from parents who have their own financial struggles and I especially don't expect them to do this for a couple who's already lived together for almost 3 years! But my mom was adament that they would do this for us and I couldn't be more grateful for them. But then she started to talk numbers. I was afraid of the numbers. So she finally laid out the budget to me: $10-12,000.
Whoa. It's like we hit the lottery! That's a ton of money!
But not in the wedding world.
I've been requesting quotes from different venues and caterers and stuff is coming out to half our budget. Just for the venue. . . I am SO nervous about really pulling this off. I have the ideas - the colors, venue, food...But somehow it's always ruined when I think of $$$$$$$.
I'm pretty flipping stressed as to how I'm going to find a place that's affordable to rent for the ceremony/reception and about finding affordable yet tasty catering for 250-300 people. Oh yeah, did I mention that's how long our guest list is? I have the big Mexican family and Ronnie's family is a decent size + our friends = a whole lot of craziness and people to feed! So yeah, this is going to be tough.
Stress is not a good start when we've only just begun the planning but I have a feeling I'm quickly going to turn into a DIY bride!!
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5 comments:
I am so excited to see how your planning progresses!
I have one recommendation...if you are big on pictures..don't choose the cheapest photographer because it will show in their pictures. I have been in three weddings in the past two years and the one thing that every bride said to splurge on was the photographers. It will be well worth it. My brother got married last March and he had hired a cheap photographer and the pictures turned out horribly. Seriously. Not one was frameable.
Anyway, just a tip for ya!! :)
Congratulations!!
We saved money by doing our own centerpieces. My cousin used to be a florist, so we bought the roses from a local farmer's market and she and my cousin did them. They turned out beautifully! Also, I ordered antiqued paper and printed out my own programs and tied them into scrolls. There are a million little things you can do to cut down on costs. Good luck and congrats!
Are you planning on getting married in a church or looking for an alternative venue? A way to save money is to find a venue that maybe most people wouldn't think about. We saved a ton of money on ours because it wasn't really known as a wedding spot so they didn't have any outrageous prices to charge for renting it. It was an Indian Museum, it was gorgeous, and it cost us less than $400!
Farmboy and I got engaged 2 days before you guys. We're in a similar boat. We have about 1/2 as much to spend, so I'm all about DIY. Actually I'm more of a find someone who has done it a little and beg for help kinda girl. :) Definitely with ya on the stress though!
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