I dont think i classify as a budget bride

[Chubear]

even though i am trying to save as much as possible:)

According to magazines here, the average wedding costs about 35k

my original budget (before i knew what things cost) was 16K,
so we borrowed 20k to cover the honeymoon as well.
Our current expenditure is 28133.
:bbeek::bbeek:
. i am promising myself we will stay under the 30k mark.
And yet i have saved everywhere i could, i am DIY ing as much as i can.
its hard to believe i spent so very much.
this is an excerpt of my data base showing what i have spent where
the first amount is budgeted the second is actual

Bride's Attire $1,000.00 5%
$2,208.95 11%
Bridesmaids $1,000.00 5%
$1,134.95 6%
Cake $200.00 1%
$248.69 1%
Ceremony $1,000.00 5%
$1,293.18 6%
Engagement dinner $500.00 3%
$275.00 1%
Engagement Party $500.00 3%
$409.96 2%
Flowergirls $200.00 1%
$45.57 0%
Flowers $600.00 3%
$510.00 3%
Grooms/men $700.00 4%
$489.17 2%
Hair & Make up $600.00 3%
$778.00 4%
Hen's/Bucks $400.00 2%
$375.79 2%
HONEYMOON $3,000.00 15%
$6,328.95 32%
Miscellaneous $200.00 1%
$906.63 5%
Music $500.00 3%
$500.00 3%
Photography/Videography $4,000.00 20%
$4,402.50 22%
Reception - food/beverage/etc $3,600.00 18%
$4,095.39 20%
Stationery $400.00 2%
$496.02 2%
Venue $2,400.00 12%
$2,536.00 13%
Wedding rings $700.00 4%
$1,097.95 5%
Totals: $21,500.00 108%
$28,132.70 141%

The biggest saves were:
1000 off dress ( won voucher)
250 off cake ( won voucher)
150 off DJ ( friend)
few hundred saved on photographer ( got 2007 prices locked in)
800 off venue for off season
free stationery items and gifts from Vista

where are you spending your money - if you dont mind me asking:)?

[ChristineLS]

I think we've spent about $600 so far. $435 was for the venue, and FMIL chipped in about $120 worth of bulbs and gardening supplies, and we spent about $50 in gas to go see her for that. Most of our money is yet to be spent.

[momentsthatmatter]

Well... it sure sounds like a nice wedding! You have fun and enjoy. 30K is a lot of coin!

[petulantfem]

Wow - sounds like you are pretty much set! We don't have a budget quite like yours, but I am also struggling with the reality vs the anticipated budget, and I haven't even really started spending yet. I'm still pricing things out. However, here is our anticipated budget (I can't put actual amounts until I actually pay for them lol):

Bride's Attire $300.00
(including dress and alterations, undergarments, shoes, hairpiece/veil, jewelry - my FSIL is giving me a wedding dress that she bought and never wore because she got pregnant and it would no longer fit her)

Bridesmaids $0.00
(Allowing the girls to all wear a black dress/shoes they already own - they won't match exactly, but no cost to them and no cost to me)

Cake $0.00
(Either a family member will make or we will go without a cake)

Ceremony $360.00
(Includes marriage license and officiant costs - the ceremony will take place at the same venue as the reception so no extra cost)

Engagement dinner $0.00
(Skipping this)

Engagement Party $0.00
(Skipping this)

Flowergirls $0.00
(No flower girls)

Flowers $50.00
(Making our own bouquets with wildflowers from my father's farm, cost is for ribbon and supplies)

Grooms/men $0.00
(They can wear suits that they already own)

Hair & Make up $100.00

Hen's/Bucks $0.00
(Skipping this)

HONEYMOON $0.00
(No honeymoon for us either)

Miscellaneous $200.00

Music $100.00
(Using the sound system at the venue and hooking up our laptop/Ipod)

Photography/Videography $500.00
(Video will be shot with our own video camera by a friend, using a hobbyisy photographer)

Reception - food/beverage/etc $3,700.00
(Cash bar, but wine provided on tables and full meal for 130 guests, including all taxes and gratuities)

Stationery $90.00
(Using VistaPrint, no RSVP cards, hand delivering majority of invites)

Venue $500.00

Wedding rings $250.00
(Ordering online - FH loses jewelry and I'm not a big fan of it anyway)

Our total budget was $5000.00

Even cutting all these corners, I am over in my anticipated budget by $1150. So I'm still trying to figure out how to make it work.

I might be able to cut my costs down for my dress - I was told it wouldn't need to be altered except for a corset put in back to tighten it and that would be $50.00. I'd happily go with very cheap flats, veil, etc, but I'm not sure how much underwear will run me.

Also, the reception food is calculated with 100% positive RSVP, so depending on our actual number of positive responses, we could scale that back a little bit. I know that I am forgetting things as well (like favours and centrepieces - ack!), which is driving me crazy because it will run our numbers up as well.

To be fully honest, I think that at the end of the day we will be closer to $6000 or $7000 even with all our best cutting, just because I have such a huge family and want to feed them all. Unless I can figure something else out to drastically reduce the cost of feeding them.

[savepaws]

Nope chubear, I don't think I'd classify you as a budget bride either! LOL I hope it turns out wonderful for you. I can't imagine how nice a $28k wedding would be.

Our budget is $4000 but I think when its all done and over we'll have spent around $4500-5000. That doesn't include our honeymoon which will be around $1500 or less. I think our budget is too high. But I've cut corners pretty much every possible way.

These are some of the things I did to save money:

I bought my dress off the sales rack. It was discontinued by the designer.

I went with fake flowers instead of real, although my 'florist' went a little crazy with the flowers and spent a little more than I had wanted.

I bought my veil & tiara off of ebay/etsy and found good deals.

I didn't pay full price for ANYTHING. I made sure to use coupons or go when the sales were on.

My bridesmaids & groomsmen are paying for their own attire.

Making a cd for my ceremony music instead of hiring an organist.

Negotiated with the photographer so that we could afford to hire her.

I borrowed as much as I could from other people. For my centerpieces, I am using stuff I borrowed from one of my bridesmaids and also from my FSIL. I also borrowed my shoes from my bridesmaid and I'm borrowing tablecloths from FMIL.

We are having the cake made by FH's neighbor/

I'm not doing anything big for favors. I am just giving everyone a fortune cookie.

We didn't have engagement dinners or parties and around here the bachelor/bachelorette parties are usually thrown by the bridal party & not an expense for the bride & groom.

[MrsDM]

I'm not a budget bride either:

Reception (Minimum) - $12,000
Chapel Rental - $1250
Limo - $500 (with gratuity)
Photography (including engagement pics) - $3200
Dress - $1500
Florist - $2000
Linens - $334
String Quartet - $535
DJ - $897
Cake - $675
Cake Topper - $45
Extra Candles - $75
Shoes - $100
Veil and hair accessories - $100
Hair (trial, day of, BM;s hair) - $125
Pedi's Manis - $150
Inviations - $300
Executive Suite - $550
Parent's rooms - $225

GRAND TOTAL - $24,561

I think we are doing well, considering I thought it would be closer to $30,000!!!

ETA - I should add, my parents are paying for the reception and my dress, and FH's family gave us some money as well.

[scarymary48]

We spent:

Ceremony site/celebrant- $990
Reception- $15,000
Rings- $2235
Brides attire- $2100
Decorator (including decorations)- $1500
Favours- $285
Favours mark 2- $159
Cake- $450
Flowers- $579
Stationery- $781.40
Music- $550
Cars- $550
Photographer- $3000
Hair/Makeup- $700
BM dress material- $455
BM dresses made and mine altered- $600

Yes, favours mark 2. We picked our favours up on the Thursday before the wedding and we HATED them. It's not that they were inferior quality or anything, I guess we just weren't clear enough about what we wanted. So the day before the wedding DH was running around buying new boxes, extra candy, and rearranging all the favours. Luckily we have some very lovely friends who stepped in to help!
We saved money by having a relative film the ceremony instead of paying a videographer, our photographer gave us a good discount, and our ceremony music was provided by a pianist guest at no cost to us. We found that a lot of our vendors ended up giving us a discount when it came time to pay too, so being friendly definitely goes a long way with those guys.

[mitch]

I was definately a Budget Bride.
Converting Pound Sterling into US Dollars, Our Wedding came in at $1,000 give or take a few cents either way. :bbeek: (Not including Rings and Honeymoon)
Back in October the Pound was worth $1.97. It's dropped since then.

I saved by having Reception at Home.
No BM's or Flower Girls. Couldn't be doing with the stress.
Our Grandson carried the Rings in but wore whatever His Mum put Him in.
Two Witnesses at a Registry Office.
Catering i did Myself for $1 a head.
Second Hand Dress.
Flowers i did Myself.
Cake i found on eBay.
Invitations i found on eBay.
Favours i made up Myself.
Friend did My hair.
Another Friend drove us to the Registry Office and to the Reception.
Table Linen for the Buffet Table and Cake Table were sheets i "Borrowed" from the Hotel.
No photographer. Just Friends with Digi-cams and Phones.
No DJ. Just the House Stereo.
No Centrepieces.
No Unity Candle. UK don't do it.
No Sand ceremony. UK don't do that either.
No Aisle Runner. No "Aisle" LOL.
No Flowers at the Registry Office. They were already supplied and it didn't matter that they didn't match.
No Stag / Hen Night. 80% of the Guests stayed in the Hotel with us for the Weekend. We all went out for a meal (I got 25% Discount for working there) And everyone chipped in.
No Bridal Shower. UK don't do them.

Every Guest We invited accepted and turned up. There was no extra cost involved inviting people who We either don't see, don't know or don't like. No Family who are remotely related to us. Saving us Hundreds of Pounds in unwanted and unneccesary expense.
It was a gathering so small and intimate that everyone there knew everyone else. No need to introduce anyone to anyone else. And that alone is Priceless IMO.

A Couple of "I Do's" and a Party afterwards. :)

[f77g4]

LOL I have to agree as well that I don't think you qualify as a budget bride.

I also made my budget up without really knowing what anything costs. I am doing everything we can to cut costs and I'm hoping to be way under budget.

Ceremony - budget $805 (including site fee, officiant fee, marriage license, pewmarkers, any decor, aisle runner, unity candle, music, and misc). Actual spent right now includes $120. Turns out we have no site fee or officiant fee so we are just going to make a doncation to the church. Also I severely overbudgeted pewmarkers as I was able to get some off kijiji. Mom made my unity candle for like $5. Left in this category - donation to church $100, music $200, aisle runner $20 and some decor $150 (est).

Reception - budget $4600 (including reception site fee, food and beverage, music, centerpieces, cake table, head table, candy bar table and misc). Actual spent so far is $646. My parents have decided to pay for the food which will save FH & I $3000 ($14/pp & providing everyone comes). We are doing a cash bar as that is the norm. I have gone over my budget in the music area since we hired a DJ and a sax player but I just had to have the sax player. I think we have about $1100 left in this category right now to spent + $3000 from my parents.

Photography - budget $2000 (including engagement pics). This will be what we spend. Our package is $1895 and includes full day coverage, 200 print proof album, dvd of best 200 pics in high res, a dvd of rest of pics in low res, 2 parent albums, an album of 20 8*10's, 2 11*14's ready for framing, a 16*20 print ready for framing, and and engagement shoot. I've also budgeted a small amount for his travel.

Attire - budget $1530 (including my dress, headpiece, shoes, hair & makeup, misc, FH's tux, shoes & misc as well as hair and makeup for my bridesmaid (2)). Actual spent so far is $487. I still owe a bit on my dress and we are hoping FH's tux will be free (because of 4 other paid rentals). Everything from my attire is bought except for undergarments. Bridesmaids & groomsmen pay for their own.

Stationary - budget $850 (including Save the Dates, invitations, thank you cards, programs, postage and misc). Actual spent this far is $190. Only need to print my invites, programs, menu cards, and wine labels so maybe a couple cartridges plus some postage and this will be done for way under budget! Got my invites, programs and menu cards on kijiji! All originally purchased from Michaels....saved a fortune.

Flowers - budget $500. Nothing spent yet but only need my bouquet, 2 BM bouquets, 2 mother corsages, 3 grandmother corsages and 7 bouquets. I'm meeting with the florist next week.

Misc. - budget $3030 (including cake, transportation, favors, wedding party gifts, tips, cake knife set, toasting flutes, rings, cake topper, guestbook, a designated driver for guests, misc decor, garter, books I've bought, , etc). Actual spent so far $352. My parents are giving us the limo as a wedding gift for that will save us $600 because I wasn't going to get one. We are able to get our cake for $100!!! So big savings there. I figure we have $2000 left to spend here + $500 my parents owe on the limo.

Rehearsal dinner - budget $400 and actual spent so far $76 on some decor. This willl be held at my parents home. Having a BBQ.

Total budget $13, 715 Actual spent to date $1,972 and I figure about $7,600 left to owe + what my parents are going to pay for. Thats with every other category maxed and based on estimates rec'd. I'm hoping for way less then that.

Kijiji and ebay have been my biggest friends in helping me save. Also the Michaels coupons!

[tk93]

Our final budget is over $45k for approximately 150 guests in attendance, not including our $10k+ honeymoon. We are pretty much in line with those around us (geographically and in our social circles), and we have the means to pay for it, so I'm pretty comfortable with our budget. Also, I feel good knowing that I tried to save where I could, and didn't go overboard with any vendors as things can get quite pricey around here.

Here's a rough breakdown:
Reception - $25,000
Ceremony - $900
Photographer - $3,500
Florist - $2,800
Videographer - $1,500
DJ - $1,000
Cocktail Hour Live Music - $250
Lighting - $1,700
Bride's Attire & Accessories - $2,600
Bride's Hair/Make-up - $400
Groom's Attire - $300
Wedding Bands - $1,200
Stationery & Postage - $1,000
Attendants' & Parents' Gifts - $2,200
Rehearsal Dinner - $1,500
Favors - $200
Miscellaneous Crafts & Supplies - $500

[Whitewater]

Wow, I'm amazed that there's all this variation! In direct contrast to everybody (except for Mitch, maybe!) here's our rough breakdown:

Reception - $900 (table/chair rental, utensils, etc. It's potluck so people are bringing food to share)
Ceremony - $165 ($100 for license, $52 for park rental, extra for unity ceremony)
Photographer - $500
Florist - $360
Videographer - N/A
DJ - N/A, we're borrowing (hopefully) speakers etc for an iPod setup.
Cocktail Hour Live Music - N/A, we're not doing a cocktail hour
Lighting - N/A, it's all outdoors in daylight
Bride's Attire & Accessories - $1000, approx. Hopefully less. This includes the rehearsal outfit too ($20 for shoes, $15 for jewelry, $15 for dress) So far, though, I've only spent $210 for materials for the wedding gown, and paid the seamstress $175. With luck, she'll only charge me $400 more for labor. Or less. Hopefully less!
Bride's Hair/Make-up - $150
Groom's Attire - $125
Wedding Bands - $200 total
Stationery & Postage - $100
Attendants' & Parents' Gifts - $100
Rehearsal Dinner - $250
Favors - $50
Miscellaneous Crafts & Supplies - $200 (mostly, this was the extra flowers and so on for the guest book/card table and the reception tables, the centerpieces and 'linens' -- which are plastic -- etc.
Cake -- $550 It was important to us to have a really good one!
Hotel room for the night before and the night of our wedding -- $200

Grand Total: $4850!!


Whitewater

[EarlyBird]

My original budget was 35k

I have been very very good about saving but here is the idea of what is being spent
IN BOLD IS THE ORIGNAL BUDGETED AMOUNT- BOTTOM NOT BOLDED IS THE ACTUAL

PHOTO 1500.00
700


we dont not count this into the budget , only because i paid for this without my parents and they are the ones that had the original budget
DRESS/BRIDES ATTIRE 2500.00 (INCL VEIL NOT ALTERATIONS)
340.00 INCLUD ALTERATIONS

ALL FLOWERS FOR CENTERPIECES, BRIDAL PARTY ETC 1900.00
900.00

BAND 4500.00
3600.00

Venue/ food/ cake/ liquor/ cocktail hour 13,000.00
6800.00

Hair and Makeup - 200.00
120.00

Site fee- 350.00
350.00

officiant fee- 500.00
400.00

favors-300.00
220.00

invitation 500.00
200.00

misc-4000.00
200.00

im pretty sure at last check, we were just about 16,000.00

[mj512]

It's been awhile so I can't remember the details, but our original budget was somewhere around $3,500, and we ended up spending somewhere around 5k. It was perfect :)

That doesn't include the rings or honeymoon, as we paid for those items, and my parents paid for the wedding and reception.

[lilmsjess]

bride's attire: my dress is a discontinued DB number, it was $165, $30 shoes(shoe cents), bra $25(walmart) waist cincher $20(walmart), alterations $100
total:$340.00

tux:$175.00-buying fh's zoot suit, since we can't rent it ANYWHERE locally

rings:$150-i'm getting matching titanium rings, and a silver cz engagement ring to match

flower girl/ring bearer attire:$135 to buy both boys zoot suits

venue rental:$575, includes 3 hour set up/rehearsal night before, 6 hours day of, plus $65 for 2 hours constable/sherriff's dept chaperone
total:$640

food:about $350, i havent yet written down everything, but we're cooking ourselves, and this includes a candy-bar and dessert bar, $100 for alcohol
total:$450

flowers:i'm DIY'ing through michaels, flowers were about $40, including ribbon and rhinestone accents(bought gems made for jewelry making instead of bouquet sprays)

centerpieces:$100 for candle holders, tea lights, flower petals, and boas

linens:$100(i'm borrowing the napkins and table cloths from the eagle's club, they're both black, but i'm getting either deep red/burgundy or ivory satin bolts, to make hangs on the back of the chairs, rather than sashes or chair covers)

dj:$400 for 1 hr ceremony and 3 hours reception

photography:$300 for 5 hours, and 250 choreographed shots(well normal traditionals, and includes getting ready and family pics after ceremony with us and the kids) as well as 2 hours beach family photos the night before

favors/accessories:about $100, overshooting, but i'm making mini pillows, and just overshooting lol....i only made 50 favors with the liquer bottles, but i'm making little candy baggies for the kids/minors lol

invitations:about $40 in cardstock and ink, and $10 in envelopes
total:$50 for 60 invitations

miscellaneous:$200-i'm guessing, as right now i've only spent $15 in misc. for 4 pairs of matching sunglasses for us girls for the outdoor ceremony, heehee

overall total(i'm adding it now!) $3155....but we havent paid for the dj, and i may let it go, and since our deco is just linens, petals and candles, i'm thinking of having the place for just 7 hours, rather than 9, as for the photographer, she just emailed me and said she's recieved word of her sister being married the weekend we are in lake tahoe, so i understand, and may just not use her, and turn my digi cam over to someone(like my cousin, she does AWESOME photos!)....so it would bring our budget down to like 2500(minus what we've already paid for and knocked out). i think i'm overshooting food, i'm going to use the krogers online grocery shopping thing to add it all up.....

[MrsDM]

I'm not a budget bride either:

Reception (Minimum) - $12,000
Chapel Rental - $1250
Limo - $500 (with gratuity)
Photography (including engagement pics) - $3200
Dress - $1500
Florist - $2000
Linens - $334
String Quartet - $535
DJ - $897
Cake - $675
Cake Topper - $45
Extra Candles - $75
Shoes - $100
Veil and hair accessories - $100
Hair (trial, day of, BM;s hair) - $125
Pedi's Manis - $150
Inviations - $300
Executive Suite - $550
Parent's rooms - $225

GRAND TOTAL - $24,561

I think we are doing well, considering I thought it would be closer to $30,000!!!

ETA - I should add, my parents are paying for the reception and my dress, and FH's family gave us some money as well.

:bbeek: What a dork I am. I forgot our bands and favors!!!!

+$1850 bands
+$300 favors

New total - $26,711

[JJsWifey08]

I was a budget bride :-)

Rings-mine:400(bridal set)
His:180

Dress:108 at Davids bridal sale
His suit: nothing he already had suit and shoes

My shoes: 11bucks at AJwright

JOP:50 bucks and license was 30
No venue since we had our wedding in his home

Our honeymoon: Myrtle beach,SC 2 nights@ 45 bucks a night in a upscale hotel(since it was in dec offseason prices fell into play)

Veil and tiara-20 bucks off ebay

Hair and earrings-30 dollars for my hair done (ugh never again) and 5 bucks for earrings at Body central

We all ate Applebees afterwards so theres my reception. (Applebees was are first date spot)

[Jacobs_Girl]

I was a budget bride on the outside but on the inside not so much.

These are approx cost of what I could remember. I could of spent more or less.
Bridal attire: $2,000 plus
Reception: $10,000
Cake: $600
Decorations: $4,000
Ceremony: $4,000
Limo: $900
Photographer & Videoographer: $2,000
Fresh Flowers: $1,500
Invitations: $500
Band: $500
Hair & make up: $200
Rental car: $700

Total actual wedding cost: $26,900

Honeymoon: $6,000
Rings: $10,000 plus

Total overall cost: $42,900

Plus misc cost I didn't include.

[Ninedays9]

Bride's Attire $415

This is on the dress and tiara. The veil will likely cost $30, and I'm not sure about shoes yet. I'm also not sure about alterations yet.

Bridesmaids
~$80
The only expense for them is gifts

Cake
~$225

I'm not entirely sure yet because we haven't gone, but I've heard that's about what it was where I want to get it from.

Ceremony
~$745

Flowers
$350

Grooms/men
~$80

Hair & Make up
~$65

HONEYMOON
Not sure.

Miscellaneous
Centerpieces/Favors:
-Vases: $15
-Mirrors: $10
-Kisses: $5
-Stem wire: $3
-Marbles: $45
-Cellophane: ~$4
-Leaves: $8
-Hot Glue Gun: $16
-Candles: $16
-Floral tape: $5
-Ribbon: ~$5
-Sand: $6(? I forget how much it was)
-Sand vases: ?
-Marriage license: $110 (??? Somewhere around there)
-Bubbles: $5
-Ribbon for bubbles: $5
-Labels for bubbles: $5
-Popsicle program sticks: $3
-Paper for programs: ?
-Picture frames: $14
-Icicle lights $20

Music
$450

This is if I can get away with going with the cheaper, young DJ... at this point it's nearing close, so I think FH might give in on that one. I really don't care if the DJ is young... I just want someone that can do it so we don't have to mess with it ourselves.
Photography/Videography
$1650

This includes the minister and ceremony music because they're (minister and photographer) in the same business, so I forgot how much the minister alone was.

Reception - food/beverage/etc
~$1600

I added it all up immediatly after calling the caterer. This is including tax and gratuity.

Stationery
~$70 on DIY Save the Dates (including stamps, and I think we still have around 50 stamps left 'cause we thought the books of stamps were 10 rather than 20) This was our first DIY project, so we wasted a lot of goods and had to buy more. It could've been a little cheaper.
$30 in invites (two 50 packs, clearance at Michaels)
$10 stamps
$1 ribbon

Wedding ringsNot sure yet.

Hotel
~$160, two nights

Rehearsal Dinner:
?

I know there's more I'm missing. I added up everything I've got here plus estimated costs of some of the smaller things I don't have, and it was around $6400. Yikes! We still need to pay $4265. This is also assuming we get the prices I have listed here. Again... yikes!!

[ChristineLS]

I was a budget bride :-)

Rings-mine:400(bridal set)
His:180

Dress:108 at Davids bridal sale
His suit: nothing he already had suit and shoes

My shoes: 11bucks at AJwright

JOP:50 bucks and license was 30
No venue since we had our wedding in his home

Our honeymoon: Myrtle beach,SC 2 nights@ 45 bucks a night in a upscale hotel(since it was in dec offseason prices fell into play)

Veil and tiara-20 bucks off ebay

Hair and earrings-30 dollars for my hair done (ugh never again) and 5 bucks for earrings at Body central

We all ate Applebees afterwards so theres my reception. (Applebees was are first date spot)

You are really good at getting your money's worth!

Add $62 dollars to mine since I bought the dress yesterday :D

[Porcha]

even though i am trying to save as much as possible:)

According to magazines here, the average wedding costs about 35k

my original budget (before i knew what things cost) was 16K,
so we borrowed 20k to cover the honeymoon as well.
Our current expenditure is 28133.
:bbeek::bbeek:
. i am promising myself we will stay under the 30k mark.
And yet i have saved everywhere i could, i am DIY ing as much as i can.
its hard to believe i spent so very much.
this is an excerpt of my data base showing what i have spent where
the first amount is budgeted the second is actual

Bride's Attire $1,000.00 5%
$2,208.95 11%
Bridesmaids $1,000.00 5%
$1,134.95 6%
Cake $200.00 1%
$248.69 1%
Ceremony $1,000.00 5%
$1,293.18 6%
Engagement dinner $500.00 3%
$275.00 1%
Engagement Party $500.00 3%
$409.96 2%
Flowergirls $200.00 1%
$45.57 0%
Flowers $600.00 3%
$510.00 3%
Grooms/men $700.00 4%
$489.17 2%
Hair & Make up $600.00 3%
$778.00 4%
Hen's/Bucks $400.00 2%
$375.79 2%
HONEYMOON $3,000.00 15%
$6,328.95 32%
Miscellaneous $200.00 1%
$906.63 5%
Music $500.00 3%
$500.00 3%
Photography/Videography $4,000.00 20%
$4,402.50 22%
Reception - food/beverage/etc $3,600.00 18%
$4,095.39 20%
Stationery $400.00 2%
$496.02 2%
Venue $2,400.00 12%
$2,536.00 13%
Wedding rings $700.00 4%
$1,097.95 5%
Totals: $21,500.00 108%
$28,132.70 141%

The biggest saves were:
1000 off dress ( won voucher)
250 off cake ( won voucher)
150 off DJ ( friend)
few hundred saved on photographer ( got 2007 prices locked in)
800 off venue for off season
free stationery items and gifts from Vista

where are you spending your money - if you dont mind me asking:)?

Wow, I just started and I was hoping to keep mine somewhere between $10,000 - $15,000 .... wow.

[SkippyNXC]

the bulk of my budget is going towards my reception:

reception: 14,000
photographer: 3,500
dress + veil: 1,500 (technically free b/c my mom is paying for my bridal attire)
save the dates: 30 bucks from vista print

FH wants the budget to be around 20K so i don't have much room left to work with but i wanted to splurge on the photog...