But they cost, like, A LOT of money. I had this notion when Scot and I first got engaged that we could do a wedding for 10k or under, plain and simple. Then I started researching and reading articles. Many venues charge up to $5,000 just for a booking fee, without anything included. Catering is another $5,000+, with many places asking for a $7-10,000 minimum of food and beverage. Then there's DJ, cake, photographer, videographer, dresses, favors, stationary, etc. Learning about all of this was really overwhelming for me, especially when a close friend of mine revealed that her catering/beverage budget alone is $20,000 - twice our entire budget (I know she's on a whole different level of wedding planning than I am and I don't even worry about it, and I know her wedding is going to be fab-tastic!). But then you look at a site such as costofwedding.com, where they report that the average cost of a wedding in the United States is $19,581. For the area of Maryland that we live in, it's more like between $20,625 and $34,375.
So... more than $10,000.
Well then. It looks like I just got schooled.
Now I know from several sites (including the Bee) that it is absolutely possible to go cheaper than that and still have an amazing wedding. I like to think of myself as crafty and am totally gung-ho on doing a bunch of DIY projects, but these too cost precious dollars. And time. (And "time is money", etc and so forth). So what's a girl to do? We surely don't have that kind of money; if we did, we'd buy a (needed) second car or a town house/real house that we have been dreaming about owning.
We realized that, while $10,000 may be a bit of a stretch for a 100+ person wedding, we could probably go up just a bit, since it seemed to be necessary for the location, size, and type of wedding we wanted to have. And to compensate for that extra money, some lifestyle changes will need to be made. For starters, I recently graduated from massage school and am currently working at the school's Grad Clinic once a week, which should bring in about $300 extra a month - that's going straight into the wedding jar. On top of that, I'm looking for a second part-time/evening massage job and Scot may end up doing shift work for his job, which equals a 20-30% increase in pay for the weeks he works overnight. This would help pay off current credit card bills and contribute to said wedding jar (more like account but "jar" sounds more fun.. maybe I'll make one?!). I'm also just donating my time to intern at my school as well, in the hope for a paying teaching job there in the future.
This will inevitably mean less time spent together. Which I know will be fine.. hard, for sure, but good in the long run. We have just gotten so comfortable with our current schedules and being able to see each other after work almost every day and hang out together on weekends, that the changing hours and extra jobs will inevitably create some challenges. Not to mention cutting back on spending and shopping on top of that, which we probably won't have time to do anyway ;)
I have a feeling a ton of brides- and grooms-to-be have gone through this same thing. Anyone who can share in my poor-girl-plans-a-wedding woes?
4 comments:
Good luck! I have no inspiring anecdotes, but do lots and lots of research!
Oh girl, we feel ya! Weddings are expensive! But, if you can choose your own caterer, check on using a restaurant, they seem to be cheaper than actual "caterers" in my experience. And buying your own alcohol always saves money. Good luck! You can definitely do it!
(sorry, had to fix my display name...)!
You can totally do a wedding for a little more than $10,000! $10,000 was our budget and we went a little over but not too much.
We still had a band (well, a duo) and we had a bar (one of the most expensive parts.) We didn't do a videographer but other than that we had everything that I can think of. (We even had favors.)
And you can still feed people--we did fried catfish and my sister (of Poor and Fabulous fame) did barbecue and it was so fitting for her fall country wedding. I think she paid about $6.50 a person.
Non traditional desserts will save you money too, like cupcakes or just four or five smaller cakes. They look cute too.
Can you tell I spent a lot of time researching this too! Sorry to blog stalk/comment bomb you! Also, you should for sure make a wedding jar. It would be so cute!
Thanks guys!
@Poor and Fabulous.. I just stumbled on your blog yesterday and I loveee it. Witty and oh so wise :)
@Lindsey.. I was thinking BBQ too, actually! It's the cheapest by far and Scot and I loveloveLOVE to BBQ anything and everything. I'll keep your suggestions in mind.. thanks!
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