Your Wedding Budget Breakdown

Unsure how to budget your wedding needs? Click the chart below for a wedding budget guide. Every wedding is different, but this will help you start.

Planning Tips: The Reception Dinner

The reception is a huge portion of the wedding budget, mostly due to the cost of food and beverage. Choosing how to use your money is not as simple as couples imagined when they begin their planning process. The hardest decision may be choosing how to serve the meal to your guests. There are three styles that are most popular: Buffet Style, Seated Dinner and Dinner Stations. There are different reasons to choose each and here are some details and tips to help you decide.

Buffet

Although a buffet has the rep of being the most cost-effective option, that is actually misleading. A buffet gives the guests multiple options to choose from, but the caterer cannot account for the size of the portion each guest will take. Caterers typically make more to accommodate, resulting in a bigger price tag. 

When considering a buffet also remember that a line will be unavoidable unless you have a small guest count. As a planner, lines are my event peeves and aesthetically unappealing. One way to shorten the line is to have a duplicate buffet station with all the same options. You should also make the stations double-sided: guests can form lines on both sides of the buffet and two people can help themselves at once.

Seated Dinner

A seated dinner is an option that eliminates the lines and is more formal. The trade-off is that the guests get a limited choice for their meal. 

An option that is becoming more popular for seated dinners are to have them served family-style. Whether the whole meal or just the sides, it is a compromise to giving the guests some options for their meal and encourages interaction between the guests at their tables.

Dinner Stations

This is one of my favorite options. Dinner stations allow for you to get creative with your food choices, and provides your guests with multiple choices and usually the opportunity to customize their meal options. Have fun with your station choices: Chinese lo mien station, Sushi station, Macaroni station,  Satay/Kabob station and a few carving stations. Have 4-5 different food choices. Make sure to have 2 of each station to avoid lines.

This can be a bit costly, so you may consider doing 3 stations for cocktail hour. 

Guest Post: For the Bride on a Budget!

Inspired by this photoset from The Tiny Closet. Natalie, the bride, is wearing a vintage reconstructed Max Mara dress

Calling all soon-to-be-betrothed beauties of the world!

Are you on a tight budget?

Does the trial-by-entourage process of choosing a wedding gown give you ulcers?

Is your wedding months away and you haven’t found “the one”?

Are you looking for a style change?

Is saying “I do” more important than a high price tag?

If you’ve answered “YES” to any of those questions then this post is for you! Read on for dresses and gowns under < $150!!

April Showers, SPRING FLOWERS!

Although it seems like a far-fetched idea, Spring is right around the corner! With a new season comes a new wave of flowers ready to bloom. A way to keep flowers costs down is to use flowers that are in season. This limits the exportation of flowers which raises your decor price easily. It is good to remember that some flowers stay in bloom longer than others, stretching into a second season of flowers. Here are some of the favorites for the spring season:

Available in multiple colors, this flower is perfect for a day-time wedding.
Late March

Some think that viburnum is an accent for bouquets and arrangements, but the beauty of viburnum can hold its own in a bouquet, accented with green leaves and flowers.
Mid-April

The flower associated with romance, roses have a long blooming period.
Early-May

My favorite flower, a peony, is available in shades of pink, white, purple and more. They can be used as tight buds or open and full (even fuller than in the photo!)
Mid-May

Asiatic Lily's are commonly used in white or orange.
Mid-June

                                                             

10 Ways to Save on Your Wedding

1. Keep the guest list small - This is a way to keep costs down. Instead of inviting your parent's friend who you have only met once, keep the guest list to those who are close to you.
2. Consider non-peak dates and times - Saturday and Sunday evenings are peak dates and times for weddings You will be competing with other prides for vendors and venues. Choosing other days may also get you lower prices from your vendor because you are the only wedding that day.
3. Choosing your venue - Be creative with your venue choices. Locations outside of reception halls or venue halls can offer better deals. A Botanical garden, a friends gorgeous backyard or a Zoo may offer more affordable options.
4. Keep it together - Keeping a ceremony and reception in one venue is efficient and allows for easy travelling for guests.
5. Ceremony music - Look at local performing art schools with the possibility of hiring students to perform at the wedding. A string quartet or a piano player consisting of these talented students allows you to cut costs on the DJ and only use him for the reception.
6. Reception and cake - There are different choices that are equally wonderful for your reception. Have a lunch reception; limit your sit-down dinner to three courses; provide different stations of food favorites; have a dessert-only reception later at night. A cake can be more waste than a bride and groom anticipated. Choosing alternatives like a dessert bar or cupcakes will provide the same deliciousness that the guests will enjoy.
7. Decor choices - Flowers can be very expensive. To keep costs down, use flowers that are in-season for your wedding date. Use an abundance of candles instead of huge flower arrangements. Large Candelabras are a great elegant alternative to flowers.
8. Make it special - Have specialty drinks available for guests instead of an open bar. Creative names for the drinks that are personal to the bride and groom make the drink even more special.....and fun!
9. Photo and Video - The photographer and videographer capture the special moments throughout the day/night, but they do not have to stay the whole time. After the cutting of the cake, the dances and a bit of dancing, these vendors can leave. As the guests continue to dance, the images begin to become repetitive.
10. Hire a Wedding Coordinator!!! - Some think this is just an extra expense, but a wedding coordinator is a valuable  asset to your wedding planning process. With their vendor contacts, the coordinator is able to negotiate and get you the best price. They also help you stay on time, avoiding overtime charges from your vendors.