Wedding planning and budgetting (married NT'ers welcome)

Seymore congrats man!...and i think you have plenty of time and aré way ahead of schedule which is a good thing!..here a few sites that have helped me...
www.etsy.com (very original hand made crafts)
www.BcakeNY.com (cake spot in Brooklyn)
www.photography-on-the.net (photography site, alot of pros and aspiring photogs frequent the forum, you can make an account, make a thread requesting a photog in ur area and many will reply...prices vary but I'm sure you'll find someone that will suit you)
www.craigslist.com
www.theknot.com (gay but useful...lol)
 
Originally Posted by TheEmperor45

Originally Posted by ksteezy

Originally Posted by superblyTRIFE

We planned our wedding in 3 weeks.  After planning and trying to budget for a wedding for about a year, we just said eff it and went for it.  We realized that if we waited until everything was perfect, including our money, we would NEVER get married.

I think we spent at the most $800-900 on everything--the venue, cake, tux, dress, gear for the kids, gifts for guests and professional photographer.  We didn't have a legit reception because we couldn't afford it and it wasn't like our wedding was huge--we had 25 guests lol.  Instead we just met up with everyone for dinner at a nice restaurant and had a great time without paying for all that extra nonsense. 
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As far as planning goes, I had a good time "working" with my wife.  In reality I didn't plan a damn thing--I just was there when she picked stuff out and nodded yes when I knew she really liked something. 
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   I'd say let her handle the intricate details and you just work on the major things like venue and photographer.  And try to find people that will work with your budget--you'd be surprised at how many people will bargain with you when you bring your budget to them.  Our photographer was dumb cool and gave us a DVD of over 200 official wedding photos for about $200, which is pretty unheard of for wedding photos.  So my advice is to just ask if you want to get a deal--all they can do is say no. 
holy %+$# bro, 200$ for photography!?...woow...
Dude had to be really new and did not have his business right... a dvd and 200+ pics would alomost be worth 4k - 20k plus(20 bucks a pic to 100 bucks a pic and a 100 for the disc.) You get $200 (lower side of things) just for sitting in.

No, actually he is pretty established.  The guy works out of his home and has a very professional setup.  He was just trying to lock down the position of being the venue's photographer, as in he wanted to be the photographer that guests HAD to use when they purchased their wedding package.  The place we got married is used only for weddings and during the good weather months it stays booked up.  We got married in November when it was still decent weather so maybe he was low on business at the time.  Either way, our pictures made it on the venue's wall of fame so whatever. 
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Personally, I've never understood going all out for your wedding.  It's only one day out of your life and down the road, the cake, table setup, favors, food won't even matter.  You won't even remember all that stuff.  Now if someone other than myself or my wife paid for the wedding, then yeah, maybe we would've gone crazy. 
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  But it makes no sense to me to go broke or get a loan to get married, which a lot of people do.  At the end of the day, you're still married whether you spend $1000 or $30,000, and that's what matters the most.  Truth be told, all the little details that we freaked out about didn't even matter when it was all said and done.  That said, I would never want to get married at the courthouse--marriage is a special thing so I definitely feel like it requires at least a small ceremony not in a setting like the courthouse.  But I guess everyone is different so there really is no wrong way to do it.  Like I said, at the end of it you're married and that's what truly matters. 
 
You will remember it forever if your photographer does his thing....thats why he/she is probably one of the most important parts if the Wedding....I still look at my mothers wedding album, it's the only recollection of my father I have since he was killed when I was 2.
 
^ Agreed. If anything, the most important thing to splurge on is the photographer, IMO. Like I was saying the memories of all the little details will most likely seem trivial over time, but the pics are worth a million words, as corny as that sounds.
 
Originally Posted by ksteezy

Seymore congrats man!...and i think you have plenty of time and aré way ahead of schedule which is a good thing!..here a few sites that have helped me...
www.etsy.com (very original hand made crafts)
www.BcakeNY.com (cake spot in Brooklyn)
www.photography-on-the.net (photography site, alot of pros and aspiring photogs frequent the forum, you can make an account, make a thread requesting a photog in ur area and many will reply...prices vary but I'm sure you'll find someone that will suit you)
www.craigslist.com
www.theknot.com (gay but useful...lol)

Much appreciated good fella... same to you!


I'ma look into the crafts

everything else is pretty much on par:
Locked in a photographer for 6hrs plus a free engagement shoot and book for $850 on a special promotion, package is usually $1,300
Cake is being made by one of her child hood friends who does that for a living, she's extremely talented, we just need to lock her into contract before her demand increases and the price follows
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She's on the knot, constantly bringing things to my attention they are good for keeping a schedule and track of all of your plans.
Everythings pretty lined up, just have to pay for it now... I'm in the same boat as you our budget ended up jumping like 5k even though its small, crazy
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It's crazy though, I think thru planning something like this with your mate is in a way putting your live for this person and fr your relationship thru a test, at first I really didn't care much for it, but once I saw her excitement and how we've been workin to get this done money seems minimal...my budget jumped but I don't care....I'm practically working 70hrs a week and with a smile on my face because i know ever extra hour will make our special day better...its an incredible feeling to be honest...you guys should post some pics!..lol
 
Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE

Originally Posted by ksteezy

Seymore congrats man!...and i think you have plenty of time and aré way ahead of schedule which is a good thing!..here a few sites that have helped me...
www.etsy.com (very original hand made crafts)
www.BcakeNY.com (cake spot in Brooklyn)
www.photography-on-the.net (photography site, alot of pros and aspiring photogs frequent the forum, you can make an account, make a thread requesting a photog in ur area and many will reply...prices vary but I'm sure you'll find someone that will suit you)
www.craigslist.com
www.theknot.com (gay but useful...lol)

Much appreciated good fella... same to you!


everything else is pretty much on par:
Locked in a photographer for 6hrs plus a free engagement shoot and book for $850 on a special promotion, package is usually $1,300
eek.gif
damn...we know that photography is like the most important expense and went with a company who is #1 like every year with the knot and all of these other local magazines....we love their style and it fits us perfectly...but EVEN on special we are at like $6500 (photo + video)

you got a come up-
 
Originally Posted by Kingtre

Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE

Originally Posted by ksteezy

Seymore congrats man!...and i think you have plenty of time and aré way ahead of schedule which is a good thing!..here a few sites that have helped me...
www.etsy.com (very original hand made crafts)
www.BcakeNY.com (cake spot in Brooklyn)
www.photography-on-the.net (photography site, alot of pros and aspiring photogs frequent the forum, you can make an account, make a thread requesting a photog in ur area and many will reply...prices vary but I'm sure you'll find someone that will suit you)
www.craigslist.com
www.theknot.com (gay but useful...lol)

Much appreciated good fella... same to you!


everything else is pretty much on par:
Locked in a photographer for 6hrs plus a free engagement shoot and book for $850 on a special promotion, package is usually $1,300
eek.gif
damn...we know that photography is like the most important expense and went with a company who is #1 like every year with the knot and all of these other local magazines....we love their style and it fits us perfectly...but EVEN on special we are at like $6500 (photo + video)

you got a come up-
I didn't know so many of you were getting married. Why don't people talk about this stuff more?
 
Originally Posted by RKO2004

Originally Posted by Kingtre

Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE

Originally Posted by ksteezy

Seymore congrats man!...and i think you have plenty of time and aré way ahead of schedule which is a good thing!..here a few sites that have helped me...
www.etsy.com (very original hand made crafts)
www.BcakeNY.com (cake spot in Brooklyn)
www.photography-on-the.net (photography site, alot of pros and aspiring photogs frequent the forum, you can make an account, make a thread requesting a photog in ur area and many will reply...prices vary but I'm sure you'll find someone that will suit you)
www.craigslist.com
www.theknot.com (gay but useful...lol)

Much appreciated good fella... same to you!


everything else is pretty much on par:
Locked in a photographer for 6hrs plus a free engagement shoot and book for $850 on a special promotion, package is usually $1,300
eek.gif
damn...we know that photography is like the most important expense and went with a company who is #1 like every year with the knot and all of these other local magazines....we love their style and it fits us perfectly...but EVEN on special we are at like $6500 (photo + video)

you got a come up-
I didn't know so many of you were getting married. Why don't people talk about this stuff more?
laugh.gif
cause none of the pimps and playas on NT wanna hear about the few who are "simping" on expensive cakes and halls and tricking on dresses photographers right?
 
first off... CONGRATULATIONS.

I just got married a little over a month ago so I know what you're going through man (well kinda not really). I took more of the "traditional" approach to the planning, ie. let the wife handle it hahaha. I just promised my girl 3 things.

1. I'll be on time
2. I'll be sober
3. I'll have a tux on

From one dude to another, let me tell you. I had NO idea what a wedding would cost. By no means was mine super extravagant but it ended up costing a lot more than I initially expected. After looking at over 10 different venues, we got lucky and found a place we absolutely loved that was having a discount promotion where it was almost 50% off their normal price. Even with the discount, it ended up costing right around $50K all in (for 250 guests, not including honeymoon). Me and my girl are leaving for our honeymoon in 2 weeks, and thats setting me back another $10K. Thank goodness I'm Asian and Asian folks typically give cash money for wedding gifts.

As long as you can afford it, I wouldn't stress too much about the money though. Money comes and goes, but this should and will be the best day of your life.

Couple of tips from my own experience.

Dont go cheap on the photographer. We found what we thought was a GREAT deal in getting full day photos + 2 albums for $2,500 (like you mentioned, most photogs we looked at were in the $4-15K range). The pictures came out pretty good, but there were some shots that she missed that we wished she had taken.

One of my "non-negotiables" was an open bar. I guess it depends on how your friends and family like to do it. Although my wifes side is pretty conservative and not really drinkers, my side more than made up for it. Had I not gotten such a great deal on the venue/caterer I probably would have opted to go for a "pay as you go" as opposed to full open. That way you arent paying for the non-drinkers. My buddy whos getting married next month is doing it that way, and set a budget of $1,500 for the booze, and then can scale up as the night goes on, or shut it down when the limit hits.

One thing I dislike about weddings is stupid party favors. Whenever I go to weddings I end up trashing the stupid trinket that people hand out as favors. My wife felt the same way so we decided to go a different route. Instead of spending money on these little trinkets, we decided instead to bring in this vendor that made freshly fried gourmet mini donuts.

All in all it seems like you got a good mindset on this, and I'm sure it will work out the way you want.
 
Originally Posted by Dirtylicious

Originally Posted by ksteezy

what do you guys think of these favors?
http://www.personalcreati...-8E159-2-312-31208.html#
Those aren't bad.
At least they're useful/food.

I'm like Nawth....I hate trinkets... You end up keeping it for a while b/c you don't want to just toss it out of respect...then 6 months later you realize it's been collecting dust after falling underneath your office sofa b/c you forgot all about it.
Yall right, that's why our favors are gon be somethin useful for the most part. My fiance and I are makin our own gel candles since it's cheaper than purchasin them out right. They even got scents so when the ppl use em, they have some smell to em.

- cut down that guest list. We had both our families submit guest lists to us. Between the two of us our parents wanted to invite 600 people..not including our friends! We established a rule, if you haven't spoken to them in a year...they ain't comin'...had 250 guests at our wedding. BUT we paid for our wedding ourselves, if somebody besides you two are coming off some loot for this they are going to have a say in who comes.
Damn 250?!!!?? that's a lot in my eyes. We sendin out 100 invitations and don't expect everybody to show up. Pay for 85ppl for the reception which is still a lot of money not expectin the full 100 to show up. All I know is, after all this money we spendin, we better either get some nice gifts or a decent amount of money or gift cards
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I'm surprised this thread made it this far w/o a bunch of "R.I.P." to deter it
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Originally Posted by Kingtre

Originally Posted by RKO2004

Originally Posted by Kingtre

Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE

Originally Posted by ksteezy

Seymore congrats man!...and i think you have plenty of time and aré way ahead of schedule which is a good thing!..here a few sites that have helped me...
www.etsy.com (very original hand made crafts)
www.BcakeNY.com (cake spot in Brooklyn)
www.photography-on-the.net (photography site, alot of pros and aspiring photogs frequent the forum, you can make an account, make a thread requesting a photog in ur area and many will reply...prices vary but I'm sure you'll find someone that will suit you)
www.craigslist.com
www.theknot.com (gay but useful...lol)

Much appreciated good fella... same to you!


everything else is pretty much on par:
Locked in a photographer for 6hrs plus a free engagement shoot and book for $850 on a special promotion, package is usually $1,300
eek.gif
damn...we know that photography is like the most important expense and went with a company who is #1 like every year with the knot and all of these other local magazines....we love their style and it fits us perfectly...but EVEN on special we are at like $6500 (photo + video)

you got a come up-
I didn't know so many of you were getting married. Why don't people talk about this stuff more?
laugh.gif
cause none of the pimps and playas on NT wanna hear about the few who are "simping" on expensive cakes and halls and tricking on dresses photographers right?
eek.gif
WAIT A MINUTE NOW.
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You misunderstood me yesterday.

Man that was for OCHO. I LOVE hearing about this stuff. I just wasn't down for what Chad pulled. When dudes are trying to find them a wife, great, make her feel like a Queen. But Chad,
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I'm just going to say, I don't think He is looking for that.

Believe me, if dude would have kept it simple, got her some flowers and etc. Then I would have defended him. But dude just put a used car on her finger
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.

I have a gf who I plan to marry one day so I'll have to shell out money too like you all.
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Getting married in October. Budgeting is essential. My sister is an event planner and she is doing some negotiations for us. She stated that whenever there is a price given for a wedding it is higher than normal. So whatever you do NEGOTIATE! Pic of me and the wifey.
 
Originally Posted by Dathbgboy

Damn 250?!!!?? that's a lot in my eyes. We sendin out 100 invitations and don't expect everybody to show up. Pay for 85ppl for the reception which is still a lot of money not expectin the full 100 to show up. All I know is, after all this money we spendin, we better either get some nice gifts or a decent amount of money or gift cards
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I'm surprised this thread made it this far w/o a bunch of "R.I.P." to deter it
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hahahaha when me and the wife did our registry, I had a set strategy in place.  As tempting as it is to go bucwild with that scanner gun, I tried to put the least amount of items as I possibly could in an attempt to pursuade people to just give that cash money.

  
 
Haha...checking this from my phone...I'll post some replies when I get home...glad to see the thread a sucess!...

Simpin ain't easy!
 
Originally Posted by Kingtre

Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE

Originally Posted by ksteezy

Seymore congrats man!...and i think you have plenty of time and aré way ahead of schedule which is a good thing!..here a few sites that have helped me...
www.etsy.com (very original hand made crafts)
www.BcakeNY.com (cake spot in Brooklyn)
www.photography-on-the.net (photography site, alot of pros and aspiring photogs frequent the forum, you can make an account, make a thread requesting a photog in ur area and many will reply...prices vary but I'm sure you'll find someone that will suit you)
www.craigslist.com
www.theknot.com (gay but useful...lol)

Much appreciated good fella... same to you!


everything else is pretty much on par:
Locked in a photographer for 6hrs plus a free engagement shoot and book for $850 on a special promotion, package is usually $1,300
eek.gif
damn...we know that photography is like the most important expense and went with a company who is #1 like every year with the knot and all of these other local magazines....we love their style and it fits us perfectly...but EVEN on special we are at like $6500 (photo + video)

you got a come up-



Yea Tre we definitely caught a look, and his photo book of previous weddings was decent as hell, had my lady tearing up looking at them and whatnot
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  So yea I'm definitely satisfied with that rate, especially since every other photograper we saw was 2,500 and up
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