Neither R nor I ever wanted an extravagant day. While I completely appreciate those weddings, and love attending them, we knew that it was most important for us to have our wedding, and have it paid off on the day it occured.
We didn’t want to incur or carry any debt from the wedding, just as we didn’t carry any debt for my gorgeous engagement ring (which is a testament to the awesome saving-skills of my husband).
Well — the wedding is over, and we can proudly say that we do not owe a dime – to a single vendor or a credit card or anyone. This wedding is PAID FOR!
Here are the percentages of what we spent:
* misc (cake stands, decor, photobooth, soft drinks, cheese and crackers to start reception, beer glasses, etc) 5%
ours was a rare occasion in which our venue was very inexpensive, and we were able to provide our own alcohol, which saved us a ton ($110 versus $500 for the same amount of beer? wine for 1/8 the cost of what we’d be charged elsewhere, excellent).
we did lose some money because I purchased a Melissa Sweet dress, and was unable to wear it because of it’s fitted mermaid-skirted styling (and my pregnancy) — but I was able to recoup the majority of that cost when I resold it to a lucky bride in the area.
I’m not saying that these percentages are a guideline for brides, everyone has a different priority — some spend more on their caterer, others focus on a killer venue, others opt for a great photographer, or spend a bundle on flowers, because that’s the most important thing to them.
This is simply the way that our costs broke down.
Aug 14, 2009 @ 10:11:32
Wow, awesomeness on the 20% venue/catering cost. Ours will be like 70%. I really wish we found a way to provide alcohol. That cost was a small wedding. We had a blast though.