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We were about $2500 over budget, but then we cut alcohol for non-monetary reasons, and our wedding got a ton cheaper :). We're probably a hair over our budget now. I do have to say, though, that my parents are paying for it and Mom's been kind of awesome about splurging on little details. We aren't really trying too hard to stay right on target with the budget. 
We exceeded our budget by a lot but I think when we started planning we had no clue how much things costs. Like for example we budgeted a photographer at 2k and in our area we got rates from 15 photographers and not a single started under $3,500 (we had a much longer day so we needed more hours). But my parents were helping us pay so we discussed everything before signing each individual contract.
We were actually $1000 under budget! woo hoo!
When we did our intial budget my husband was adamant about "over-budgeting" just in case. So being a grand less made him happy :)
We went over budget by 10%. Although when we established the budget, we agreed that it was a suggested guideline and that we would not be too upset to go a little over.
We have another 4 1/2 months to go and we're over. We budgeted really well for our vendors, but we're at the point now where things we convinced ourselves we didn't need originally (chivari chairs, a videographer yadda yadda) now we really want. My parents are paying for about 80% of the wedding, so I'm not worried. We can afford the overages, but I'm really shocked that I'm having a wedding that's ending up being so expensive. I never thought I'd be one of those brides that cared about how the chairs look with the walls. Bride brain really takes over. I blame the hive. :)
We were over by about 2-3K I think? And I know exactly why!
The last minute videographer and limo add that we did NOT plan on having.
But I have to say in retrospect I'm glad we did it.
We've included in our budget things like tips, taxes, and every other expense we can think of. We also budgeted in a few extra thousand dollars as cushion for those last minute, unexpected expenses.
I can't imagine after all of that we will STILL go over, but hopefully not!
I'm over budgeting like crazy to try and avoid this happening. I don't mind spending money on things I want, but I'd rather be prepared to spend it than surprised with it a day or two before the wedding. I can't imagine anything less fun than being worried about money right before your wedding. I mean I even have airport parking for the honeymoon budgeted into our spreadsheet of costs because I want NO surprises.
What budget?! lol I didn't really set one, but just bought and paid for things as they came up, in addition to the set amount we had to give each daughter. I think I'd be shocked if I actually sat down and figured them both out. It was easier to decide if certain things were worth it or not, and go from there.
We didn’t go over at the end. I was worried because we were paying for our bar by consumption rather than per head, but even then the bar tab ended up being almost exactly what our venue estimated it would be.
Stuff like gratuity/taxes you can pinpoint upfront. If you don’t know if your service providers charge tax and/or gratuity, ask now!
I didn’t end up paying for a lot of last minute things either, because we generally were not concerned with having a lot of little “detail” things included in the wedding.
I'll be about $1000 over my budget.. Mainly because of the reception though but it'll be worth it because the place we chose I absolutely love!
We went over by 1.6k but a LOT of that has to do with the fact that the guest list just about tripled from what we were originally planning and because of that we needed to rent a reception venue instead of our plans of having the reception in our backyard. lol
We were pretty much okay with it though, because we knew planning a $5k wedding was going to be hard, and we did have the money to go over.
I had a sum in mind that seemed reasonable and planned to work around that, doing some DIY, keeping the wedding small, cutting out unnessecary things. Enter fiance. He agreed to the budget, but wasn't so willing to make it work. Why, of course we'll have a big wedding party! What do you mean you don't want to have ceremony programs? Well, all MY distant relatives and coworkers have to be invited! And so the budget grew. It almost double from what I wanted it to be.
I'll admit, we originally wanted to stay at 25k, right now we're close to 50K, double our original budget. I'm not sure where we got the 25k figure from, but it seemed like a good number. However, once we started planning in the Bristol/Newport area and vendors, the number skyrocketed. FI and I are paying for it ourselves and don't have to dip into savings or put it on credit, if we did, we definitely would cut back. I've mentioned it before...I do cringe a little every time I type that figure out.
We're going way over budget, but this is in part because both FI's mom and my dad offered us money towards wedding stuff more recently, and originally it was just going to be my mom paying for the majority of the wedding.
Our current projected budget is 5 times the amount of what we thought our original budget was going to be. At first, I didn't realize how expensive everything was/is going to be, but that being said, it is looking like we will be about $1,000 or so under our current budget, so that is a good thing :-)
For us we are looking at going about 3000 over our original budget. Reason behind that? We both fell in love with rings that were a little (okay.. more like a lot) more than what we should have paid (ex. should have bought a 200 band.. ended up being 500 with insurance for both my engagement and my band.. and then his ended up being 800 almost 900 for his with insurance). Plus when we moved the date we lost almost 750-800 in deposits we couldn't get back or purchases we didn't end up using/needing with our new venue. I don't regret it at all though, because we love our new venue and it is a lot better than what we orginally had planned. Not to mention my best friend is getting married on our old date :). So that is almost 2000 just there alone. Add last minute things like flower baskets, table runners and gifts for everyone we are looking at probably adding another almost 1000. We didn't even plan a limo in. I am not sure it going to work in our budget, but MOH thinks we really should (we had planned just to drive our Colbalt instead, but she thinks it would be weird).. So we will see.
Honestly in the last month or so I've kind of let go of my budget. I just stopped looking. I know that we went over in a few areas with last minute purchases (all under 100.. but they add up). But not by a LOT. I'd guess probably 1000ish? Luckily I know we're going under in some areas too (we are having 30 less ppl come than i budgeted and my FILs just offered to pick up our rehearsal dinner). So that is part of the reason I just let go.
I already exceeded my origional budget. So to make myself feel like we are saving money in the end I raised it to $15,000.... we BETTER not touch that amount!!!!
@smyley: haha, i thought i was the only one who going about it this way. although after i knew what a lot of things were costing, i added it all up and have been keeping track of everything i spend and i have estimate of what i still have to spend. So from there i decided on a "budget" so i knew how much it was costing! what i want to know is after the wedding, when i see how much i get in monetary gifts plus sell my dress and whatever else i can sell - what is the net amount i spent on the wedding. i am hoping it will be $10 000, since thats what i decided was a reasonable budget, and right now i am at $13 000. although i think i have thought of EVERYTHING and overbudgeted the rest in some areas, so i am hoping it stays at or even goes slightly under 13 000.
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My fiance and I set a budget at the beginning of our planning that is split between my parents and the 2 of us. I have done an ok job of not blowing through the $$, but I'm assuming at the end we're going to be slightly over for various reason:
open bar consumption is more than we think
gratuity/taxes
small little last minute things
All the bigger stuff is pretty much fitting into budget, but I don't have much left over for unexpected expenses. I'm nervous that stuff will add up. It's not that we can't afford it, it's that my fiance (out of principle) refuses to spend more than we already are.
So my question is: Did you go over budget at the end and was it by a lot? Just curious! thanks!