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This economy, and the state of our once-successful industries, has me SO frustrated as a young adult!
I work for what was once a leader in our niche industry....but we, like everyone else, have taken financial hits. We found out today that our "incentive checks" (technically worked into our annual salary) will be significanltly less this year. I had budgeted for this money to go towards our photographer.
Now I have to mull over the idea of paying our photog with a credit card....which I'm SO against! High interest rates, monthly payments....I had always told myself I'd only use it for emergency/necessities. I guess I can chalk this up to being a "recession emergency"....
Has anyone else hit an economic roadblock in their pre-determined wedding budget??
YES!!! Many month ago we booked a downtown venue with the idea of a wedding of 200 guests at about $140/person. We all discussed our options/financial situation at the time and felt comfortable that this would work. Now that the stock market continually declines, my dad's job is "in transition," everyones lost money, I was laid off for a bit and took a salary cut in a new position, and my parents are now very reluctantly contributing to our wedding fund (which I feel so guilty about accepting the $ when they lost so much in investments).
My wedding is 4 months away and I have no vendors booked except the catering/venue- because our entire budget is now basically covering catering. I don't know what to do anymore and I feel like vendors are just not lowering prices to keep up with economy. I am constantly researching photographers, thinking of ideas for non-floral centerpieces or other DIY ideas (which is fun to research).
The worst part is that eventhough everyone was with me/agreed many months ago when I signed the dotted committing to the venue/caterer and the guestlist - they all (especially my mom) seem to blame only me for choosing to have a big fancy expensive wedding. and constantly remind me that we are spending our savings on a wedding when we could be buying a house - it makes the whole situation uncomfortable.
It hasn't effected us much really. The FH actually even got a raise this past December. I am actually getting a bonus this year, though it will suck. I'm still surprised we're getting anything, so I'll probably put that towards the wedding.I'm more concerned about my parents who are paying for the wedding. So far, they both still have their jobs *keeps fingers crossed*
My parents were planning on using my leftover college money to help pay for the wedding, but it was all in stocks, and well, we should have taken the money out once I graduated. There's still some left, but it would have been a much nicer chunk of change. The 'rents do have money though, so we should be OK.
I'm saving all my money for a house, so if something were to happen, I could use some of that, but everyone would rather I save it.
Well it hasn't affected *us* yet. But it is effecting our wedding. My parents have owned a business for over 20 years that is directly hit (a lot of our work is on new homes!). We were counting on them for at least half the wedding costs. Now I feel bad even asking them for money, even though they still really want to help it'll be a lot harder to come up with money :( OH, and I work for the company too. So I'm hoping I'm not out of a job anytime soon. Wishful thinking we'll get through this tough time.
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I am lucky to have not been affected at my job yet, but my father's company got rid of bonuses, stop matching 401Ks and is making all of their employees take a week without pay :( My parents said they are going to pay for the reception but I feel really guilty now, especially since I found out they lost over $100,000 on his 401k.
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in a horrible way- the economy is helping our budget. FI's british- and we had budgetted for total guests of 160. b/c economy many brits won't be coming, so we're down to 120 or 110. which is great from a budget standpoint, but a shame emotionally.
I agree - the overall morale of the country/world is down. I have come to realize that no job is completely safe - having gone through the internet bubble burst in the late nineties, early 2000's I was in constant paranoia of getting laid off.
That feeling has returned, and I feel the stakes are higher this time because I have mortgage payments and we are paying for the wedding ourselves. I joke with my FH that just our luck that we decide to get married in an economic downturn!
I did my wedding budgeting by working backwards, I came up with my number and then broke it down by month on how much we would need to stash away. We also came up with a realistic "cost of living/come to Jesus" moment on how we could live to meet our budget. Less eating out, no sporting events, more budget conscious living decisions.
The way I've approached handling the uncertainty and stress is acknowledging that getting married is the true end game - having the celebration/party can always come later. Getting married comes down to going to city hall - mega cheap.
Currently I'm still moving forward with my original wedding plans, but came up with a "wedding lite" budget - going vendor by vendor what I can cut.
In wedding lite, photobooth, favors, candy bar, shuttle service, OOT hotel bags all get nixed. I am also looking by vendor on what can be downsized - number of hours for photo coverage, smaller flower budget, moving to passed appetizers versus a full meal, limiting my alcohol choices (in wedding lite it's only beer and wine).
Another area to consider is to cut the guest list or put restrictions on the +1s (ie-only allow the +1 if they are married or have been dating for 6 months).
My advice if the wedding/reception will go on no matter prioritize your wedding vendors/purchases. Is photography at the top or is the food more important to you? Each bride/groom will have a different opinion but you want to pull off a wedding that isn't going to cause hard feeling between your FH or your family.
I also looked at my sunk costs (ie-deposits) and am considering how much I would lose if I did postpone the reception.
I would avoid using credit cards to pay for wedding expenses. One way to work the system if you don't have immediate funds to pay for a vendor is to use the credit card, but then open a new credit card that has a promotion 0% interest on transferred balances. You may have to pay a fee based on the total you transfer, but this will be much less than monthly interest you would pay with a high interest rate card - usually the fee is maxed out at $199.00.
Hang in there - I think many of us are feeling the same anxiety!
Well, we were lucky in that we booked (and paid) our vendors before the economy totally tanked... so those things are set.
Instead of getting floral centerpieces, we're going to be doing some big diys. And instead of fancy invites, we're doing ours ourselves. I'm taking this as an opportunity to bond with friends and fiance...
I also anticipate that many of our 150 guests won't be able to make it :(
Also, I am coming out of fellowship in June, and the job market isn't looking that bright for academics right now. I'll have a job, but it probably won't be what I hoped for.
In a guilty sort of way, I'm jealous of those who's guest list has been minimized by the economy...most of our guests are within 1-2 hours, so travel isn't difficult for them. On the contrary, more are attending than we estimated!! (out of 250 invited, almost 200 have RSVPed "Yes." Go figure, our budget is dwindling, and we're above-average in the RSVP responses.)
I wish I had known about the company's 2009 budget cuts this time last year! Would've made wedding planning a lot easier. You just get used to those bonuses, and we were being led to believe that our company hasn't taken much of a hit, financially. Looks like that was just to save face.
It's been good to hear all of your stories! Glad to know I'm not in this topsy-turvy economic boat alone.
So far it hasn't affected our budget, but it has affected my stress level regarding the budget!
I am paying for 100% of the wedding, all of our household expenses, and my fiance's business school tuition. Our company has discontinued the profit share bonus that I was expecting (~20% of our salary), and it's unclear whether we will get our 6-month review bonus in April. Other offices in our company are mandating they take off 2 months out of the next 6, which is effectively a 33% pay cut.
As of the beginning of the wedding planning, I did the budget and determined I could take on all of these expenses on my own, max out my 401K, and still have ~$50K in savings for a down payment on a house by the time I quit my job next April.
Now, I've stopped putting money in my 401k (my company doesn't match contributions) and I'm worried about all of these expenses. I've saved up enough to cover all of my fiance's tuition, and I'm still 90% sure I'll be able to pay for the wedding as we've budgeted, but there probably won't be nearly as much left over.
Being the sole breadwinner is definitely not what it's cracked up to be.
Things are okay now...unless, of course, GM goes down the drain along with hourly retiree pensions. Then, my parents will experience a considerable economic shift. Not sure what we'll do then. Fortunately, a lot of payments have already been made. I'm paying for a few things like my dress and invitations. Basically, I'm fine with cutting out items like favors and an extravagant cake. It's all about getting married and having fun anyway!
The economy really didn't effect our wedding at all. We had budget what we already had saved so we didn't count on incoming money. This was our conservative approach to wedding planning...but it worked.
It seems though that the wedding industry is not coming down in prices while everyones income is crashing (if it even exists). I suppose people still continue to get married so these vendors aren't really concerned about lowering prices, because there will always be someone around to pay them...
I'm like meggles and Pinot Grigio, I'm looking at how the economy will hit our guest list. We've invited 120 and are hoping to get it down to 100-110. My fiance is from Indiana (Rennselaer) and many of his relatives/friends are coming. Two of his best friends are considering leaving their families at home and may come by themselves. We live in San Francisco and are having our wedding Monterey, about 2 hours south. MANY people are going to be coming. I'm really happy that they're able to make it but I am hoping that some of them won't be able to make it!
It is nervewracking to be in the beginning stages of planning and wondering if/when FI or my dad will lose their jobs (or myself for that matter!). Part of me thinks I should push ahead and hope for the best; the other part of me says "Screw it, let's get married at City Hall and honeymoon close to home." I've already started saving money for the wedding and have a slim budget now when times aren't bad job-wise for us, but I know that I won't have extra money for wedding stuff; I need it to pay for school!
Sigh
We are both fortunate in that he just got a big promotion, and I just started a higher paying job than my last one. However, the economy makes it incredibly hard for most of our guests to travel for our wedding. So this means we'll have it back where we grew up instead of where we live now because we really want those important people to share in our day. Pretty much it means we will end up spending more instead of asking our guests to spend the money on travel.
It hasn't affected us, yet...my FI has a recession "proof" job and my job is pretty secure as are my parents. I am a little worried about our guests, though. We picked a venue that is 2-3 hours away from most of our guests and I feel bad that people will most likely have to stay over. Also, it is making me more conscious of the items I am putting on our gift registry.
We were really fortunate to have my parents foot the bill and while they insist that money isn't an issue, I'm still ridden with guilt. I haven't spoken to them about wedding details for about a month and a half now- it just felt wrong and materialistic to talk about it when people were losing jobs and dignity all over the country. My parents will be fine and will most likely be unaffected by the economy, but I guess I'm trying to show them that I understand that there are much more important things than table linens and whether or not we should have a third entree choice. I think that by showing them that, they understand that I realize what a gift they've given us and how much I appreciate it.
But yeah...lots of guilt. LOTS of it. it kind of makes you re-evaluate what's REALLY the most important part of a wedding.
That said...both of our sets of parents would K-I-L-L us if we eloped. oh well.
money sucks.
I am so sorry to all of the brides that are being affected by the economy. Just know you are not alone. There is a good chance that I will now be eloping. There are too many uncertainties and my fiance and I would rather buy a home than have a huge wedding. I guess we'll see what happens... I wish you all the best of luck.
Luckily FI and I have secure jobs (*knock on wood*) but my mom and stepfather are concerned about his job. They are contributing a significant chunk to the wedding -- and my mom assures me that the number they gave me was based on knowing my stepdad might not have a job. However, FI and I don't really feel comfortable having them contribute the original amount if my stepdad is out of work. It's placing a lot more stress on us to save and scrimp so that we can pull things out if one of my parents is out of work. (I feel we're lucky though and know I need to count my blessings.)
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My parents own boutiques in Florida which are primarily tourist driven so they have taken a hit because it is supposed to be high season and its really dead. The Europeans aren't even spending as much as before when they come. The effect is that I have tried to restrain myself on wedding purchases I really don't need since my parents are paying for the wedding- we may do without favors, and a sit down dinner reception with elevator music instead of a DJ.
Also, I'm afraid some of our guests wont be able to make it because of the recession.
I have to agree with most .. it will hit us in our guest list.. we have revisted our list and are planning on sending out invites next week so the time has com eto decide what to do. Its hard bc like most we are paying 100%. No matter what girls, our day will be perfect and the memories will last a lifetime.. 
@ Miss Pinot Grigio: Yikes! I know that it's terrible to invite people you don't expect to come, but we are inviting 240 and hoping for 160, because of people not traveling in the economy (and FMIL is hosting a reception in FH's hometown, so those friends/family will likely not travel) I don't know what we'll do if too many people RSVP yes....our venue is going to be full even with 160!
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Budget? What budget? No it’s not that money is no object, it’s that we have none! We’ve been putting off setting a date saying, “let’s just wait until we have money saved.” Things are finally good for us but were still barely past paycheck-to-paycheck, and with the recession, spending any hard-earned savings on a wedding seems counter to sound financial planning. But were sick of waiting! So our plan? One thing stays constant, come rain, or snow, or stock market crash my dad throws a killer BBQ at the end of the summer and that man can cook for an army. So this year the BBQ has a theme and a slightly larger guest list! That paired with excited helpful friends and some good old fashioned DIY we'll get this barn raised in no time
@Sansserif - How fun!! I was thinking that as well... YOU GO GIRL.. love the idea and what better way to celebrate your new marriage with all the family and friends you can fit in the backyard..
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@SansSerif: Looking back, I wish I had opted for something a LOT more scaled back like you. With 3 girls in our family, my parents always joked we would have to have cookouts for receptions. Nowadays, it actually sounds like the most ideal idea during these tough times!
Sounds like a blast!! Bset of luck in planning
Thanks!
There's three girls in my family too, i'm 25. my soon to be 20 year old sister is engaged but we all just know she is goign to elope for the health benifits, and the youngest... well she's 7 so theres no guessing with her yet... So currently i'm the familys only hope for a wedding! The FI and I are fine but the rest of my family was hit hard by the recession, so if theres one thing we all need right now its a reason to celebrate.
Now i just have to figure out how to convince grandmom that the house just can't hold 100 people no matter which way she moves the furnature...
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<font size="3"><font face="Calibri">My FI is paying for the wedding completely. We had the discussion last night about possibly canceling and keeping the $60,000 as our safety net. There is a part of me that completely aggress and feels sick about spending that much money on one day. The other part of me fears this is something I’ve always wanted and when the economy and the fear subsides (which it always does) I’m going to resent the fact that we never had a wedding. </font></font><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">I know most of you think we’ll just scale back.. I’m going to look at the numbers closely, but feel the only amount we can really cut back is $5,000. </font></font><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Living in NYC my real frustration is out of touch vendors… wedding bands for $7,000, $5,000 photographer, $2,000 make up and hair. When is enough enough? I haven’t booked any of these people but my God! Do any of you bees feel the same way? Thoughts? </font></font>
The economy is affecting my budget more and more everyday. I graduated fresh out of college this past May with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management. I had been engaged since April, and I was hoping to plan the wedding for summer 2009. 10 months later, and I'm still looking for full time employment. I have no other choice but to wait another year and hope to find a job soon. If the economy continues to get worse, then I don't know how I can keep going. It's rough out there.
I really appreciate this post! The economy is definitely affecting our budget/wedding but actually both negatively and positively. Negatively because my parents were super generous to buy me stock to go towards my wedding fund. Which in the end was a bad decision because now the value is less then 1/3 what is was as recently as August!! Ugh! But on a good note our photographer gave us a 20% discount because of the economy. Try bargaining with any vendors you havent already booked!!
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I know I'm a little late on the discussion, but I was looking for a topic like this. Like some of you, I'm in the very beginning stages of planning. My big task this month is booking the venue. I just found out that my dad may be pre-emptively asking his boss to drop down to part time so that he avoids being laid off all together.
I had wanted a small wedding to begin with - but my mom and fiance's family really wanted a big shebang where the whole family could come together. I love people and have lots of friends, so I was persuaded. Now, I think that we should consider scaling way back, if not putting off the planning to see what happens for a little bit. The only purchase we've made has been my dress, so we could still change the entire vision of the wedding.
I'd like to have an open conversation with my parents about it, without making them feel badly. If anything, scaling back is more in line with what I want. Hopefully I'll be able to communicate my appreciation for their willingness to provide for the wedding, but make it clear that I don't expect the full (or any) amount of support given the new situation.
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I'm coming in late to this post as well (and I'm from Norfolk, too!) but we had to cut the kids out of our wedding planning. We'll likely have some child care providers at my FMIL's house, with pizza and video games during the wedding. We just couldn't afford to pay for 50+ kids when we're paying almost everything ourselves. In addition, at this point, we aren't inviting coworkers. We've just totally had to trim everything in hopes that people will understand.
We've planned a small, budget-friendly wedding from the beginning with lots of DIY help from from friends and family. Networking has helped-found a photographer about half the price we had been looking at thanks to my hairstylist. DJ-great price, found through family-he was the DJ at my FI's cousins wedding in December so we know he's good. Family is insistant on doing the food so we're letting them. The thing is, even if the economy wasn't in the state its in, we would still be having the same wedding. We're not doing anything different. We just can't justify a big, lavish shindig. It's not us and to us, it's a waste (no offense if that's your thing, it's just not ours). We plan on starting a family right away and don't want any unecessary debt.
We got hit pretty hard when my FH's parents backed out of their financial promises three weeks out!!! We had come in RIGHT at budget if everyone had kicked in their expected amounts. We were planning to cover their major shortfall of a contribution and just put it all on credit cards. My mom felt so bad about this she upped the amount she is contributing to cover over half of their share. I was very disappointed, but was not surprised when it happened. They wanted a huge wedding with all of their friend's invited and now aren't even helping with the bill. I am very disappointed in them and disheartened that this is how they have chosen to begin their relationship with their new DIL and my mom.
We were doing pretty well... keeping things modest but not feeling too restricted.
Until FI got laid off on Monday :-(
Hopefully he'll find something soon. We're too far along to postpone, we'd lose more than it's worth in down payments. If he doesn't find something we'll either have to borrow from our parents or go into debt, which we really didn't want to do. Sigh.
Keep your fingers crossed that he finds something!! (And if anyone in the DC area is hiring a software developer, let me know!)
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It's a huge issue for with job losses hitting so close to home, how could it not. My business has completely eroded as it is design/construction related. We have planned our Destination Wedding 9 months ago, and are keeping many things the same... we need to have something to look forward to, and our vacation travel for the year is clearly not going to happen. Additionally, many guests we had counted on are not coming, and several who planned on longer, will just come for the weekend, which is fine. My choices have been always with budget in mind...(East coast guest/travel proximity etc.) We are not having attendants etc.. photography will be by friends/relatives etc. We will skip the dj/private reception and go with the flow participating in the resorts regular entertainment and dining options. Regardless, we are looking forward to begining our life together...
I usually pay off my credit cards every month, but with planning a wedding on a short timeframe, I didn't have as much to save as I would have liked. I have been planning a small, simple wedding but that doesn't mean it's free! So I was considering paying half my credit cards and carrying over the balance of some of my wedding expenses. Then I got a big surprise.
I have one credit card I knew to use for this situation because my APR was 7.5%. I just got a letter that it's been raised to 17%!! Now I feel like it's best to pay it off in full to avoid the interest fees, or else only carry over the tiniest amount if I absolutely can't make the payment.
So bees, check your interest rates! They may have recently changed!!
I know that the most important part of our wedding will be us getting married and I am definately budget concious. I am in love with a place that is $85 pp.. I can't get my mind off of it but i have to guarantee 100 people. I haven't found many other places that are less. So are stuck with the decision.. what kind of wedding can we have for less? I encountered one vendor, an Inn, that was not accomodating at all. I figured if we were gonna spend that kind of money then we'd at least support or local ecomony. They were not accomodating at all!!!!!
So I know this is against all advice that the talking heads would give me, but I am continuing full force with my budget as I had previously planned. I am actually a little over budget. I feel very strongly about this because:
1) The economy will balance itself out.
2) You can't take it with you when you go.
3) I never want to look back on our wedding day and regret that we didn't do it up right.
While people with more common sense than I have will cut back their budget, I've decided to turn off the tv and live my life because you only get this chance once!
The economy hasn't affected our budget because we set a very low budget to begin with. Both me and FI agree that the wedding is just one day, and while we have a few things we're willing to shell out more for, ultimately, we'd rather save the money for trips, saving for a house, little extravagances for each other (like an extra Wii game or Netflix subscription).
However, it definitely has affected our guest list, but not on our end. Because he and his family live in Florida and mine is scattered all over the country, much of my family won't be able to make it to the wedding due to airfare, hotel costs, renting a car, etc...it makes me sad if I think about it for too long. We're going to offer to help as much as we can, but it'll be rough.
Like most brides with weddings in the next few months, we booked our venue and most of our vendors when times were better financially. So now as the event draws closer, we're trying cutting extra, "unnecessary" costs where we can.
My company also has been undergoing staff lay-offs. I am blessed to still have my job, but since my four-person department has been cut in half, my stress level at work has never been higher! It's work AND wedding crunch-time, which isn't good for this stressed-out bride's well-being!
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