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Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! As I will soon be starting the process, I really appreciate these insights. Thanks again and congratulations!
That's so incredibly helpful to know! I might spring for a videographer now :)
Thank you for posting this - it helps a lot! I was on the fence about getting my make-up professionally done, and after reading your experience I most likely won't. I love doing my own make-up, anyway.
My thoughts on the same topic:
We did have champagne and enjoyed it, though we had too much.
We didn't have a candy buffet and didn't do pro makeup, but it worked fine without it.
Bridesmaids were definitely better off getting hair done professionally.
We are SO glad we have video - we had a student and haven't seen it yet, but are hoping for the best.
We got extra flowers for the aisle and were SO glad - it really added something. We were outside so didn't need a ton of extra decorations, but we did have blue napkins and periwinkle overlays and the extra color made a huge difference. We also got big white umbrellas for the ceremony - they added shade and looked great.
We hired a live band - absolutely wonderful and totally worth it.
Thanks so much for sharing. Currently in an arguement with mom about chair covers. We think they complete the look - she thinks they're austintatious (yea, have no idea how to spell that one). We'll pay for it ourselves if she won't.
@EmEv: I completely agree about wishing you had hired someone to clean the house. Ours is still a disaster.
I'm so glad we spent money on our photographer! She already has our pictures back to us and they're awesome! She made us a guestbook that was ridiculously amazing as well. However, I'm glad we didn't spend a ton of money on an album because I'm finding out that you can create beautiful ones online for a fraction of the price!
I'm also glad we spent money on our honeymoon. SO worth it...without a doubt! The best money we spent.
I loved my hair and makeup so I'm glad we spent money on that to get it professionally done.
I'm also glad we spent the money on our minister...everyone told us how personalized the ceremony was and it was one of my favorite parts of the day!
I'm glad we didn't spend a ton of money on: centerpieces and flowers. They looked beautiful but no one really paid much attention.
i completely agree with the cleaning the house thing as well - it was like a tornado hit the apt. and it doesnt help that we have nowhere to store all the presents we got.
things i wish i didnt spend as much on for the wedding?
professional makeup - not much differerent from what i did daily, and didnt last all day. looked good yes, but could have saved the $80.
transportation - being that the driver only made half of his stops and "forgot" to transport the wedding party to the reception (thats a story that will be told later) NOT money well spent.
things i am glad i spent $$ to do:
photographer - just got my pics back and they look great!
videographer - cant wait to see what he comes up with after what i saw during the wedding
DJ - BEST DJ EVER - when our ride didnt get us to go to the reception he SAVED THE EVENT. best $$ ever spent.
cake - awesome looking and yummy!
DRESS - i have to admit i looked and felt great ALL DAY.
stuff i WISH i had the $$ to pay for:
better transportation
more uplighting
boudior session
a few more days on vacation! lol
This post is very helpful. I'm glad to hear that having make-up done isn't for everyone. I just recently had my trial and I don't feel like it's that different from what I did on my own for my e-pics. I think I'll use the money elsewhere. :)
My top 3 "must haves" for a wedding are:
1) Awesome DJ
2) Awesome Photographer
3) Videographer (we had a friend of my parents and although it was his first or second wedding, we got 6 discs that had EVERYTHING on there and I've watched them about 4 times in the past year and see something new everytime. I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend a videographer.)
Waste of money:
1) For my family and friends - decorations, centerpieces, etc. They all loved the 'rustic' feel but everyone loved the food, drinks, and dancing. So everything else was just an extra.
2) Professional make-up: Some of my bridesmaids had it done, and they looked like high class call girls. I had my cousin do my make up (she always does an amazing job) and I got compliments all day and night. However, I DO recommend doing a touch up between wedding and reception.
P.S. Don't forget to feed your wedding party before the wedding. We had subs, soda/water, chips, and desert and people were extremely happy with it. You don't really realize how hungry you are until you see the food and realize that you haven't eaten anything all day. I was in a wedding where nothing was provided - and I about fainted standing up at the front for the 1.5 hour ceremony...standing the ENTIRE time on the hard cement floor in the middle of July.
I'm glad we spent the $ on:
-Photographer!! He was amazing and our hands down favorite vendor. He (and his asst photog) made everyone come alive and the pics he captured of everyone being natural (no fixed poses) are soooo awesome.
-Flowers & Decor. Worth every penny. Although a big chunk of the budget, they made the ceremony soooo romantic.
-Pro MakeUp for me and my girls!!! No question about it.
Wish I Would've Not Spent $ On:
-Wedding Planner. She just wasn't worth it and didn't do well with executing fine details. A week or month of coordinator wouldve been better. With my planner, I found myself doing way too much myself.
-Favors. Although very cute and classy, people just oooowed and awwwed and thought they were part of the fancy decor and so didn't take them.
-Desert Buffet. Everyone was dancing for the most part, barely ate the cake because they never left dancefloor and so they totally missed when the desert station opened.
I'm glad we spent money on:
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My wedding was last weekend and it was wonderful! There were a couple of things we spent money on that I think we could have done without to save some money though. And other things I wish we did spend money on! Here's my lists.
What I think was a waste of money at our wedding:
1. Champagne toast. It was warm, and most people didn't drink it.
2. Candy buffet. While some guests did seem to enjoy it, the kids almost completely raided it before dinner was over, and it really wasn't worth the money or effort.
3. Professional makeup. It didn't look any better than when I do my makeup myself, and even though I got airbrush makeup it didn't last any longer than regular makeup!
4. My bridesmaids hairdos. They wore it down and curly and none of them were very happy with the way it turned out.
Things I'm really glad we splurged on:
1. A professional videographer. Now that the wedding is over I'm so excited to see the video to see moments I missed, and see what it was like front the guests view. We hired a videographer at the last minute when we realized we had some extra money and I'm so glad we did!
2. The decorations: Chair covers, centerpieces, uplights, chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling. These things made a huge impact on the look of the room!
Things I wish we had have spent money on:
1. I wish we had paid our DJ and venue to stay an extra hour at the end of the night. The reception seemed to end so soon, an extra hour of dancing would have been worth the expense!
2. I wish we'd paid someone to clean up our house while we were gone on the honeymoon! We just came home today and the house is a disaster! Not looking forward to cleaning it all week :(
Overall I'm so happy with the way our wedding turned out! Hope my lists help some of you out! If you're married already I'm interested in hearing your lists too!