Weddingbee boards

I think your wedding can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want, but you have to be realistic about any budget.  My FH and I are getting married in a domestic DW.  We knew that no matter where we got married, a large percentage of our guests would be traveling quite far, so we decided on a place that has special significance for us.  We are working with a fairly tight budget because we are paying for the wedding ourselves, but we are focused on spending money mostly on the things that impact our guests directly - good food (welcome dinner and reception), transportation, and OOT bags that make up for the lack of mini bar at the local hotels.  After they spend money on travel and lodging, I think they will appreciate these "extras" a bit more than a few extra flowers.

 We set a "goal" and a "budget limit" that was a bit above that.  We aimed for the "goal" and will come in between it and the "budget limit" once we add in tips and such.  I would suggest that whatever your budget is, you plan in some room for the unanticipated costs (like great service that merits more than the standard tip or replacing something that breaks or gets lost).  If you do that, you'll be able to stay on budget.

We were naughty and did not stay on budget.  Our original figure left out some things (our hotel for 4 nights, rings, fee for the officiant, postage, miscellaneous costs (5-10%)).  We went over budget by about $100-600 or so on a couple things (photographer (we did not have a realistic figure and went over by $600), dress, flowers, suit for the groom).  We intentionally splurged to get what we really wanted for invitations and for open bar for six hours.

In the end, we went over our original estimate by (ugh!) $6,000.