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So my wedding is in June and my FI and I had budgeted and had a plan for how to pay for everything but due to a personal emergency we are probably going to have about $1000 less than originally thought. So I am thinking some stuff needs to go and want opinions on what :/ We really don't want to go into any debt for the wedding so its going to have to be scaled back some. I am really having a hard time figuring out what to cut. So if I had to cut like two of the following things which would be most expendable?
I didn't list some things since they were already paid for or we made a non-refundable deposit.
A few extra notes:
The candy buffet would be our only favor. We don't have any other favor planned.
The wedding will still have a full meal served, we are going to have a DJ and wine and some other non-alcoholic drinks served during the entire reception. The tables will at least have table clothes, tea lights and small flower arrangement since we already bought them. The flowers that would be cut would most likely be at the ceremony.
Candy Buffet and Limo - why? Because they are "extras." The others are somewhat necessities, IMO. Of course, honeymoon's aren't necessities, but I feel like they are more special than a candy buffet or a limo. The honeymoon has memories attached to it.
I said Chair covers & sashes b/c to me that is definitely an "extra" and
the limo.... almost the candy buffet but I ultimately would cut out and extra for me & the party over the guests....
I voted for chair covers and sashes, as personally I think they often make the room look like a sea of white when the chairs would look better. Also, the chairs don't show when people are sitting down. If the chairs are ugly, you can have the staff remove the chairs from a few tables so your photographer can get shots of your table decor, then put the chairs back.
I also voted for the candy buffet. Yes people will love it, and yes it will look pretty in your pics, but you will already have provided a full meal. Couples really don't need to provide snacks or treats for days to come.
Another place to save would be the limo. You likely can borrow a really nice car. My neighbour was so proud to drive us in his car at no expense to us.
I voted for chairs covers & sashes, candy bar, and/or limo. Would you be able to do sashes only on the chairs? And a piece of chocolate at each guest's place instead of a full blown candy bar? You could also have your wedding party decorate one of you cars and it could be 'transformed' to your wedding vehicle.
Good for you for keeping out of debt :)
i voted for everything except guest list and honeymoon. those are more important, worth it, and fun things in my opinion. if you don't need to cut ALL those things, then decide which extra you want the most. My personal list, in order of preference, that i would want to keep would be limo, cocktail hour, chair covers and sashes, candy buffet, and flowers.
The limo was the first thing to get cut from my wedding budget - I couldn't find one for under $1000, and it was more likely to be $1500. We're renting a nice car instead for $250 - get creative! Who's got a nice car you can borrow?
Chair covers and sashes are the other one that are easy to cut - no one really remembers them after the fact!
@PurpleUnicorn: Honestly, those are the things I voted for too. Guestlist and Honeymoon are personally important to me and I feel the rest are really extra things you can do without.
Come on now, dear. No one needs a limo. ;) Of course that thought process could be applied to just about everything wedding-related, but YKWIM. But that ought to solve the $1000 cut all on it's own, right? Easy fix!
What's the least important thing to you and your fiance?
Cut that.
Cut the chair covers/sashes & limo first, those can be major expenses and are completely unnecessary.
I also voted to cut the candy bar. : / I know that they're really fun, but honestly, most of your guests won't even notice.
If you're still in trouble, then I would cut cocktail hour & scale back on flowers. And, of course, reducing the guest list (if possible) always cuts down on costs.
If the honeymoon is important to you & you can get paid time off from your jobs, I wouldn't cut that. If, however, you're neutral about waiting or doing a mini-moon, I would cut that, too.
@The Average Bride - Its hard to say.. I mean personally we wont even be at the cocktail hour but its important to us for our guests to have a good time.
@Others mentioning price of limo - is it really $1000?! I was guessing more like $400 thinking back to my prom (but that was a long time ago!) If its going to be $1000 then it will have to get cut, thats too much :/
I guess the problem with the chairs at the venue is that they are kind of standard white folding chairs and aren't that nice on their own. At the same time we need to make cuts :/
I've also bought maybe 25% of the stuff for the candy buffet its looking like it will be another $500 to finish it. Possibly we could scale it back some but the problem is we need enough candy for all the guests.
chair covers and the limo arent important....
nobody truly notices the chairs unless they are bright orange or something... everyone will be looking at you anyway!
and the limo can go... get a friend with a super sweet car to drive you there & away (that's what were doing) it adds a personal touch and it's fun!
I also voted to let go of some of the flowers... were not using ANY flowers at all to save a little cash and wow is it ever! Theres sooo many other ways to decorate without expensive flowers that look amazing!
I say limo, chair covers/sashes, and maybe scale down on the flowers some. Don't you *dare* forego your honeymoon! :)
Definitely don't cut your honeymoon!!
As for the candy bar- have you looked into wholesale candy prices? Google "wholesale candy" and you may be able to still have that element for a lot cheaper...(sorry if this has been said, I haven't read above posts)
The limo is not necessary, you can borrow a nice car to be driven in from a friend.
Also- you can cut back on the cost of flowers without giving up having gorgeous flowers! There is so much you can do to make a tablesetting beautiful without having a huge bouquet of them.
I would recommend cutting a little bit from many areas, rather than a lot from one area.
I think that in order to save money a lot of these things could be cut without the guests being any the wiser. I say DON'T cut your honeymoon or your guest list (unless that would be easy for you to do). The other things could all be cut/reduced. The top one I would cut would be chair covers/sashes...those things get expensive and just aren't worth it when trying to save money. Limo would be #2...ultimately it's just a way to get around and as a guest I would never question why there wasn't one (so if it's not super important to you, cut it!). Good luck!
@FireflyT: Seriosuly, I have hideous brown metal and vinyl chairs at our venue. Think I care?? Absolutely not. There is no way I'm spending any kind of cash on those chair sashes and covers. Be thankful you have white folding ones, it could always be worse.
I also said cut the candy buffet, and the limo.
That being said... we are not having a cocktail hour. Remember the days before weddings without cocktail hours? I do :)
I think the costs will also depend on where you live. If I needed to cut $1000. here, it would be for the chair covers & sashes, limo, and candy buffet, as those 3 are just about what it added up to when we had them.
I'm getting our local taximan to bring me to the church - he already has a nice silver Merc. Nobody would notice the lack of a limo at all. Or of a candy buffet.I'd say cut your losses on that one - I think it needs a phenomenal amount of candy to look good. While people do enjoy them, nobody is going to ask why there isn't one - unless you've told lots of people there's going to be one?
Can you diy some flowers to save money? Or make the ceremony ones do double duty at your reception as well?
We're scaling back our honeymoon cos the funds just aren't there and I'm the eternal optimist who believes we will have plenty of money later on for fantastic holidays, but I'm not going to say you should do that!
White folding chairs sound fine - I'd be delighted with them.Your day will be no less for the lack of covers and sashes.
Maybe try work your list from the top down - what are the absolute most important things for you? Obv this list here is at the end or you wouldn't consider cutting them, but maybe try to be a bit more ruthless with it.
white folding chairs aren't bad, i don't think anyone will notice if you skip the covers. cut the limo, you can rent/borrow a cool car for so much less. you said you already bought some stuff for the candy buffet, you could hit up after easter sales and try to stock up on 75% off candy. i think you can pretty painlessly make up the $1000, but don't cut your guest list so you can have chair covers or a limo, unless you have people on there you don't want there to begin with;)
I voted for:
The other thing that might be a maybe for me is Cocktail Hour depending on how your ceremony to reception set up is. If everything is at the same place and there is that hour in between it would be awkward to cut it out. However if it's at two different places I would consider starting one hour later than you had planned to cut out cocktail hour. Or perhaps talk to your caterer and see if you can cut some things out to reduce cost of cocktail hour?
If you decide to cut candy buffet (which personally I wouldn't since it's a favor for the guests and you already have a lot of the supplies) you can probably sell a lot fo what you bought here on WB Classifieds.
If you don't cut it google Budget Savvy Bride. She had the best candy buffet I've ever saw and she did it all on the cheap. I think she did a whole post on where she bought all her candy as well.
I went to a coworker's wedding who did the candy buffet and I think to save money they did not really buy enough candy for everyone. We were trying ot be polite and not get candy until it was "cake" (they did cupcakes) time. But by the time we got there ALL the candy was gone!!
Cut the limo, candy buffet, chair sashes/covers and cut back on flowers. Those are all extras so I think you wouldnt miss them much if you cut them.
@FireflyT:Don't worry about having favors. They are not a must, and many times, guests don't even take them. Probably many of your guests will be so full of your yummy dinner and cake they won't even want any candy at that point. I say cut it!
I also voted for chair covers and sashes. I understand wanting to spiff up the chairs, but the others are right - they are really not necessary. Especially if the original chairs are white! They'll go beautifully with whatever linens you've picked out.
Start with the chair covers (I don't like them anyways).. next go candy bar, then sashes, then limo
You could post on craigslist or a luxury/classic car forum about hiring someone to pick you up after the wedding in a really nice car, and pay them $50-100 or something.
I voted for chair covers/sashes, candy buffet, and limo. I think they are all nice touches, but things that no one will miss if they aren't there. For a car, we may ask some of our friends who own a unique luxury car if we can borrow it for photos of our "getaway".
I voted for chair covers and sashes definitely. I think the white folding chairs will be completely fine...better than chair covers and sashes actually b/c they won't draw attention away from the table. If you must have something on the chairs...just do the sashes without the chair covers.
The next thing I would cut is the limo. I am sure a friend or relative has a nice car that can get you where you need to go without renting.
Candy buffet...you can definitely scale it down. For instance, I don't plan on refilling my jars. They will be filled at the beginning of the night and once the candy is gone, it's gone.
You can always postpone your honeymoon and take it a few months later.
i'd def cut the sashes and chair covers...they don't seem expensive but when it all adds up, it still is an expense in and of itself :) if i were you,that would be the first thing i cut. see what the total cost would be and if it makes sense to help w ur budget!
I voted for:
chair covers and sashes - honestly, I never notice people's chairs at their weddings or receptions. When the room is full of people nobody's going to give them a second glance
candy buffet - i'm one of those people who thinks favors are totally unnessecary. you're providing food and drinks, you don't need to spend money on candy, also.
flowers for ceremony - again, i think these are something that people really don't notice. they're watching you and your groom, not staring at the pomanders.
just my .02!
I voted for the candy buffet, chair covers and sashes, and Limo.
The Candy Buffet. Spending money, when not that many people will eat the candy. Most people enjoy eating dessert at a wedding IMO. I would find another favor idea that is relatively cheap or just nix it all together.
Chair Covers- If the chairs underneath are in good shape, I wouldn't cover them. I'm Not sure how big your guest list is, but if you have over 100-150 people, that can get really expensive. Besides, do you think anyone is really going to notice or care if the chairs aren't covered?
Limo- Definitely an unessasary cost. That person is getting paid to sit there for the majority of the time, so why shell out the money for it.
I put these in order of what I would cut personally:
1. Limo, just use your car :)
2. Chair covers/sashes, they look nice but are expensive... people can still sit down :)
3. Cocktail Hour, you'll still have alcohol at the reception, guests will just have to entertain themselves, which can happen :)
4. Cut back on flowers, no reason... just thought I needed to put that.
I voted for the chair covers and sashes. Some one gave me a great piece of advice on this. "Once your guests sit down, they won't care one wink whether there is a pretty bow or not."
I'd lose the limo, too. You can get a high end car rental for the day for a less than $125.
The candy buffet could be altered for less. I'm not sure if you're catering this or not. You can do it yourself (if your venue lets you), for less than $150 if you hit sales at the right time and buy the candy in bulk.
I voted for the cocktail hour because I thought you might come close to saving all you needed to by cutting that, but I'm not sure. Next, I would choose chair covers. I'm not using any and I don't think anyone will really notice.
I would cut chair covers (i think a lot of people don't really like them anyways) and the limo.
Limo, candy buffet and cut back on flowers. I did not say chair covers because i notice ugly chairs and if you do too it might bother you. But if the chirs are pretty nice then the chair covers could be cut too.
Limo, candy buffet and cut back on flowers. I did not say chair covers because i notice ugly chairs and if you do too it might bother you. But if the chirs are pretty nice then the chair covers could be cut too.
I think the first things should be the chair covers and sashes and the limo. I think they are the most unnecessary on the list. If you have room the keep a little, then maybe do the sashes without the chair covers? That's what we did and it ended up working really well. (The venue chairs were kind of awful and we needed something to take away from them)
I would keep the candy buffet if you can. Everyone LOVED ours.
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