MemberI’m curious if any of you who also planned budget weddings have any regrets about it. Do you wish you spent more on certain aspects of it in hindsight? For those of you who spared no expense for your wedding, is there anything that you wish you spent less on?
Memberchyangra : iin hindsight, i’d have gladly paid the florist an extra $1000 to take care of ALL the flowers. i decided to try to do a small bit of them myself (the cocktail tables, the welcome sign) which seemed super easy and manageable (it was just purchasing some flowers and sticking them in mason jars). the reality was that it added SO MUCH stress to the day before our wedding (i won’t go into details, but it was a PITA) and i should have just sucked up the extra cash to pay the florist to just not have to worry about it.
the place where i wish i had saved money was on my hair. the stylist was awful, and i should have done it myself (i’d have done a better job). oh well.
fwiw, i guess we fall into the “spared no expense” category. we certainly weren’t blase about our money, but it was a $55k dream-wedding i’d suppose you’d say.
Membercatskillsinjune : Thanks for the insights! Yeah, DIYing flowers does sound difficult since it’s not something you can get done far in advance!
Memberchyangra : We spent about $12,000 on our wedding and I wish we had spent much less. It’s just not that important in the grand scheme of things. It was a beautiful wedding, but at the end of the day, the only thing that really stands out to me is that I married my best friend.
MemberThe only think I wish we didn’t spend money on was a pizza bar for the last half of the reception. WHO DOESN’T USE A PIZZA BAR?! My guests let me down on that one, I think 1 person ate from it😂☹
MemberWe spent $15,000 on our wedding and I think it was the perfect amount. We spent a lot on food and drink considering we had fewer than 20 guests, but amazing food was very important to us. Four years later our guests still tell us it was the best food they ever had at a wedding. We have no regrets!
Memberbooks_and_diamonds : Definitely a good point! In what part of the country do you live, if you don’t mind my asking? I’ve been led to believe that $15,000 is a “budget wedding” here in Chicago (but that amount still seems like so much to me)!
MemberWe plan to spend $10k on our wedding, which is definitely budget here in CT. I STRUGGLED to find a venue that wasn’t charging $100+pp plus a venue fee. It was a lot of work, but we found one for $75pp with no venue fee, and we’re snatching it right up.
I want to be as thrifty as possible, because I know I’ll look back and only remember how happy we were. I wish we could pend less but around here, $10k is like the bare minimum to have would be considered a “normal” wedding at a venue and not severely cut corners.
Memberloveydove : Oh my goodness, I would be so annoyed if I provided a pizza bar and no one took advantage! As a guest I always make a beeline for those late-night snacks if they’re provided. 😛
Membermisstomorris : I feel you! Our tentative budget is $15k in Chicago, which is definitely considered a budget wedding in Chicago. It’s heartening to hear your $10k budget. I would love to make that work!
MemberIrish2014 : Wow, that sounds like such a special experience for your guests! Love that you were able to treat them like royalty with such incredible food!
MemberI didn’t vote because technically I can’t answer it yet as our wedding isn’t until next month. I feel like we did a decent job staying on our budget. We splurged on things we wanted and tried to save in other areas. I don’t feel like I will regret not spending more or less. (we’ve spent about $30k — about $3k of that is our honeymoon)
Memberchyangra : Hey, fellow Chicagoan! I’m definitely sorting out the finances of all this stuff too. FH and I went through one of those check-off lists and crossed off all the crap we just really didn’t care about and didn’t think were necessary. That helped to narrow things down a lot to the things that mattered and that we wanted to spend on.
And yes, I also get the impression that $15k is on the low end for a wedding that’s even remotely close to downtown. We’re exploring options in the suburbs too, but a lot of stuff here is just damn expensive.
Memberchyangra : Well, I have an easy office job, of which my internet usage is not stricly monitore…bahahah. So, I can spend many hours a day researching.
How exciting – Chicago! Good luck with planning, bee! 🙂
Memberbeevincent18 : It sounds like you and your fiance have done a great job finding balance to make your day special. Congratulations and enjoy your upcoming wedding! <3