Blowing the Budget

Flowers. Budget was $1500. Ended up spending $2300. DJ. Budget was $1000, spent $2500. Invites. Budget was $350, spent $700.

ETA: Apparently I don't know what the word budget is.

My dress budget was 600, but I spent 900. I think that's the only thing that is over budget so far.

I love my dress so much that it seems worth it, but at the same time, that's a lot of money for a dress that I'll only wear once.

I thought I was going to wear a short dress so I thought I could find something under $300, but I went with a long lace dress and it was $600. I still feel like it was an amazing deal. I think where I went over most was the live band. It was really important to FH, so we got his friend's Rockabilly band to play for $2000 instead of getting a DJ.

Not really. I did spend more on my dress than I wanted to spend - but it was inside the budget that my Nana gave me. So yes and no. I wanted to spend about £500 and it ended up being just under £1000 but that was the amount my Nana gave me, I'd just hoped to spend less of it.

I had a fairly accurate budget because I had thoroughly researched local vendors before deciding on my budget. However, I expected to be around $1000 for the dress and it ended up being $1500 and $215 for alterations.

Video and and my dress because I changed my mind and wastes $450

My budget was based on putting my total budget into theknot's budget calculator. they left off honeymoon, videographer and guest transportation. those were all must haves for me so I went way over budget in all those areas. The only other area was my dress. the original dress was well under budget but the alterations added up and went over.

I think part of this comes from deciding on line items without actually knowing a realistic range for those services. Before I started doing this work, I had no idea what MUA's charge; you could have literally told me anything. If you've never looked for a limo, a giant gorgeous cake or an officiant, how are you going to know what is actually out there in your area and the quality of those services? The budget calculators can give you a ratio and formula, but it's simply that; a formula that may not translate into you putting your money where your priorities are.

When couples come here looking to be 100.00 (inc tax and service) in my area, I know they didn't look at any venues before they set the budget because that really cannot be done on a Saturday night except in really alternative venues. That's how the budget gets busted; because it wasn't do-able to begin with.....

We didn't necessarily have a specific amount we wanted to spend, but we definitely spent more than either of us thought we would on our photographer and videographer... Haven't had the wedding yet, but this far I have no regrets. I want to be 80 and still watching my wedding video

I think it is a good idea to have a budget set and try to stick to it. Otherwise something gets left out at the end. And going DIY for some items helps. Here is a guide I share with brides to help their with their budgets: www.trifonanguelov.com/Bay-Area-Wedding-Photographer/Spend-Less-on-Your-Wedding

Hope you find it useful.

Everything has been WAY under budget for FH and me so far, so we totally went overboard on our photographer. We budgeted about $750 with the WW app, but we ended up spending $1500. For my area, that's pretty pricey, although on this site it might seem like very cheap. Our first quote with someone else that is just so-so was $500.

I'm far under budget for my photographer, but I also gave myself a very generous budget to begin with. I wanted the *best* photographer out there and I know it comes with a hefty price tag. Imagine my surprise when the least expensive of the photogs that I loved was also my favorite in person. We booked her same day and can't wait to work with her!

This leaves a bit of wiggle room for my dress. I have $1500 budgeted and $500 for alterations, but if I fall in LOVE with a $2000 dress....

Photographer, hands down. I don't want to spend more than $1,500 but fell in love with two photographers that have packages starting at $2k-2.2k. Oops.

Photographer/Videographer seems to be the one that's biting me in the butt -- but I think it'll be worth it.

My budget is pretty much blown. I've been trying to save as much as I can and get the best deals as I can -- but it would seem that my original estimations of what was possible weren't really possible. . . Whoops! My father is paying for the wedding which makes me want to scrimp and save even more -- but then he turns around and pushes for the more expensive things! He's managed to push me almost 7k above what I originally planned on spending. I know he's just trying to make everything perfect for me -- but he works hard for that money! I feel awful having it spent on one day. . .

My budget was blown way way long ago. My mom's budget... I'm not sure what that is because as she just told me "her idea of diy is writing a check". So far we're still way under the national average... Is that okay??

Dress. My budget was under $400 and I spent $1000. Thought to be fair this includes the first dress I bought because it was all I could afford (literally DB brought 5 dresses out and said 'this is all we have in your price range') and the new dress I'm having custom made because I hated the first one.

I guess that's ok though because we won our reception and ceremony venue through a bridal show.

My dress budget was $200, since I was paying for it myself, and I was sending pics to my mom as I was trying them on. Then, they showed me my dream dress and it was $499, and I sent a pic to my mom, before I knew how much it was, and we both loved it. She asked me the price, and they told me $499, and my mom said to get it, and they'd cover the difference! I was so excited!!

We didn't set a specific budget. I did research and tried to figure out averages for each vendor in my area, then we made decisions we were comfortable with and could afford. I estimated the cake would be $600-ish, but came away at $250. I was comfortable with up to 3k for my dress, and will probably hit that with alterations. Mostly I'm just trying to make smart, realistic decisions.

We haven't actually booked anything yet but I just know that I will go over on the photographer.

Looking back at what we had originally calculated, we blew the budget quite a bit on drinks. However, dancing is my favorite, and while I personally am comfortable dancing completely sober on the dance floor, I know there will be a lot more people joining in with some liquid courage! Also, it does not help that our original calculations for how much drinks were going to cost were not realistic with what venues were offering. I agree with Celia that a lot of budgets have probably been blown due to ignorance of how much all of this stuff costs!

As for MissMidway, you won both your reception and ceremony venue?? How lucky!!