Sticker shock

Honestly everything about this wedding is sticker shock for me lol! Not that I thought it would be cheap, but like just the fact that I'm doing like pretty basic stuff here and still gonna be at least $8k for 60-80 people! It's one day... But it is an important day lol!

Flowers ugh. And that my FH decided to cover his GM's rental suits- and that the cheaper suit options weren't good enough for them so he splurged. What.

At the first (and only) wedding expo that we went to, we met a photographer whose packages started at $7,000. We excused ourselves from that booth pretty quick ...

OMG @Steph! Hopefully you're having a small wedding party

I'd say photography. I knew that it wouldn't be cheap, but when I was quoted $8000 for one package I almost fainted. Granted that guy had like 2 jr. photographers, covered like 12 hours, amongst a whole lotta other things. Nonetheless. $8k!

So many things...

Flowers definitely. We ended up going with sola because fresh flowers just didn't fit in the budget. Sometimes I still get down about it, but it is what it is. They're pretty.

FH's tux. When we went to Men's Warehouse and they said that the tux rental was $275, I nearly shit a brick. We went to a local place and found a better one for $150. Much better!

Photographer. I knew that a good photographer was gonna be expensive, but I didn't expect to see prices in the $5k range. Luckily we found a talented photographer for $2k. (Amazing photos but man is she unorganized...)

Flowers for F'ing sure. I still cant believe im paying over $1200 just for bridal party flowers. It seriously made me rethink this entire wedding along with invitations lol Thank god WPD is having that sale.

Im not a big flower person. We are doing all silks with the exception of corsages & bouts. For centerpieces and decorations we did silk rose flower balls.

My sticker shock was photography and videography. Its the biggest tab after the venue. Took me 2 weeks to convince FH i wasnt insane after suggesting our vendor. lol

Venue

Photography! You do get what you pay for though. I love a good "cheap" deal, but I don't want cheap looking pictures. Two of my BM's went the cheaper route for their weddings and are both heartbroken by the terrible pictures. Still the sticker shock may never leave haha

Wedding in general but especially photographer/videographer. so insanely expensive

Photography! I got one quote for 7k and almost called off the whole wedding lol

With all the cash bar threads lately, I'm surprised no one has said the open bar pp cost!

That was definitely my sticker shock moment. A lot of our guests don't drink (as in at all/are strongly against alcohol) but we have to pay for everyone of age anyway. Yes we're paying for the open bar but damn is it pricey!

Catering. Where I am in CT it's ridiculous. I got 3 quotes ranging from $8,000 for practically nothing offered to $18,000 for a basic spread. These quotes were for 100 people. We ended up with 60 guests and it was still up there. But people gotta eat!

Goodness, you guys are paying $100 for each bouquet?! I'm paying $70 for my bridal bouquet and the rest are $45!

Floral. My first quote from the florist we ended up going with was $8k. Luckily we got her down to about half of that. Also, transportation. Trying to decide between coaches and school busses. Bah.

@AllisonJ--a bit off topic, but why not do a consumption bar? You could probably save a lot that way if you have quite a few non-drinkers.

@Madison--I *wish* the bouquets were $100! Mine was $225 and the bridesmaids' were "only" $165.

So far my venue deposit. I'm dreading the flowers but haven't gotten there yet

Officiant- I was expecting everything to cost a small fortune (because wedding) but never expected to be paying $300 - $500 for someone to marry us.

@madison my bouquet is $300 and my BM bouquets are $175!!!!

@allison very few venues, if any (none that I've met with at least), near me give separate alcohol costs pp for weddings. It's built into the PP price off the bat. Cash bars or consumption bars are not really a thing in my area, unless you're hosting it in a smaller restaurant.