What to save on and what to splurge on?

Save - attire, stationary (invites, STDs, programs, etc.), decorations, favors, transportation

Splurge - booze, food, entertainment, photography (and videography if you can find a place in your budget) anything that will enhance guest enjoyment/comfort

Since the splurge items are usually directly related to your guest count, the best way to save money is to have a smaller guest list.

I would suggest saving on decor, invites, STDs, dress, and flowers. I suggest splurging on photography, food and booze. The venue is a different story some splurge on it others don't. We are splurging on our venue, food, photography and alcohol. I didn't splurge on my dress.

EM's post is perfect.

View Quoted Comment Great thank you!

Splurge on whatever has to do with your guest (Mostly food and alcohol!). Also photography!

There were just a whole series of posts along this line, maybe two days ago. They were all posted by "Lynnie", one of the administrators, and the posts covered the pros & cons of saving vs splurging for practically everything -- flowers, photography, music, invites, etc. Tons of opinions and insights there.

I agree that you need a great photographer - but don't think that you have to spend more to get better quality.

Starting my photog search, 1st one I reached out to and really liked $4,500, 2nd one I reached out to and liked even more $3,500, 3rd one I reached out to and thought was good but not great, $2,500. Last one I reached out to and love his work as much as the 3-4k options - $1,500!!!

I agree with EM!

I'm still planning my wedding, but what I remember most from weddings is the food, the atmosphere, and the dancing/entertainment. We splurged on our DJ and our venue comes with the food and alochol, but the choices were AMAZING and everyone who has been to a wedding at our venue talks highly of the food.

People won't really remember decor or what kind of flowers you had, etc. It's all about the guests!

I also splurged a bit on my dress but, that was purely for me

Thank you all. We booked our venue which came out to 2k, photographer $1350, florist was 3k because of how big our venue is and how I wanted it decorated. My dress and veils was 1k total with being completely customized for me. The only other "big" thing we have left to book is a caterer. So I feel like I already saved a lot of money but Im not sure where to go with details. One of the biggest issues is stationary and dj/guest entertainment.. Wedding host..?

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I'm doing all my stationary through VistaPrint- pretty but cheap!

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Agreed. I was paranoid about our photographer for weeks because we got such a good deal. "why is he so much cheaper? What's wrong?" More expensive doesn't equal better quality. Yes, get a photographer you love and be willing to pay for it, but if you find a good deal don't be scared to jump on it!

Also save on invites. I've always loved the look of laser cut invites, and while looking I liked foil. But I read one of the biggest regrets was spending too much on invites. I found simple ones I liked which fit our venue and haven't thought twice about it. Guests have commented on how they love the invite.

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I would put DJ or Band up there with caterer for being a "big" thing. They basically host your reception and MC the whole thing.

I won't say I regret splurging on my invitations because I DO love them (probably spent around $600 total for everything) but I definitely could've spent less. At the end of the day, unless you really, really want a specific kind of invitation, they're going to go up on guests' fridges for 1-2 months and then get thrown in the trash after the wedding. The details cards and RSVP cards will also get trashed. I'll for sure save a set and know our parents will save their invite, but other than those it's basically $600 down the drain. So this just totally depends on how important it is to you.

I also splurged on my dress (pretty much doubled my budget). I wouldn't say I regret this either, but it definitely forced us to condense our budget in other areas that I'm now wishing were a little bigger. I'm hoping that I'll be able to resell my dress and get some of the money back, but we'll see.

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What does the 2K for your venue include? Do they offer catering?

Catering will likely be your biggest expense and you should most definitely splurge here. This is one of the only things guests will remember about your wedding and you don't want that memory to be a poor one.

Stationery can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want. Personally, I think this is an area you can save money since most people are just going to throw their invite in the garbage anyway. Look for coupons for Shutterfly, VistaPrint, etc. People are always posting deals here if you lurk the forums.

I don't dance and we aren't hiring a DJ (small dinner party wedding) so I, unfortunately, can't help in this regard.

What is a wedding host? Do you mean a Day of Coordinator? Otherwise, you and your FS (and possibly your parents) are the wedding hosts.

View Quoted Comment By wedding host I mean a person who coordinates the reception and engages the guests... This might just be a local thing to get a wedding host.

View Quoted Comment Also, the venue does not include catering but they help set up and clean up.

I am not qualified to answer, as it feels like I am splurging on everything. I have opted for a DJ for both ceremony and reception (versus live music) which saves a lot. My dress is also only going to cost about $500, but it's the one I love and I'd pay more in a minute.

Other than that, when I see what people are spending in these threads, I feel like I'm on a different planet or something. Lol

Our splurge was on food and alcohol. i WISH he had splurged on photography - ours was ok, we have a handful of shots that are just "WOW" but i wish we had more. my mother helped me splurge on my dress (it wasn't something I wanted to splurge on - but she really wanted me to have that dress so she helped me pay for half of it because it was out of my dress budget) - I got so many compliments on my dress and it looked great in pictures!

save on: save the dates, invitations, favors, transportation, ceremony decor, dessert (esp elaborate cake design and custom toppers), rehearsal dinner (we had a no-host dinner at a restaurant, but it was very well-attended and no one complained that they had to pay for their own dinner)

I wrote a brief article about how to prioritize this stuff - take a look!