Budget smudget - yup that's a little bit how you feel 3 weeks out from the wedding when you just start signing cheques (in American terms - who actually signs cheques these days?), maybe I should say, clicking the 'transfer funds' button to everything from toilet paper to doilies to music and bubbles, in hope that you'll eventually pay it all off, and you start becoming numb to the number of 0's behind the dollar signs!
Yup, you get to a point where you are just over the organising and constant dipping of your hand into your pocket and you just go into auto pilot mode with the end in sight!!!
Aww - sounds all doom and gloom but really it isn't! It's exciting to know that it's not too far away and that everything is almost all taken care of in the moolah department!
Soooo it turns out that we wayyyyy overestimated the cost of the reception ( a whoop!!!) when we thought that it would cost $100 a head for 156 people!!!
Instead of costing $15,600 for the 3 course meal and open bar tab for our guests, it was only $5, 490 for the food for 156 guests, and $3, 300 for the bar tab, and we spent around $1200 on wine which was charged an $8 corkage per bottle and was taken out of the bar tab.
So in total, it cost $9,900 divided by 156 guests is $64 per head for a 3 course meal and all they could drink. BARGAIN!
Here's a break down of what we've spent so far (just to show how quickly it all adds up, where you can expect to spend money, and what things you need to think about!!!)
Our itemised budget
Breakfast the morning of the wedding: $11 per person from Del Journos
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| Coffees, fruit platters, pastries and croissants |
CEREMONY = $687
Celebrant; Carol Cabot = $300
Ceremony venue hire; Boston Bay Winery; $300
Chalk board signs for the ceremony; $87
Instagram Bunting Sign - free - made by a friend
Music at ceremony - friend sang and player her own guitar for the aisle song = FREE
Happily Ever After sign - made by friend = free
Afternoon tea after the ceremony; home made goodies donated by friends and family
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| Amazing cupcakes made by a great friend. |
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carlas-Kitchen/490369867695624
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INSTAGRAM AWAY!
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RECEPTION = $14960
Reception hire; Port Lincoln Yacht Club; $650
2 COURSE CATERING
Reception; 2 course meal with a mixture of local seafood and grain fed meat; $35 per person for 156 guests = $5, 490
DESSERT
Wedding cake; Cake Dreams by Wendy, 3 tiered, two chocolate, one lemon = $425
DRINKS
Alcohol; pre purchased wine; $1200 (mixture of Shirazes, Cab Savs, champagnes, mosacato, dry whites etc)
Bar tab; beers, soft drink and cider; $3300 bar tab + $1200 wine = $4500
DECORATIONS
Decorations; Fairy Tale Weddings; white material around the edges and full fairy lights = $650
White table cloths (we are hiring these) 14 x round and 2 x rectangle = $150 + dry cleaning ($260) = $410
Chair covers, table runners, decorations, bunting flags, signing table and chairs, Americana chairs for the ceremony, decorations for the ceremony and little bits and bobs; Exclusive Bridal Hire $300 (mates rates from my Aunty and Uncle's business!!!)
Hand crafted table centrepieces; $100 in lace, hessian, glue sticks, blackboard pant, doilies
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| The table decorations at night |
Hand crafted table seating plan; $15
Bunting material made by a great friend; $420
MUSIC
Music; Jazz It Up; 4 piece band singing everything from jazz to pop to old school and modern, plus lighting and sound $2000
https://www.facebook.com/jazzitupmusic
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| Will Metzer - an absoloute legend and LOADS of fun! |
BITS AND BOBS - $250
Toasting glasses for bride and groom; donated by Glamour Events
Cake knife and server; engagement party gift
Groomsmen's gifts - an engraved stainless steel mug: $40 x 5 = $200
Ribbons for the bridal cars = $20
Tea light candles = $20
Lighters for the candles = $10
CLOTHING/ACCESSORIES = $2443.90
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| My stunning dress. |
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| My dress from behind! |
Wedding dress; Spurling Bridal = $1,400
Wedding dress alterations; $550
Bridal shoes; $40 from Betts and Betts
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| Something blue! |
Veil; my mums :)
Groom's Suit; jacket, pants, shirt, belt = $303.90 per person (we only paid for the grooms)
Shoe stoppers: $15 x 10 = $150 (so that the girls heels didn't dig into the grass!)
JEWELLERY = $2534.90
Wedding rings; both his and hers, Michael Hill Jewellers = $2,534.90
Bridal jewelry; kindly given as a present from one of my beautiful bridesmaids (earrings) and a stunning bracelet from a Belgium friend.
PHOTOGRAPHY = $3600
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| Just a sample of James's amazingness! |
Photographer; James Field, inclusive of an engagement shoot, photo booth with automatic prints, 15 hours on the day, and photo disc $3600
http://jame.com.au/
PHOTO BOOTH
Included in the price of the photography
Videographer = $500
Zac Christan; $500
FLOWERS = $612
Fake flowers by Artificial Wedding Bouquets = 9 x bouquets (bride and 8 x bridesmaids) and 13 x button pins (5 for groomsmen, 1 for groom, 3 for fathers, 3 for mothers) = $612
ACCOMMODATION = $660
Accommodation over the weekend; English Rose Cottage for the bridesmaids and bride the night before the wedding and the newly married couple for the rest of the weekend; $660
Hair; Hair Razorz, Cummins 5 girls x $75 per girl = $375
Alyssa Gale 4 x $75 = $300
Save the date invitations; $150
Wedding invitations; $200 plus postage stamps (50 c x
Printed menus, wine list for the bar and name settings; $200
GRAND TOTAL; $27,888.80
So... reception = 54% of the total cost.
RECEPTION = $14,960
46% = everything else!
$8000 was contributed by family so Mick and I managed to saved $19888.80 in a year + our honeymoon!
A whoop!
Go us!
How much did your wedding cost?
I am going to write another blog post on things that we could've saved money on but we choose to spend more on them because they meant something to us ie photography and music (so other people can see where they can save!)
Look after yourself and those around you,
Kirsty xxxx
