Where Not To Under Budget

Below are five areas where you may be tempted to under budget (we certainly did!) along with a minimum budget amount.

Now true, you might be able to get these things for cheaper than the amounts listed below but then again, maybe not. So err on the side of ending up with extra cash and over budget even on those categories where you think you’ll be able to get an amazing deal.

1. Flowers - $500 should be enough to cover a wedding party of eight, two or three head table arrangements and, if you go with simple flowers and are willing to do a bit of the work yourself, a few corsages/boutonnières. If you’re using live flowers in your centrepieces, budget $30 a centrepiece though obviously you’re not getting orchids for that amount.


2. Invites - $3 an invite can be done as long as you’re willing to DIY and aren’t interested in blinged-out invites. This cost does include two regular stamps (so make sure your invites are regular side).


3. Rings – $2,000 for both rings means neither of you is getting anything too sparkly but at the same time, there is enough cash there to get you both something nice that you can hopefully live with for the rest of your lives.


4. Cake - $4 a piece is the going rate for a fairly simple cake. Yummy Dufflet cakes are available for this price so you can certainly get quality cakes at this budget point.


5. Officiate - $200 is a safe number to work with though non-religious officiate can run more.

And don’t forget to budget for…

• Your wedding license ($130)
• Attendant gifts (at least $50 per person)
• Dress alterations ($200 is a safe number to work with)
• Tips (10-15% of whatever the bill is)
• Wedding insurance (more on that later)

Windfall Dress Sale

It’s been a crazy week and I haven’t been able to post as much I would have liked to. I’m hoping to get a new post up this weekend but I thought I’d stop by quickly and mention that there is a Windfall wedding dress sale tomorrow, January 30, from 11 pm -2 pm at Windfall’s Etobicoke location.

There’s an entry fee of $4 and all proceeds from the fee and the dress sales go towards supporting Windfall, Canada’s only new clothing and basic needs bank. Dresses for sale include many designer numbers in a range of sizes so get there early for the best selection.

More details on this unique fundraiser can be found over here.

Yeah, We're Blowing Our Budget

Back in March, I proudly declared that our wedding budget would be $20,000 (not including alcohol and my dress, two areas where we’re receiving parental assistance). Well, it looks like we’re going to have to push that number up to $25,000.

Though we’re certainly going to aim to be as close to our original budget as possible, there’s no way we’re going to come in under or even right at $20,000. While it looks like we’re saving a bit of money on our centrepieces, we’re over on our photographer and I have a very strong feeling that we are going to be over on our cake, florist and officiate. We also decided to hire a DJ, something we didn’t originally budget for at all and that’s playing a big role in busting our original number.

All of this has made me wonder if maybe we should have gone with a $25,000 budget from the start. However, I worry that if we’d started with $25,000, would we be looking at a $30,000 budget now?

So here’s my new budget philosophy: look at your income, your lifestyle, your debts, your spending habits, your wedding expectations, location and potential guest list and come up with a realistic number that’s also a bit on the low end. Tell yourself that that’s the number you are going to aim for and then do your best to meet (or be under) that figure.

At the same time, create a contingency fund of 10-15 percent (the lower your original budget, the higher the contingency fund). Make sure that this is “real” money that you will have access to in case you need but only spend it if you really need it, for example, your dream photographer turns out to be $1000 than you budget or, like us, everything is turning out to be another $100-$200 more than you thought it would be.

I think the areas that we were hoping to cheap out on are areas where a lot of couples hope to save some cash. I’ll take a closer look at these areas in the next blog post.

The National Bridal Show

Last night I checked out the National Bridal Show at the Direct Energy Centre. This was a smaller show than the one I’d checked out last January at the Toronto Metro Centre but that turned out to be a good thing. The crowds were thinner, the vendors better and the whole experience was rather pleasant and useful.

Below is the good, the okay and the not-so-great.

Good

• Free bags: we got free reusable bags from William Ashley, the Bay and the show itself
• Free cake: I think we were able to try five different kinds of cake
• Photographers: We don’t need a photographer but if you do you might just find your guy here
• DJs: To be honest, the DJs there appeared to be on the cheesy side but maybe they were just trying to get our attention
• Men’s Wear: All the usual men’s wear suspects are there and most are offering great deals
• Honeymoon/Travel Ideas: Sandals/Beaches, Sears Travel, Puerto Rico and more are all there to give you ideas on where to go
• Registries: William Ashley, Sears and the Bay/Home Outfitters are all there. We registered at the Bay and got $50 in gift cards for our effort

The Okay

• Invites: Stephita’s there along with a few other choices
• Venues: While none of the venues would have appealed to us if we were looking, there are plenty of choices here

The Not-So-Great

• Florists: I was really hoping to talk to some florists but the only flower-related people there were those offering bigger décor packages than we needed
• Make-up: I think I saw one make-up related vendor
• Dresses: Okay, no one goes to a wedding show to look at dresses but there are a few dress vendors there, none of whom are offering great stuff

If you do go, make sure to get the Wedding Bells gift bag before you go in. In addition to containing a copy of the magazine, there are also some great samples in there of Burt’s Bees products, John Freida hair products and Nina Ricci perfume. (Yes, I love free stuff.)

The Knot's 2010 Wedding Trends

The Knot posted its 2010 wedding trend guide the other day. While the email that linked to the guide promises “50 new wedding ideas you haven’t seen before”, a few of the ideas, such as black and white cakes and interactive food stations aren’t exactly novel.

But if you do some digging there are some great ideas in there. Below are some of my highlights.

Die Cut Cakes: The Knot talks about how this style can match your stationery but I just like this really different, but not too different, cake décor idea.

Fun Timeline/Program Cards: If you’re going to have a program, you might as well make something people want to read.

Monochromatic Vases as Centrepieces: This look won’t work for everyone but I think any “off-beat” or even a country-themed wedding could pull it off. Depending on your numbers, the vases could even double as favours.

BBQ Rehearsal Dinners: I’m not a big BBQ girl but I get why a BBQ would be ideal for a rehearsal dinner: it’s casual, it allows people to easily mingle, it’s likely rather different than your actual wedding meal and it’s affordable.

Metallic Touches: Having silver or gold metallic touches on a dress is a great idea for any bride who wants a unique spin on a traditional wedding dress.

Congrats Brooke!

I just want to take a minute to congratulate my sister Brooke on her recent engagement to her boyfriend Sam. The pair got engaged a couple weeks ago while on vacation in Jamaica.

They don’t have any wedding plans yet but are thinking 2011 at the earliest.

Good luck with all the planning guys!

Sample Wedding Invite In

Our wedding to-do list has shrunk by one item: the sample invite has been ordered and arrived yesterday. It looks great and once we know how many invites we need, we’re going to place our order with Raspberry Creations’ Etsy store.

I’ve been dealing with Rachael and she’s been great to work with. I think we’re going to have a very pleasant, low-stress invite ordering experience.

While Raspberry Creations does several eye-catching and different wedding invites designs, we went with the style below because the colours match our colours perfectly.

We’re also going to order matching table number cards and if I had the extra cash, I’d also get Raspberry Creations to do up the seating cards. Sadly, I think I’m the one who’s going to be doing that task.

Big Sale at Ritché Bridal

Starting on Thursday, January 14, Ritché Bridal is having a huge sale at the Montecassino Hotel (3710 Chesswood Drive, north of Sheppard, west of Allen). Dresses, for brides, bridesmaids, flowergirls and mothers’ as well as viels, tiaras and other accessories, are up to 80% off.

The sale wraps up on Sunday, January 17, and more details can be found over here.

Questions to Ask Your DJ

Below is a list of questions you’ll want to run past any potential DJs before signing any contracts.

Off the top: If you’re dealing with a DJ company, first figure out who will be your actual DJ, get that in writing and then ask these questions.

1. How long have you been DJing for?
2. Roughly how many weddings have you done?
3. What events do you do beside weddings?
4. My venue is ___. Have you DJed there before?
5. What type of equipment do you use?
6. Do you have back up equipment?
7. What does your set up look like? Is there any signage? Can we cover up/remove that signage?
8. How much set up and tear down time do you need?
9. What will you wear to our wedding/We’ll need you to dress ____. Can you do that?
10. If we give you a “Do Not Play” list, will you follow it?
11. If you don’t have songs that are on our “Must Play” list, can we supply those songs to you?
12. And what’s the best way to do that?
13. How far in advance do you need our Do Not Play/Must Play lists?
14. Do you have a replacement in case you get sick?
15. What exactly does your fee cover?
16. What about overtime?
17. How does payment work? Do you require a deposit?
18. Do you require a signed contract?
19. Are you insured?
20. Do you require dinner/food?

Depending on your own preferences, you may also want to ask the DJ about emceeing your wedding and what the DJ’s emceeing style is.

Another area you may want to ask about is alcohol consumption. Generally wedding DJs don’t drink on the job but if your DJ normally plays clubs/parties/other less former events, you may want to clarify this point in advance.

Also, if you haven’t heard your DJ perform before, do ask if he/she has a mix you can listen to. Of course, wedding mixes will likely be quite personalized for each couple but any mix should give you a sense of the DJ’s mixing and song selection skills as well as whether or not the DJ is prone to yelling things out over the songs.

I Think We Have Our DJ

As a general rule, DJed music at a wedding tends to, how can I put this politely, suck. It’s the same cheesy songs wedding, after wedding, with too much catering to bland, middle-of-the-road tastes.

But last summer I attended a wedding where the music was actually great. The couple has music taste similar to mind and they didn’t hesitate to tell their DJ, a guy named Anthony, exactly what songs to play including such untraditional selection as several Girl Talk songs and even a few drum and bass tracks.

Then, perhaps most importantly, the DJ went ahead and played the songs that the couple wanted, mixed in with other, suitable tracks. The result was a very fun, couple-appropriate mix that had me dancing for several songs in a row (which I should add rarely happens at weddings even though I love to dance).

Now, if you’ve been reading this blog from the start, you’ll know that our original plan was to save some money and go with DJ iPod, something I still think we could do. But while he was originally on board with that idea, Shawn, my fiancé, has since decided that we should go with a real DJ. Shawn’s worried that using an iPod will result in unnecessary stress and people not dancing (because apparently people will only dance if they see a guy standing behind a laptop).

But like me, Shawn had never heard a decent wedding DJ until that wedding last summer. After seeing Anthony in action, Shawn was determined that yes, we would have a real DJ so, after bulking up our budget a bit so that we could afford this new expense, we contacted Anthony (who only works on referrals so sadly I can’t point you to a website for more info).

It turns out that he’s free on August 7 and willing to DJ five hours for us for a fee that’s comparable to other quotes I’ve seen (expect to spend around $150-$300 a hour for your DJ, with things like special lighting costing extra).

He’s also played the Berkeley several times before and that’s important because this means he knows the venue’s equipment, its layout and where exactly it is.

So now it looks like we are getting a real DJ, despite our original plans not to. Hopefully it’ll be money well spent.

In the next entry I’ll go over some questions you should ask your DJ before signing any contracts. In the meantime, if you know of any fabulous Toronto wedding DJs, post their names below or email me at wedtoblog@gmail.com.

Amazing Invites: Toronto Edition

A few weeks ago I listed off some great wedding invite designers who sell their wares via Etsy.com. But not everyone’s comfortable buying stuff online so below is a listing of some local places where you can check out invites.

Blush Boutique – Looking to create a custom invite? Then check out this company located on King St. W. They also offer off-the-rack designs and environmentally friendly paper.

The Invitation Place – This place isn’t cheap but it does offer some really eye-catching and elegant designs that can be printed on a wide variety of paper.

Stephita – This Markham-based shop gets great reviews by brides who have used it. Invites tend to be in the $4-$6 range and are a bit “traditional” for my tastes though they are certainly pretty.

Paper Damsels – In addition to creating custom events, this store offers DIY packages and a large number of catalogue lines, including Monique Lhuillier, Carlson Craft and Stylart. While it is located out in Mississauga, Paper Damsels is a great place to start if you’re struggling with finding the ideal invite.

Pretty Paper – This place certainly lives up to its name – it offers plenty of great designs that can be tweaked and printed on 100% recycled or linen paper. Pricing info is listed here.

Holiday Weddings

If you’re planning on how having your wedding on a holiday: New Year’s, Christmas Eve and Day, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween, any long weekend, be prepared for irritated guests and a higher than usual number of “no” replies.

Let’s start with long weekends because you can make a legitimate case for having a wedding on a long weekend. Let’s say its a wedding with a lot of out-of-town guests. Or maybe it’s a destination wedding where all the guests will be travelling. Either of those types of weddings have good reasons for being held on long weekends: Guests have to take time off regardless to travel so you might as well help them out and reduce the number of days they have to take off from work.

Still, even in those situations you might have some grumbly guests who are annoyed that your wedding will be consuming their long weekend. If you run into this, feel free to politely example your reasoning but don’t worry about trying to bring the grumbly guests over to your side, it’s a pointless battle.

As for weddings on actual holidays, well, unless you’re doing something amazing like a masquerade-theme Halloween wedding, or it’s a super-intimate event, don’t have a holiday wedding. Honestly, even those nearest and dearest to you don’t want to have to re-arrange their holiday traditions to accommodate your big day. Yeah, I know that sounds harsh but it’s important to remember that your wedding is just that, your wedding, and it’s not the center of your friends and family’s worlds.

Weddings that fall on either side of a holiday should also generally be avoided, particularly if you’re using a venue that will be busy with that holiday. For example, be weary about having a New Year’s Day wedding at a venue that’s hosting a New Year’s Eve party because the venue’s staff might not exactly be on its A game.

Of course, if you find yourself with a guest list that’s bigger than you want then a holiday wedding might just be what you need to trim things down to a more manageable size.