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.