Showing posts with label save money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label save money. Show all posts
You all know the guy: he plugs a "name drop" in every conversation, stretching the subject to fit in his you-know-who-I-know opportunity. But, knowing the right people does not always mean the president of Intel. Sometimes, the best people to know are family and friends with skills in areas you are lacking.
As you can see from this blog, I am dedicated to doing as many projects by hand as I can. The driving force behind this goal is saving as many pennies as possible! At the end of the night, folks, all that will matter is that you are married to your best friend, your soul mate. What won't matter are the Swarovski crystals you spent a small fortune adorning your centerpieces with, that ended up ignored when the dancin' got started.
To this end, I have been recruiting as many of my friends and family as possible. My sister (who is an AMAZING seamstress) has agreed to bustle my dress. Most bridal salons charge a flat rate of $200 for this service. Many brides just factor this cost into the cost of their dress, without considering who they know that might be willing to provide the service for nothing (or, as I plan for my sister, a bottle of wine). In addition, we have talked about adding some buttons to the back of the dress to smooth the look of the zipper.
I was also able to drastically reduce the cost of a DJ by using a friend. The average DJ runs around $800 for 4-6 hours of service. This seemed expensive, and that cost doesn't include travel and a hotel for out-of-town companies. In fact, many couples spend upwards of $1200 to have some directed tunes at their reception. A friend of mine I met through YoungLife (awesome, awesome, awesome youth outreach program) happens to work for a DJ in EO, and has done a couple weddings solo. I had planned to try to use this company (I do wish to shop local as much as possible), and hoped WS would be able to do my reception. After asking him about pricing, he told me their flat rate for 4 hours was $700 with additional cost for time after that, as well as cost for travel and a hotel. Although steep, I had planned for this to be the case. I was shocked when he went on to tell me that he would charge me only $600, no travel, and no hotel if I could find him somewhere to stay! Additionally, he would stay until the party fizzled for no additional cost!
John Lennon got it right: "I get by with a little help from my friends."
My centerpieces are going to be two single vases with a single stem submerged in water. A candle will float on the water, and marbles will disguise the base of the flower. This is going to be a great way to save money, but it could end up more expensive if I am not cautious. Below is an example of this type of centerpiece.
Each vase can kill you if you are purchasing them at $3 or more a piece. Many run closer to $5 each. The dollar store vases didn't run in the right size, but that would definitely be an option. My next place to look? IKEA!! The vases in the size I wanted (even beautifully frosted around the base) ran about $8 each- far more than I hoped since I needed to buy about 30! I did, however, find a budget friendly alternative: drinking glasses.
Ikea has a "beer glass" that has straight sides and is about 8 inches tall. This would be perfect for my arrangements! And, at $6.99 for a half dozen, these glasses fit perfectly into my budget goals! These glasses are going to work perfectly; I am very excited to get started experimenting with the centerpieces!
I found these on one of my new favorite websites Etsy. The labels are $9.99 for one dozen, so to beautifully cover all of my wine I will be spending a mere $30!
Although the ceremony sight is usually the first thing on the list to decide on and book (love The Knot for month-by-month checklists!), I happened to look into reception sights first. In my little town there are only a few options for a reception: someone's house, the church, Community Center, an old grange building, the old armory, and a local hotel. I also had to consider that I had budgeted $1000 for renting the sight (also a convenient tool on The Knot).
A personal residence was out because that is a lot of stress for that household; especially since this could not be done at either of my parents' houses. It would inevitably be up to other close friend or family member, and I want these folks to have fun not worry all day about the state of their home/ property! As far as a budget is concerned, having a personal residence for a reception can get expensive. May whether is hard to predict, so a tent would be a must. In addition, you have to rent (or purchase) the tables and chairs, linens, and other staples of many other rentable sights.
The church was out merely due to size, as was the grange building and hotel. Past receptions held at these sights emphasized the need for more space in mid- to large-sized weddings (guest list is not secured as of yet, but we're getting there- it has been impossible to get lists from my parents and future in-laws. If anyone has suggestions for assuaging this issue, post as a comment below).
We are left with the Community Center (CC) and the old armory building, now fondly known as the "Event Center" (EC). The decision between these two venues was difficult. The CC would cost $175 up front for the whole day of the event, with the option to pay another $100 for each additional day needed to set up and tear down. We wanted a day for each. The total initial outlay would come to $375. The draw here was that a) it fell far below my budget b) the deposit for the kitchen would be returned if no damage was incurred, putting the actual cost at $300 for the three days! Of course, this price point makes this venue almost impossible to turn down, but there were a few drawbacks. It would take a multitude of decorations to turn this senior-center-by-day into a reception-by-night. More decorations means more money, and it may eliminate the savings for booking the sight. In the end, even with the decorations, I felt it would still scream "senior center cafeteria!" Although not completely eliminated, the CC was now in the "if we have to" pile. I knew I could make it work, I was just worried about the logistics of making it work.
From the minute I called the coordinator for the EC, I knew this was the place I wanted. I hadn't even seen it yet! She had so much enthusiasm and ideas; it was refreshing to know someone else might be excited for my wedding. She showed me the sight. The first thing I noticed was the character it had without any decorations. It also had a large room you could use for getting ready, or for a quick pep-talk from the MOH if needed. The kitchen (twice the size of the CC) is included in the rental fee, and there are two very large bathrooms right off the main reception room. Getting to the price, it quickly became apparent it would be more than the CC, but I may have already been sold. The rental for the day of the event was $300 with a $100 additional cost to serve alcohol. For each day added (either before or after) the cost to rent the building would only be $100. Originally, I thought the day of the event and a day to tear down would be sufficient: $500. My mother, told me to spend the extra to eliminate the stress of having to coordinate someone to set up the day of the wedding. So, the final cost of renting the EC would be $600.
Days of deliberating passed; I love pro/con lists. The final decision fell on the EC for several reasons: a) still $400 below budget b) much less required decorating= more savings c) larger, more accommodating space d) friendlier management (important since you may be dealing with them frequently in the planning process) e) less restrictions on decorations and food service and, most importantly, f) I felt more comfortable at the EC.
Total cost of wedding: $600
Being engaged in July, my dream fall wedding was out. My fiance calls me CDO (OCD, alphabetized), so needless-to-say, I was not going to plan a wedding in three months! Due to where we live, I also was not about to have a winter wedding. For about five months a year, our little town is sporadically closed to outsiders due to snow and inclement conditions on the roads entering town: not worth chancing on your big day!
All said and done, we chose May 15, 2010 for our nuptials. Not a bad date for cards, either; it looks nice in calligraphy (05-15-10). This date is out of the snow rush; save for some uncharacteristic blizzard in May (has been know to happen even in July!). This date also opens a lot of doors for planning: 10 months to book sights, ALL flowers available and in season, and at the end of the school year (I am a teacher).
Most of these perks play into my main goal while planning: saving money. Using the website costofwedding.com I was able to look at estimated costs for my zip code. The average wedding in the US costs around $20,398. In my area things are a little cheaper, so the average is around $15,000. I am hoping to stay around $10,000. I believe this can be done if I think frugally. So far, things are looking good. I will run a cost counter at the end of each blog to update my investment.
Total cost of wedding: $0
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