The Battle of the Budget

So…it’s looking like our less-than-$10k wedding is turning into more of a no-more-than-$12k wedding, which…I guess is still on the not-too-expensive side. And though I was dead set on not letting things get out of control, I feel like this increase is pretty justified.

I had two goals when I first started planning my wedding: (1) to be cost conscious and (2) to be stress-free. After a little vendor hunting and working out a few scenarios in my mind, I realized that these two goals may not quite go hand-in-hand like I initially thought.

Here are some of the issues I encountered:

• Many of the less expensive venues had strict capacity restrictions, which would have meant cutting a lot of people from my guest list, which would have led to stress.


• Or, some of the budget-friendly venues that I loved were fantastic for outdoor weddings, but didn’t really provide you with a good Plan B option, which would have led to stress.


• Another twist for the cost conscious venues was that these places offered their site at some great rental rate, BUT…you have to use their caterer, which had some outrageous per person rate that it would have eaten my entire budget.


• And finally, a lot of places would offer a low rate for renting the facility, but everything from chairs to linens to tents had to be handled by me, which meant the stress of coordinating set-up and take-down of these rental items AND an increase to the budget. One place even told me I would have had to hire a police officer to be on the premises if I served any alcohol.

From a time perspective, you can only have these facilities typically for a seven hour period, which included your decorating (unless they were flexible and didn’t include it in your time), your rehearsal (again…unless they were flexible), your ceremony, reception, and packing up. I can just imagine watching the clock and sweating bullets trying to make sure I stuck to the strict timeline so that I would avoid any fees, penalties, or forfeiture of my security deposit.

So, I had to weigh a lot of pros and cons when I discovered a place that I absolutely LOVED, that offered tons of flexibility, that even offered an overnight accommodations package, where I could have the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and reception, and not have to watch the clock, for a price that was beyond what I budgeted for. It became a matter of budget versus stress, and it looks like stress won out. Especially since I think that in the end, the budget really won’t be blown all that much. A lot of things that I would have had to piece meal together at any other venue already come included with this one.

So I’m really excited, and it looks like my quirky, cheap, yet chic wedding may have taken a little twist.