As you’re making these
decisions, feel free to use this budget tool to track all your
wedding spending.
SPLURGE: WEDDING DRESS
know some people will disagree, but I am a
firm believer in going ALL out on your wedding dress. All eyes will be on you,
and this is your time to shine! Don’t hesitate to ask for modifications to your
dream dress, work with a designer to custom make the perfect dress for you, or
even buy more than one dress! My experience working with Jean Ralph Thurin and
his team to create my custom wedding dress was more than worth it. I went into
the shop several times before the big day to adjust measurements and tweak the
design, and we were able to work within my budget to make all my dress dreams
come true.
SAVE: FLOWERS & DECOR
Flowers & decor can
easily add up to be one of the most expensive line items in your wedding
budget. While hunting, we were quoted rates from $2,500 – $12,000! Unless
you’re the kind of person who buys flowers regularly and can tell the
difference between species, you probably don’t need to spend thousands of
dollars on wedding flowers. I’ve never been to a wedding and remembered what
kind of flowers were in the centerpieces – guests simply don’t care. To
keep costs down, consider using candles (these gold ones are from Ikea!),
greenery, lanterns, or vases. You can also buy wholesale flowers and do
some of the decor yourself.
SPLURGE: VENUE
While guests probably won’t
remember your decor, they will remember your venue’s ambiance and
customer service. When venue hunting, pay just as much attention to the
personalities of the staff and owners. All it takes is for a guest to have a
bad experience at the valet, coat check, or when making a last minute request
for a vegetarian dinner to taint their memory of your big day. We chose our
venue because the staff was incredibly accommodating of our various needs:
multiple ceremonies, outside food, tons of space for guests, and extended
hours!
SAVE: ACCESSORIES
I was SO close to buying a
pair of Louboutins for the wedding, I had them on my Pinterest board for over a
year! Last minute, I decided to buy two pairs of shoes that were combined $600
cheaper than the red bottoms. And guess what I was wearing by the end of the
night? $10 fold up flats that no one could see beneath my dress! If you’re like
me and will kick off your shoes to dance, don’t splurge on an expensive pair.
For the wedding at least… I fully support splurging on shoes in general!
SPLURGE: MAKEUP
Rather than drop extra money
on shoes or jewelry, invest in a makeup artist that will create a flawless look
for you. You’ll want to look glam in real life as well as pictures and video,
so it’s important to book someone who specializes in bridal makeup, and not
just your friend who posts great makeup selfies on Instagram. While their work
has to be stellar, their personality and professionalism should be too, as
they’ll be the person in your face seconds before you walk down the aisle.
SAVE: CAKE
Another thing that your
guests probably won’t care about is the cake. As long as it takes good and
doesn’t run out, you’re good! I’ve seen some pretty impressive cake displays on
Pinterest, but we didn’t think it was worth spending extra money on a part of
your wedding that will take up maximum 3 minutes. That doesn’t mean your cake
should be boring. We had a cake included in our catering package, but worked
with the bakery to switch up the design to something classic, asked
our decorator to add a few flowers, and topped it off with a simple topper to
make it special.
SPLURGE: FOOD
While the cake doesn’t
matter, the food does. People come to weddings expecting great food, so make
sure your catering is top notch. One of the comments we continue to hear about
our wedding is the abundance of food at the cocktail hour! This came in handy
because our dinner actually came out a bit late, but no one cared because they
were already full from cocktail hour.
SAVE: MUSIC
I had this really lofty
dream of having a fairly new artist sing his melodramatic song as I walked down
the aisle. Those dreams quickly dissipated after his manager quoted us $5,000!
Do you know what I walked down the aisle to? The same song. Playing through the
speakers. And it felt no different! Because music is not about the artist, but
about the emotion it evokes. Even if you can afford to have Adele perform at
your wedding, trust me, all the attention and talk would be about her, and not
you and your spouse! Instead of live music, we just had our DJ (which we found
at one of our favorite clubs) play our desired songs, and a friend lead the
hymns during the ceremony.
SPLURGE: UNIQUE ELEMENTS
While people don’t care
about the details, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t incorporate unique and
interesting elements into your wedding. They don’t have to be expensive, but
you should definitely “splurge” on thinking about how you can make sure your
personalities are reflected in your wedding! We incorporated our African
culture in various ways in our wedding, from the music, to the food, to even
what we wore.
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