In seven days, I’ll be married. I don’t have words to describe my excitement… or my anxiety 
In the last few months, we were quickly going well over our $12,000 wedding budget — as much as $14,000.
We’re not going to do that. Hoorah! But it looks like we will go over. I miscalculated several big expenses, got rescued on two by mommy and daddy, and found solutions to come under on other expenses. In the end, it looks like we’re going to be over budget about $500.
That beats $2,000! But it’s still over budget. We haven’t paid for everything yet, but I pretty much know what the remaining items will cost.
What went wrong?
Reception — At first, I thought we were coming under budget on the reception. And we were, except I forgot a little thing called taxes! And that the gratuity is included in the invoice total.
Over: $400
Dress — My dress has a LONG story behind it which I won’t bother to tell here. Ultimately it needed to be taken in (it fit when I bought it, apparently lost a lot of weight since then) and cleaned (it’s moved pretty much as much as I have). I way underbudgeted for this, about $600 off (don’t ask). But daddy calls and asks if he can take care of anything… um… dress? Ok, he says. Thankya!
Under: $150
Flowers — I actually got this one right! Budgeted about $300 for all the flowers, the bouquet, corsages, decor. I went with a supermarket, Safeway, because supermarket flowers are MUCH cheaper than with a florist. The real cost comes in with the labor. Either way, I told them what I wanted and what I wanted to spend and they came through for me. But then mommy called and INSISTED on paying for the flowers (I didn’t want to her to give me a penny). Ok, fine!
Under: $300
Hair — This should have been a no brainer. I budgeted an amount without asking my stylist her fee!! Huh?! Just duh on this one, I have no excuses.
Over: $50
Groom’s Attire — I don’t know what men’s clothes cost, but I did some online research and created a budget for my guy. I did not account for his champagne tastes and beer money AND that he’s big and tall; he generally can’t just pull a suit off the rack. To his credit, he found a place that tailored a suit just for him and threw in vest, tie, and accessories for free! He got such a good deal he bought a second suit (not on the wedding budget). But the suit for the wedding, still over the budget.
Over: $232
Cupcakes — Cake has got to be the most grossly overpriced part of a typical wedding. It’s just cake! We went with cupcakes, which are cute, easy and cost less than tiered cake. But I didn’t factor in taxes (AGAIN) and while there is no delivery charge, there is a set-up fee, which takes this over budget.
Over: $76
Wedding bands — As I mentioned before, my initial online research led me to think we could get decent rings for about $200 total. That is possible, but not for the kind of rings we wanted. We got rings we love and we got them for less than half what they cost retail, but this is still way over budget.
Over: $359
Everything else is on budget to the dollar or turned out to free! Items under budget are only under a few dollars. Still, all together, we should not be over more than $500.
Ok, back to work!
DH
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