I always knew planning the New Jersey wedding of our dreams
would be expensive. Time and time again, New Jersey has been ranked as one of
the most expensive locations to get married in. (In 2012 The Knot reported that the average wedding in the United States cost $28,427 but the average New Jersey wedding cost $48,496), Maybe it's being situated
between two big cities, or just New Jersians general flare for opulence, but
the wedding industry in this state is no joke. For a very long time, I did not
think I would be able to afford the wedding of our dreams. Fortunately, we both
make decent salaries, but living in New York City and paying off our college
debt does not leave much wiggle room. I always figured that when it came time
to plan this wedding of ours, we'd have to scrimp, save, and perhaps go the
non-traditional route. However, less than 24 hours after getting engaged my mom
gave me some surprising news - her and my dad had figured out a way to pay for
this wedding.
I am unbelievably grateful for the sacrifices my parents are making in order to host this wedding. I never expected this, and I'm blown away and overwhelmed by their generosity. Without going into specifics, the budget is going to provide for a very nice "traditional" wedding without going overboard. When I say traditional, I mean in the sense of traditional to what my family and friends in the Northeast expect. A Saturday night reception, open bar, five course meal, dancing, etc. While this is by no means the only way to have a wedding, it is just what we're used to and what our families would like. While the budget will allow us to have a beautiful wedding, I by no means want to plan on using this budget in it's entirety. I would like to contribute where we can. And at the end of the day, if we can leave some of the budgeted money for my parents - I'd be a happy camper. My parents did not get to have the wedding they wanted, so it is very important to them to give that to me. And I appreciate that more than they'll ever know. But at the same time, I don't see the need to spend every last cent they have just because we can. Also, I know how things can add up and sneak up on you at the last moment. My biggest fear would be to go over budget, so I hope that by planning on coming in under budget we'll at least manage to stay within budget.
Hey - maybe New Jersey weddings are so expensive due to the rising cost of hairspray? I'm sure Teresa could tell us all about it!
How are we going to manage this budget of ours? The first thing we did was decide on what was most important to us. A few days after our engagement, I received a package in the mail from MOH Sugar. The package contained two wedding planning books that I immediately set to reading. The first piece of advice was to sit down together and discuss what we wanted out wedding to feel like, look like, and what was most important to us. Coming up with this list was actually pretty easy for us. While reading said wedding planning book in bed one night, I put it down and started the conversation with him. Luckily, we agreed on the same things. We wanted the wedding to be beautiful, romantic, fun, and personal to him and I. We also were both set on having the wedding in a desirable location for our guests. With these goals in mind, we decided that the Reception and Photography would be where we might "Splurge". And when I say splurge, I don't mean go over budget, I just mean that these two items would have the majority percentage of our budget. They also are what we have put the most thought and effort into finding. I easily collected over 50 proposals from different reception venues. I only visited 4 locations, but after looking at packages for so many venues I knew when we found our venue that it was "The One". I'll talk more about it later and tell you why it was "The One". For photography, I would love to go crazy and hire one of the insanely talented photographers I drool over in wedding blogs, but many of these superstars start at $6,000. I just can't justify spending that much. So what's a girl to do? Research, research, research. So far I've found some photogs whose work I LOVE and who fit in the budget. We haven't decided who we'll book with yet, but this has definitely been a decision I've put a lot of thought into. What are some decisions I'm not going to waste a lot of time, money, and energy on? To name a few: flowers, stationary, videography, dj, transportation. We want every item on that list, but I'm not going to pull my hair out looking for the perfect florist/calligrapher/etc. We'll find whoever meets our budget and can do the job well.
Another way I'm trying to keep this budget down - not spend stupid money. What's stupid money? Money that just doesn't need to be wasted. Here's one small example - "a signature wedding scent". When I hear about Brides spending $100 on a scent they will wear for one day, I want to gauge my eyes out. I mean seriously, this just sounds ridiculous to me. I always knew I'd wear my favorite perfume, Angel by Thierry Morgan. It's the perfume I wore when we first started dating. I recently ran out, and he's even commented to me that it's his favorite and always reminds him of those early days back in the Summer of 2009, when we were two kids running around Manhattan and falling in love. Luckily for me, Living Social was running a deal on Angel and I scooped it up for less than what I’d pay at any department store.
I am unbelievably grateful for the sacrifices my parents are making in order to host this wedding. I never expected this, and I'm blown away and overwhelmed by their generosity. Without going into specifics, the budget is going to provide for a very nice "traditional" wedding without going overboard. When I say traditional, I mean in the sense of traditional to what my family and friends in the Northeast expect. A Saturday night reception, open bar, five course meal, dancing, etc. While this is by no means the only way to have a wedding, it is just what we're used to and what our families would like. While the budget will allow us to have a beautiful wedding, I by no means want to plan on using this budget in it's entirety. I would like to contribute where we can. And at the end of the day, if we can leave some of the budgeted money for my parents - I'd be a happy camper. My parents did not get to have the wedding they wanted, so it is very important to them to give that to me. And I appreciate that more than they'll ever know. But at the same time, I don't see the need to spend every last cent they have just because we can. Also, I know how things can add up and sneak up on you at the last moment. My biggest fear would be to go over budget, so I hope that by planning on coming in under budget we'll at least manage to stay within budget.
Hey - maybe New Jersey weddings are so expensive due to the rising cost of hairspray? I'm sure Teresa could tell us all about it!
 |
| Teresa and Joe Guidice representing an average New Jersey wedding SOUCRE |
How are we going to manage this budget of ours? The first thing we did was decide on what was most important to us. A few days after our engagement, I received a package in the mail from MOH Sugar. The package contained two wedding planning books that I immediately set to reading. The first piece of advice was to sit down together and discuss what we wanted out wedding to feel like, look like, and what was most important to us. Coming up with this list was actually pretty easy for us. While reading said wedding planning book in bed one night, I put it down and started the conversation with him. Luckily, we agreed on the same things. We wanted the wedding to be beautiful, romantic, fun, and personal to him and I. We also were both set on having the wedding in a desirable location for our guests. With these goals in mind, we decided that the Reception and Photography would be where we might "Splurge". And when I say splurge, I don't mean go over budget, I just mean that these two items would have the majority percentage of our budget. They also are what we have put the most thought and effort into finding. I easily collected over 50 proposals from different reception venues. I only visited 4 locations, but after looking at packages for so many venues I knew when we found our venue that it was "The One". I'll talk more about it later and tell you why it was "The One". For photography, I would love to go crazy and hire one of the insanely talented photographers I drool over in wedding blogs, but many of these superstars start at $6,000. I just can't justify spending that much. So what's a girl to do? Research, research, research. So far I've found some photogs whose work I LOVE and who fit in the budget. We haven't decided who we'll book with yet, but this has definitely been a decision I've put a lot of thought into. What are some decisions I'm not going to waste a lot of time, money, and energy on? To name a few: flowers, stationary, videography, dj, transportation. We want every item on that list, but I'm not going to pull my hair out looking for the perfect florist/calligrapher/etc. We'll find whoever meets our budget and can do the job well.
Another way I'm trying to keep this budget down - not spend stupid money. What's stupid money? Money that just doesn't need to be wasted. Here's one small example - "a signature wedding scent". When I hear about Brides spending $100 on a scent they will wear for one day, I want to gauge my eyes out. I mean seriously, this just sounds ridiculous to me. I always knew I'd wear my favorite perfume, Angel by Thierry Morgan. It's the perfume I wore when we first started dating. I recently ran out, and he's even commented to me that it's his favorite and always reminds him of those early days back in the Summer of 2009, when we were two kids running around Manhattan and falling in love. Luckily for me, Living Social was running a deal on Angel and I scooped it up for less than what I’d pay at any department store.
 |
| Angel - My "special occasion scent" |
So while handling money and creating a budget hasn’t
necessarily been a fun aspect to wedding planning, it is a necessity. How have
we been keeping on tracking? Google Docs of course! I’m sure I’ll do a whole
post later all about my love for Google Docs. Using Google Docs has allowed me
to map out what we have budgeted for each expense, what we’ve actually spent,
and what we have left to spent. It’s also helping us keep track of our deposits
and upcoming payments!
How have you been keeping track of your budget? Any tips or
tricks you’ve found useful?
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