Wedding costs...

S

Stuck_At_Work

1,000+ Posts
So... as I posted on here last week... I'm engaged. Hurray.

Unfortunately, neither of our parents/families are in the position to contribute financially to a wedding. So, I'll be paying for everything myself.

OK...

1) How do destination weddings work? Would they be cheaper for me? What costs would I need to cover?

2) If we decided to get married in Austin, what venues are the best bang for your buck? We're thinking we would have the ceremony and reception at the same place. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we'll likely get married in Austin.

3) Any other general advice for saving money? I'm just shocked at how much money people spend on weddings these days. I assumed 5k-8k would buy you a nice ceremony/wedding... but I get the impression most of my friends paid between 15k and 25k.... and there is no way this 27 year old can afford anywhere near that kind of money.
 
We spent about 20k, and spent VERY frugally. My wife was NOT bridezilla, and there were very few things that we really cared about. We were lucky enough to have financial contributions from some people, but not for all of it. I had some saved, and we put some on the CC.

That number includes the honeymoon, which was one of our big expenditures.

Biggest cost was food - full service catering for about 200.
Next was the honeymoon, so maybe not a "wedding" cost.
Next biggest cost was the location, but we got married on a Sunday to keep that cost down.
Then the flowers. ******* A the flowers were expensive.
Then it's a ****-ton of little things that add up to a lot.
 
If you really want to do it on a budget, I would absolutely recommend you do a lunch reception with no/little alcohol and no dancing/entertainment. I had a friend do this and it was just fine and all the young crowd went out together later that night anyway.

He did his at the UT Club, but I have no idea how much it costs. Was a neat place for it though, and they make some good food.
 
Go to Vegas. I've been engaged for years because I could never decide on a date because I don't want to pay for a wedding. I really think they are ridiculous. Any wedding that includes dinner and booze will cost you ten grand. I rather put that money into our house. What we plan on doing eventually is going to Vegas. We'll tell our friends a few months ahead of time and if they want to go they can.
 
Dammit, I think I hit a wrong button and erased my response...
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How many guests and what time of year are you considering? How does your fiancee feel about all this? Is she okay not having a traditional wedding?

If you have a destination wedding, it will cut down on the number of guests, which will possibly cut down your F&B costs. You should expect to cover your own travel costs, and maybe those of your honor attendants. Cheaper or not depends on your destination and venue. For example, you could still drop a lot of $$ at a high end resort in Los Cabos, even if it's only 30 or 40 guests.

You should also not expect to receive a gift from any of the guests who attend.
 
Thanks for all the PMs and advice everyone.

Our aim is 80 guests. We are very flexible with the 'when'. Anytime in 2009 would work for us.
 
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I'm in the same boat as SAW. Just got engaged. Financee and I will be footing the bill for the majority of the wedding costs.

In doing some preliminary research I've come across some of the same findings mentioned above regarding how to save $ on a wedding.

Fiancee and I don't want to do a wedding in Los Angeles ($$), so we are considering a destination wedding but don't know where a good destination would be. Would like to get 50 or so friends/family to attend. However, that can be tough depending on the destination.

I recently attended a destination wedding in cozumel, mexico which was fun but only 20 people went to it. Seemed too small of a wedding in both our eyes.
 
i personally think destination weddings are teh suck.

you don't want to break the bank on your end but then you stick it to a bunch of people and make them travel someplace more expensive. just doesn't compute with me.
 
my wedding ran between $20 & 25k. We had a really, really nice wedding for the money. Our reception was at the Petroleum Club in Downtown Houston. The amazing part was that it included damn near everything that we needed. We did not have to dress the room up, as it was very nice. Shop around and you will be surprised at what you can find.

If you are paying for it, elope. I just got back from Vegas for a good friends wedding. He had a really nice wedding for $3k - 4k for the whole time he was there. There were 40 people that showed up. Destination weddings can be a great time.
 
go get married on a beach with immediate family in attendance. You can head out to your honeymoon immediately after the wedding.

When you get back to Austin, host a nice reception/dinner/bbq with all of the people you would have invited to the wedding.

Most people could absolutely care less if they go to your(or anyone's) wedding. And, it is YOUR wedding, so do not stress out trying to accomodate anyone but you and your bride-to-be.
 
I am getting married this Saturday. We debated the destination vs. small wedding with friends and family and ultimately decided on the latter. I did not want to put everyone out and make them spend a bunch of cash on going somewhere for a wedding. We are doing a small wedding in Dallas with about 50-60 people. We are having a dinner afterward at a favorite Mexican restaurant. The price is right (I think we are spending around $8k total for venue and for the meal) and we don't have to put everyone out with a destination wedding. Also, we have extra cash to go on a nice honeymoon, which is what I am looking forward to.

We are getting married on a Saturday and our venue is actually a pretty good price (around $500), so I am sure you can find a good venue for a fair price on a Saturday. The most money I am saving (or hope to save) is on alcohol at dinner. The price for an open bar is way more than what it will cost to just have the run a tab. Trust me. People don't drink as much at a wedding as you think they do. You always have your Uncle Ricos and the like that will make an a$$ of themselves, but for the most part, people keep it under control. So, rather than be charged by the hour, I will be charged by the drink and probably save around a grand. We are also ordering our own flowers and getting those from Sam's, which is much cheaper than a regular florist. You can take the flowers to a florist and have them do the bouquet or (if you are like us), you have floral designers in the family to do that for you.

Feel free to PM me or email me ([email protected]) with any other questions. I have lived this for about a year and will be glad when it is over, but am looking forward to the actual day. I am glad to share any secrets I have learned along the way.
 
We got married here about 4 years ago. It was about $10k for everything, including the wedding and the reception with dinner and premium liquor, beer, and wine. We had about 110 people.

Lakeway

The only thing it didn't include was our honeymoon in Costa Rica, but that wasn't too expensive either, all things considered.

When we got married, they were just starting to do weddings, so it was cheap and they were very willing to do everything including the wedding cake and groomsman cake. I have no idea how much it costs there now, but its worth checking out.

One thing to consider to save some money is to get the flowers from the florist at Randall's, HEB, etc. It will be MUCH cheaper and they can still look really nice.
 
If you do your wedding in Austin, I think the key is to find a place that allows you to bring in your own food and alcohol. When we did our wedding 10 years ago, we had the reception at Saengerrunde Hall (which easily accommodates 300). Back then I think it was like $500 to rent the hall and you could bring your own food an alcohol. We catered BBQ and brought in wine, kegs, and a margarita machine, making the reception very inexpensive. I think the Saengerrunde Hall is now $900, but that is still very reasonable and can make it affordable to have wedding that includes a full meal and alcohol.
 
Why not have it in a public place like Zilker Park? Or something a like more private like Pace Bend Park? In Houston at least, there are places that will rent you everything you need for the wedding: chairs, tables, tablecloths, napkins, plates, silverwear. They'll even deliver it, set it up and take it all away when you're done. Cater it with BBQ or Tex Mex. Amy's Ice Cream caters too. Add a keg a margarita machine and some music. Instant party. Reasonable price.

Bernard
 
how "instant" is it if you have to find the place, rent all the stuff, find catering, setup a margarita machine, etc?
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just giving you ****.
 
As someone who is planning a local wedding right now, It can be done reasonably if you're willing to put in the time. Food and alcohol are two of the biggest expenses, and you can save substantiallly by finding a facility that lets you bring in your own. Even hiring our own caterer was cheaper than using one required by our second choice facility... Alcohol is MUCH cheaper to buy yourself and hire bartenders to serve....
Think about what you want as far as photographers go. With the emphasis on digital, do you want them to print out all of your photos and put together your album, or are you willing to hire them by the hour and just get the touched up images on CD with copyright release so that you can do all that yourself?
It all depends on how much work you're willing to do and how much time you have. Go to the big bridal shows to get an idea what is out there, then start talking to friends and getting word of mouth recommendations for independent vendors. You'll have a base from the show to use as comparison. Most of the vendors who are at the show have bought into the "wedding industry" and price themselves accordingly. Many private vendors who don't advertise widely are happy to get your business and will give you more personalized attention for a much lower price... If you can find one, they can recommend vendors for your other items... For example, our baker recommended our florist, and they each had photographers they recommended.
Good luck and congrats!
 
Check out Austinweddings.com for local info. I did a spreadsheet that included things such as price, # of ppl it would hold, food and alcohol rules, inside or outside etc.

Depending on how nice of a facility you want, there are some nice neighborhood community centers around that have pretty good deals, they are perfect for small weddings.

Specs is the best price for alcohol. BBQ is usually one of the cheapest for a full meal. If you have the reception around 4:00, you don't have to provide as much food. We used Sugar Fancy (http://www.sugarfancy.com) for our cakes, stick with buttercream instead of fondant, a lot cheaper.

For music, I did playlists on my laptop and we hooked it up the speakers.

I found that most of the wedding vendors I talked with could do a smaller package if you tell them your on a budget.

My friend is starting a wedding photography business and is pretty good. I liked the photos she took better than the photographer we hired. The only deal is that she is in Lubbock but if you pay her plane ticket she will come down (she's from Austin).The Link

PM if you want more help or suggestions
 
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