I’m getting married in about three months. THREE! Gaaah! The crazy dreams have started. Tuesday night is was my dress getting lost and me wearing a black slip dress down the aisle and a Welding Convention happening at our reception venue. At least it was on a beach? Last week it was the guys showing up late, they were wearing Carhartts and it was SNOWING. Oh lordy.
In the next three months we have to: make the favours, make the table number holders, buy stuff for centerpieces, get my gown fitted (which still hasn’t arrived!), get the guys measured up for the their tuxes, pick the rest of the music, buy the marriage license …. I’ m pretty sure this list could go on forever!
Now, onto the budget. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to display how we worked everything out. Really, we didn’t have a set budget. There was a bit on the news the other days that said that average cost for a wedding in Canada was about $25,000! Luckily, our total thus far is was under that – about $11,000! Not too shabby, right?
We’ve been using Microsoft Excel to keep track of everything:
Basically what we did was list everything that we needed and tried to figure out how much we wanted to spend on it. There were fixed costs, such as the marriage commissioner and license, that we have no control over, but everything else was somewhat flexible and under our control. From there, it was all estimates.
We budgeted high for everything, hoping that we’ll come under budget on most things, especially the liquor and decorations. And another important thing was making sure we included what we’ve already put money towards and how much we still owe on things, such as my dress, photography and the DJ.
Really, I’m horrible with budgeting and numbers, but having everything laid out in front of me like this really helps me remember where we are and what still has to be taken care of. Please, if you have ANY questions – ask! I’ll be more than happy to share any details on how we budgeted without budgeting. (Like the limo? Totally wasn’t on our list originally but we’ll be oh-so-gangsta! lol)
How do YOU budget for events?
She Writes Words 
our wedding was around 22k, whew. so much money for one day, but it was so worth it, since everything was wonderful!
we went the excel spreadsheet route as well in terms of keeping track of EVERYTHING!
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First – you are so freaking organized! LOVE the excel spreadsheet.
Second, HOLY CRAP wedding stuff is expensive. Guess my dream of having a nice simple, $10,000ish wedding is out the window :S
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It’s definitely cheaper if you can find venues that you don’t have to pay for. Community halls are cheaper than conference centers, but back yards are even better, lol.
I think a $10,000 shing-dig could be possible, as long as you’re willing to sacrifice some things.
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I’ve never really had to organise a big event – never had a big 18th or 21st party, so have no experience for budgeting for something like that! Also, I love your spreadsheet.
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I’ve never organized anything huge either, but I think I’m a bit of a natural planner – I just like getting things done! Not that I’m going to quit my jobs and become a wedding planner. I don’t think I could handle bossy brides, lol!
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I’ve really never organized a big event like this. Only birthday and Superbowl and holiday parties. ;) And mostly, we just budgeted for food and nothing else. I think you would HAVE to be this organized to keep in your budget.
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You are so organized! I love it! :)
Weddings ARE expensive, but it’s going to be so worth it!
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Wedding budgeting is so fun hey?! ….(I hate it) Looks like you’ve done a great job though!
One thing I can’t stand is when you’ve decided on a service/put down a deposit then you come across or hear from another friend who’s getting married that it could’ve cost you way less had you got it at such-and-such place. Ack! I guess it’s all part of the experience though. :P
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