Hi all Brides to Be..........I need HELP, firstly to calm me down and secondly to have a look over my budget and see if its realistic.
We made a budget last night, I had done a bit of research from different forums on this website. I must be naive because Im shocked at the total we came up with.

If anyone would have a look at the budget below and give me your feedback I would be very grateful - I know every little bit adds up - but I didnt think it would add up so quickly
............and we are more than likely missing things.

Reception (65 x 150) 9,750
Ceremony - Church, Priest, Candles 250
Photographer 800
Band and DJ 2,200
Flowers (church & bridal party) 450
Invitations 250
Dress including veil tiara & shoes 1,800
Bridesmaids Dresses, shoes & hairpieces 400
Transport 500
Bestmen Suits 1,000
Church Music 500
Hair for Bridal Party, Bride, 2 x bm's &mam300
Make up Bridal Party 200
Wedding Rings 800
Honeymoon 4,000
Favours 500
Extra at reception ? 500
Cake 350

Total 24,550

Thanks in advance

Right have you booked anything yet?

€65 a head would be fairly on the expensive side for a hotel.
Does your church charge a fee for using it? some do, mine doesn’t. If it does you have to pay this in addition to the cost of the priest. Also altar servers and sacristan usually need to be paid. Most priests also require a pre-marriage course to be done at €150 roughly.
For a cd only package you might get a photographer for €800 but still might be on the short side depending on what style of photography you like. My photographer does a brilliant cd only package for €500 but that is exceptionally good value.
Band and dj price is good estimate, I am paying 2k
Flowers – shop around and negotiate, I am getting mine for €300
Invitations – DIY is a lot cheaper, mine cost me €70 but depends on the amount of work you want to put in
Fairly realistic for dress, shoes and veil. Loads of people buying veil on ebay and pure bliss, can’t vouch for them myself but good reviews
How many bridesmaid before I can comment on this?
Transport again shop around and depends on the distance to travel – I am paying €150
Bestmen suit – are you buying or hiring?? How many people to dress? Seems very high. I am paying around €500 to rent 4 suits.
Church music seems realistic and you will get someone really good for that.
For hair and make-up I found using a local beautican’s and hairdresser a lot more reasonable, for 4 hair and 3 makeup I will be paying about €250 by using local suppliers and going to the salon.
Rings seems realistic if you are having no diamonds. We paid €800 for 2 plain gold bands so if you are having platinum or diamonds they will be more.
Honeymoon is very personal so not sure.
Favours and extras is whatever you want to spend yourself.
Cake is ok, I am paying €350 for mine but got a good deal at a wedding fair so shop around.

Things you are missing:
Premarriage course – usually around €150
Sacristan €50 generally
Altar servers €20 each generally
Gifts for bridal party depends on what you decide yourself
Mass booklets – again can be cheap enough to DIY but depends on the effort you want to put in
Register your intent to marry with the HSE – think this was €180

Off the top of my head that is all I can think of

Togglies wrote:Hi all Brides to Be..........I need HELP, firstly to calm me down and secondly to have a look over my budget and see if its realistic.
We made a budget last night, I had done a bit of research from different forums on this website. I must be naive because Im shocked at the total we came up with.

If anyone would have a look at the budget below and give me your feedback I would be very grateful - I know every little bit adds up - but I didnt think it would add up so quickly
............and we are more than likely missing things.

Reception (65 x 150) 9,750
Ceremony - Church, Priest, Candles 250
Photographer 800
Band and DJ 2,200
Flowers (church & bridal party) 450
Invitations 250
Dress including veil tiara & shoes 1,800
Bridesmaids Dresses, shoes & hairpieces 400
Transport 500
Bestmen Suits 1,000
Church Music 500
Hair for Bridal Party, Bride, 2 x bm's &mam300
Make up Bridal Party 200
Wedding Rings 800
Honeymoon 4,000
Favours 500
Extra at reception ? 500
Cake 350

Total 24,550

Thanks in advance

Hi Togglies,

I had a look at your list and tbh whilst there are savings to be made overall the best way to cut would be on the reception, either looking at a cheaper options or cutting your list slightly?

How many are in your bridal party? Could you reduce there?

This is what we are paying for you to compare:

Reception - €48.15pp for 4 course meal, canapes and prosecco on arrival, half bottle of wine pp, evening food, parents rooms, centre pieces, sashes, bathroom baskets, reduced room rate,
We got our candles online for about €20.00 but I wish we had just got cheap ones from Dunnes,
Photographer is €700.00 for disc only,
We are paying €1950 for band and DJ,
Flowers - €425.00
Invites - less than €100.00 from Vistaprint for invites and rsvps - don't forget postage as well,
I paid €1000.00 for my dress and less than €100.00 for shoes, hair piece and veil - veil was a tenner on ebay and its lovely,
How many BMs are you having? €400.00 all in for 2 would be good?
Maybe scrap the car or look for something a little cheaper? We are hiring one car and 2 of my uncles are taking the bridesmaids and the grooms party,
We are paying €765.00 for suits and thats for the groom, 3 best men, two ushers and the two dads,
We are paying €200.00 for our church singer who will also play piano - I asked around locally and our videographer recommended her,
The hair and makeup are around what we would be paying,
We are doing a sweet table instead of favours and at most its costing €250.00 but if I had to I would cut it.

Will you want a videographer?
Don't forget the €150.00 for registering the marriage another approx €150.00 for pre-marriage course.
Also gifts for the wedding party?

hi CarolinaMoon

Where did u get your suits????

MrsDuffy2b wrote:hi CarolinaMoon

Where did u get your suits????

Based in West Cork MrsDuffy. If thats any good to you I can pm you?

Hiya,

Just to add to what the others have said, a few area where you could cut down:

€65/head for meal is high enough- you could def get a cheaper package by shopping around or get the hotel to add in some extras (our DJ was included in our package). Remember too that the average refusal rates for weddings this year is 30% ( ours was about 33%) so if 150 is the number you are inviting you could end up with quite a few less than that.

Suits- this is a v high figure- you could def cut down by renting instead of buying.

BM dresses- you could buy off the peg or order from Dresselicious- I think they are around €60-€70 each- I'd definitely have ordered from them if they'd had the colour I wanted.

Invites- as others have said, DIY or vista print will save you a lot of money. Also, instead of putting in RSVP cards just use an email and phone number for people to reply to.

Church music- we had a singer & organist for €400- you could def get cheaper if you just had a singer.

Cars- as said before see if family can help out with bridal party.

Favours- in my opinion they could def be left out and will not be missed by guests.

Cake- you can order v reasonable wedding cakes in M&S. Also, would you consider doing your own or do you know a family member who might make one for you? Another option would be to have a smaller cake for display and pictures and just have a large slab of choc biscuit cake in the kitchen to be just cut up and put out when the cake is served.

Dress- try sample sales or buy second hand. I got mine as a sample dress on eBay and saved over half the cost of what it would have been new. Shoes- Debenhams, Next, New Look and Barratts all have bridal shoes- mine were €39 in Next.

You will get plenty of tips here on WOL for ways to cut down on the costs. Best of luck.

ETA: don't forget to haggle with all of your suppliers, it is expected and there is wiggle room with every price, especially the hotel.

We are paying
Reception (65 x 150) 9,750
Ceremony - Church, Priest, Candles 250 depending on if there is a fee to use the church it may not be this much
Photographer 800
Band and DJ 2,200 we got band, dj, church music and drinks reception for €2300
Flowers (church & bridal party) 450 €430 for our flowers with 4bms
Invitations 250
Dress including veil tiara & shoes 1,800 depending what you go for you could cut a bit off this
Bridesmaids Dresses, shoes & hairpieces 400
Transport 500 we are borrowing cars from family
Bestmen Suits 1,000 we are hiring 7 suits for €800
Church Music 500think you could save on this
Hair for Bridal Party, Bride, 2 x bm's &mam300
Make up Bridal Party 200
I think you might get a better price for hair and makeup €500 for 4 people seems expensive
Wedding Rings 800
Honeymoon 4,000
Favours 500 you should be able to cut that too
Extra at reception ? 500
Cake 350

Total 24,550

[/quote]

Ok, I don't know if you've booked any of these suppliers yet - I'm gonna assume you haven't.
Reception (65 x 150) 9,750
€65pp would be on the higher end of the scale. Our hotel is €50pp and thats with evening buffet, sparkling wine reception, 1 free glass of wine, chair covers, fairylight backdrop, etc. I'd definitely be negotiating on this!

Ceremony - Church, Priest, Candles 250
This is about right. I plan to give the priest €200

Photographer 800
Is this for CD only? Our photographer is €650 and I know there are even better deals out there!

Band and DJ 2,200
Our Band and DJ are coming to this also.

Flowers (church & bridal party) 450

What all have you got for this?? There are some great deals for flowers?? Could DIY be an option??

Invitations 250
How many invitations is this for?? Vistaprint and eBay are great for invites and very cheap!

Dress including veil tiara & shoes 1,800
Mines coming to the same,I could of picked a cheaper dress (almost €1000 cheaper!)

Bridesmaids Dresses, shoes & hairpieces 400
Would your BM's pay for their own shoes??

Transport 500
Could you get friends or relatives to drive you or get the lend of their cars?? Cars are a very personal thing. OH wanted very specific cars and it didn't matter if they were €1000, he wanted them IMO they are a waste of money cos they are used (in our case anyway) for only a very short period of time.

Bestmen Suits 1,000
This seems VERY expensive. Are you buying the suits?? Could you not rent them, prices are roughly €100pp

Church Music 500
I priced around for Church Music, got quotes up to €900 but ended up booking a girl for €250 that I'm very pleased with.

Hair for Bridal Party, Bride, 2 x bm's &mam300
Seems a little high. Have you priced your local salon for normal up-do's, without mentioning it for a wedding?? Also, maybe your bridal party might pay a little towards it??

Make up Bridal Party 200
I'm paying this

Wedding Rings 800
Definitely price around, there are some deals to be had. Is your h2b gonna wear his ring all the time? If he's like my h2b he won't be so there is no need for him to have a mad expensive ring...

Honeymoon 4,000
Honeymoons are a very personal thing. I know ours will probably be extortiate if h2b has anything to do with it. Would you think of postponing it until a couple of months afterwards until you save for it?

Favours 500
If budget is getting tight, favours would be the first thing to go. They are an unneccessary expence and a lot of the time they get left behind. There was a thread on here in the past few days about whether to have favours or not and there was some great DIY ideas that were really cost effective.

Extra at reception ? 500
How do you mean???

Cake 350
Have you priced a cake without mentioning its for a wedding??? A friend had a 2 tier cake for their kids brithday and it was €60 and yet 3 tier wedding cakes are €300-400?!! Some suppliers put a saddle on you when they hear the word wedding?? Also, you could get a dummy cake with only 1 real tier to cut into and have the rest in the kitchen of your hotel - save on the cost of icing...

You haven't mentioned Registering Intent to the state, thats €150.
And pre-marriage course, thats another €150 roughly.
Stamps for invites
Gifts for bridal party/parents - you could pick stuff up from eBay for cheap enough..
Mass Booklets?? There are loads of templates round here that you could print out yourself. Keep them simple enough, as loads of these will be left after people in the church

I thought I posted a reply but it seems to have gone into cyberspace

Thanks a million for all your help - I can see different places to cut around the edges.
Im in the Louth/Meath area and there arent many places to choose from, one place has quoted 66.50 and the other 65.00......48.15 is excellent for what you are getting. Im not really being fussy with my location but those were the two places that Ive always liked - when is the best time to haggle with the hotel?
The CD package will be fine with us and we dont want a video (im sure there are with be a few amatures about)

I will do the invitations and mass booklets.
Im sure I will find a couple of cars - among friends or family.........
I hadnt a notion about hire of suits so that was the figure i estimated, thats great I can get for cheaper - do we hire suits for my dad and my h2b's dad???
We are having 2 BM's and two bestmen.
Im sure I could reduce the hair - although il need a full head of highlights so thats why i aimed high for that ha
I had €500 for the sweet table - carolinamoon - so glad that it will be a bit cheaper doing it DIY - i saw a few places charging 450-500.

I forgot about Alter Servers, the cost of the premarriage course and I didnt know about applying to the HSE ......this forum is fab for enlightening you

My sweet table is coming in about €210 or so and we have bought loads for it. there are loads of templates for mass booklets around here so just ask for a template when the time comes for doing it rather than trying to do it from scratch yourself.
I ordered by bridesmaid dresses online from jaysbridal.net. They are Jasmine dresses that would have cost €280 in shops here and I got for €140 each for genuine dresses.
Most people do hire suits for the dad’s but even still that is only 5 suits you need and they are usually around €100 each.

Are you having flowergirls or pageboys cos that will be another expense aswell??

If you are going for a €65 a head package make sure to check what is included – the days of paying for chair covers and bar extensions are long gone so things like these extras should be included or else can add a lot extra to the price of the day. Other extras included in our package for €50 a head is 2 rooms for the parents, all room decorations, chair covers, bar extension, choice of main course (this is in addition to usual summer punch/tea coffee on arrival etc). We negotiated and got the evening food and some canapes on arrival included also. Also we aren’t doing a toast drink so saving about €500 there.

As another poster said regret rates are higher this year than they have being previously so be careful when booking a hotel of what the minimum numbers are as you could end up paying for guests who aren’t there.

Togglies wrote:I thought I posted a reply but it seems to have gone into cyberspace

Thanks a million for all your help - I can see different places to cut around the edges.
Im in the Louth/Meath area and there arent many places to choose from, one place has quoted 66.50 and the other 65.00......48.15 is excellent for what you are getting. Im not really being fussy with my location but those were the two places that Ive always liked - when is the best time to haggle with the hotel?
The CD package will be fine with us and we dont want a video (im sure there are with be a few amatures about)

I will do the invitations and mass booklets.
Im sure I will find a couple of cars - among friends or family.........
I hadnt a notion about hire of suits so that was the figure i estimated, thats great I can get for cheaper - do we hire suits for my dad and my h2b's dad???
We are having 2 BM's and two bestmen.
Im sure I could reduce the hair - although il need a full head of highlights so thats why i aimed high for that ha
I had €500 for the sweet table - carolinamoon - so glad that it will be a bit cheaper doing it DIY - i saw a few places charging 450-500.

I forgot about Alter Servers, the cost of the premarriage course and I didnt know about applying to the HSE ......this forum is fab for enlightening you

Oh the sweet table is definitely cheaper to DIY than pay someone. Start collecting jars and bowls and vases when you see them. The €2 shop and Ikea are meant to be great to pick these up.

Yes, the HSE is the most important part - you aren't legally married without it!!

Regarding the suits - definitely check around for this. We were quoted €100-120pp at a local wedding fayre and one day I was in Dundalk seen one shop advertising suit hire for €65pp with free suit. Whether you kit out the two dads is totally up to you. It looks great in photos when everyone is kitted out the same but a couple of years ago it was never done!! Ask your dads what they think? Some might rather to wear their own suit and some might want to be the same as your h2b!

Enjoy all the planning

Togglies wrote:Thanks a million for all your help - I can see different places to cut around the edges.
Im in the Louth/Meath area and there arent many places to choose from, one place has quoted 66.50 and the other 65.00......48.15 is excellent for what you are getting. Im not really being fussy with my location but those were the two places that Ive always liked - when is the best time to haggle with the hotel?

Def haggle with the hotel before you pay your deposit. You should def be able to negotiate those packages down to €50-€55 per head. My husband is the negotiator in our relationship so I did all the research and he went in to make all the deals . Be firm- no matter how much you want the venue don't let on- be sure to let them know you are between them and another venue. And as others have said, things such as chair covers, centre pieces, arrival punch/tea/coffee, bar extension, choice of starters/mains, rooms for bride & groom and their parents, etc. should all be included. At that price wine (half a bottle or 2 glasses per person) should also be included.
Best of luck with it all

[Removed, ]

Togglies wrote:Thanks a million for all your help - I can see different places to cut around the edges.
Im in the Louth/Meath area and there arent many places to choose from, one place has quoted 66.50 and the other 65.00......48.15 is excellent for what you are getting. Im not really being fussy with my location but those were the two places that Ive always liked - when is the best time to haggle with the hotel?
The CD package will be fine with us and we dont want a video (im sure there are with be a few amatures about)

+1 definitely haggle with your hotel BEFORE you pay your deposit and make sure any changes or extra you manage to negotiate are stated in the contract!

On haggling our package was originally €60pp and I got it down to €50pp. Then I got a reduction on the VAT last year bringing it down to €48.15.....