I kind of want a wedding now... Advice?

My fiance's cousin got married on May 10, and after seeing her wedding pictures, I want a wedding too. My fiance says it's ok, but we'll have to change the date to sometime in 2010 so we can save the money. We are very prepared to do this, in my opinion it will give us plenty of time and I won't have so much to stress about at once (moving to another state, getting married 13 days later, etc.) But, since it's my idea, I'm in charge of the planning. My questions are:





1) What are some good months to have an afternoon outdoor wedding (anytime between 4 and 6 pm)?





2) Here are two different budgets we are looking at: $5000 and $10,000. We want to have a photographer, caterer, around 300 or 400 guests, officiant, venue, florist, invitations, dress, tux, 6 attendants each, hair, nails, make up,and all that fancy jazz. Can anybody lay out the two budgets for me?





3) Any neat ideas? Fun things. Things we like are: butterflies, fairies, flowers, nature, thing like that.





Thanks in advance!

I kind of want a wedding now... Advice?
Hi. Wow! You have done a 360 from wanting an elopement to going to a 400 guest wedding! That is quite the turnaround.





Anyway....with everything you want, I think you will need more than $10K.





I agree with the other poster who said to decide what things you want to splurge on.....then go down the list from there.





My biggest suggestion is to make out a spreadsheet. Decide what you absolutely will NOT do without....maybe that's a $1500 dress.....or maybe its a great photographer....whatever. Just decide what you want and lay it all out. You have lots of time to look at venues, go to bridal shows, etc.





It's really hard for any of us to layout a budget for you, because it all depends on what things cost in your particular area. I live in a rural area where you can get things cheaper. If you live in a medium-large city....it's going to cost.





Just do a lot of research....look at lots of options regarding venues, etc. Go on theknot.com and look up vendors in your area....or search the yellow pages!





Good luck.
Reply:depending on where you are located I dont think you can do a 300-400 guest wedding on either of those budgets..... catering alone is usually 20-50 per plate.. so for 300 guests thats 6000-15000... Djs are usually 600-1000 photographers are 1500-3000 invitations are going to be around 200 etc... So maybe you could scale down your list or get a bigger budget
Reply:if you like butterflies i know someone had their wedding in a butterfly garden. of course it was inside but if i'm correct there was no fee.
Reply:You cannot feed 400-500 people for 10,000.
Reply:Well for what you want youre going to NEED a bigger budget unless you skimp on a lot!





Catering is the Biggest expense and for 400 people it's going to be WAY expensive. I'm only having 100 guests and my bill for food is $4000!





Youre going to have to pick what youre willing to splurge on and what you can skimp on. Dont have a June wedding prices are much more expensive then!





Goodluck and SAVE UP!
Reply:To help you figure out what money should be allotted where, here is a rough estimate of the percentage for your budget:


Let's use the $10,000 one so you can see it in numbers:


Reception: food and venue 40% = $4000


Photography: 15% = $1500


Stationary/Invitations etc: 3% = $300


DJ/Music: 6 %= $600


Flowers 12%= $1200


Wedding attire: 10% = $1000


Misc: (Wedding consultant,Wedding Rings,Attendants gifts, Marriage License, Rehearsal dinner, Transportation, Church, Venue fees,Officiant fees,Favors) : 14% = $1400





If you can fit everything into these percentages then you can do the wedding for your prospective budget.





best wishes...............
Reply:do yourself a favor and ask this question what are the 3 most important things? then spend the most on that and everything else will fall into place"you really don't want to spend allot of money on things you don't care about but think your guest will believe me they won't. (get entertainment like dancers to get people dancing and learning new moves or magicians to walk around to the tables to add some other type of fun.)





Good luck !! remember don't get stuck into details have fun!!!!
Reply:Hi a good month would be mid july, you could hire a marquee if you have a large garden or know someone who has and hire outside caterers. As you like butterflies you could have a tall foliage display in glass vases on the tables dotted with your choice of flowers and some glittery butterflies entwined. You could have a fairy and a pixie for the bride and groom on top of your cake. I don't know about american prices but my wedding cost £5,000 and we only had 40 guests in the day and 100 in the evening reception and I was careful with the budget. I think you would have to cut back in some areas maybe??
Reply:First, the months will be dependant on your area/climate, but I think the safest outside months for most places are late summer/early fall. The weather usually is drier so there is less chance for rain.


Second, for the number of guests you want to include you will probably have to go with the $10K budget, although a less extravagant wedding can be done for the lower budget. My wedding was 225 guests and was well under $10k.


Start looking into wedding websites for ideas. (theknot.com is a good one) With the amount of time you have to plan, you'll be able to make the most of your budget.


Photographer: Shop around and book early. This way you'll avoid any possible rate increases.


Caterer: Tell them upfront that you want to make the most of your budget. The good ones willl be able to help you make the most affordable choices.


Venue: If you're doing it outside, it would be most beneficial to have the wedding/reception at the same place, cutting costs. If it's a larger outside area, you could have guests move to a "cocktail area" while your pictures are being done (which would be a stand/mingle affair) while you have people move the wedding ceremony seats to the reception tables. This would cut down on chair rentals.


Florist: Go with flowers that are in season, they're cheaper and being "seasonal" they'll accent your wedding day wonderfully.


Invitations: Don't go extravagant, people rarely care what the invite looks or feels like. There are several good programs for making your own that are just as good as any you can have professionally made for a fraction of the cost.


Dress: Start shopping for a dress now. I actually got my dress before I was even officially engaged! I found the dress I loved in a bridal shop that was going out of business for under $200! If you shop David's Bridal on their sales, you're bound to find something you love.


Tux: Most tux rental places give the groom's tux free--when the rest of the bridal party rents theirs there, usually it's a 5 tux rental minimum.


Attendants: They buy their own attire. You buy them a gift. Again, your planning early enough that you can pick up things here and there from now until the wedding. I gave my girls their jewelry (which I found on sale during a Christmas sale at Dillards), jewelry boxes (again, this was an after Christmas sale), and Bath and Body Works lotions/bodywash in their favorite scents.


Hair: Check online sites (like ebay) for your head piece or veil. There are amazing deals out there. Have your normal stylist do your hair. They're used to working with it and probably won't be tempted to charge you a ton.


Nails: Eh, that's $30. Not bad.


MakeUp: Unless you rarely wear makeup, just do your own. You'll look more like yourself and feel comfortable in it. It's Your sheer wedding day radiance that makes brides beautiful, not their make up artist. If you definitely want someone else to do your makeup look up your local Mary Kay rep. They're usually all about doing wedding day make up, especially if it means a potential future sale.


Third, definitely play up the season for your decor. If you choose fall, decorate with gourds/pumpkins/etc. If it's late summer use whatever flowers are in season. Again, the wedding planning sites will be very helpful with unique ideas.





Finally, good luck and most of all--have fun planning! You'll find that this time is so magical. :)