This is obviously a private thing for many Brides and Grooms…as it is for us. However, I know that when I was planning my wedding I was anxious to read about what real couples were paying for their weddings…so I could have a good idea what I might expect to pay for a wedding of similar scope. So here is our wedding budget breakdown:
Ashley & Patrick: Kingston, Ontario (planning from Victoria, British Columbia)
Initial Budget: $28 000
Guests: 120
Planning Time: 2 years
Ceremony: $200 - We were married at St. Mary's Cathedral. It is a gorgeous Catholic Cathedral in Kingston. It amazes me how little the fee is to use this beautiful Church. We're still trying to think of a way to thank our Priest for doing a fabulous job. It really was special to us to be married here.
Reception: $7600 - Our reception was held at the Queen's University Club in Kingston. I attended Queen's for my undergraduate degree…it is a lovely spot to host a reception…the food options are plenty and very tasty. This price include a hosted bar for the cocktail hour and a half as well as wine during dinner. The total cost for alcohol was $592 for the bar and $508 for the wine. We regret not having an open bar for the entire evening…we didn't do this because we feared what the cost would be…but were pleasantly surprised with how low the cocktail hour and half came in as. We were expecting more like $1400 - eep! The reception location including all tables, chairs, linens (we provided our own table runners) etc. This also included the setup and take down…which is amazing in itself…they decorated the entire place to our specifications and did an amazing job!
Bridal Attire: $760 - I ordered my wedding gown from www.netbride.com one of the best decisions I made. Not only do they have a great selection of designers to choose from, but they offer speedy delivery and excellent customer service. I was a little concerned about sizing when I ordered the dress…but I tried on dresses from the same designer before ordering and it all went smoothly. I did take a bit of a risk though…I had never tired on the dress before ordering…lol It all worked out and I received many complements on the dress. Purchasing an inexpensive gown online was the ideal for me…it wasn't a top priority to find a designer gown made of the finest materials (silk etc). And honestly, as a Bride in a beautiful white gown, you will look gorgeous regardless if you spend $400 or $14 000 on it - it's your wedding day…you are already glowing from within!
Stationary: $720 - This included my DIY Invitiations, Save The Dates, Ceremony Programs, Menus, Place cards, Thank You Cards and postage. My originally budget was $500 but quickly went up as the cost of materials was more expensive than I had originally thought. I should also note that all of the laser printing was done on a friend's printer, so I didn't incur any costs for that. It was an incredible amount of work, but so rewarding - we received many compliments!
Favours: $200 for $140 favours. We gave boxes of Junior Mints (who doesn't love Junior Mints?!?) wrapped and tied with a ribbon and a www.moo.com card attached. They were a hit! There are so many cute favours out there, from wine stoppers, to photo frames…but for myself, edible favours seemed to hit the mark.
Guestbook: $8 - we ordered a photo guestbook from www.shutterfly.com Obviously the cost is more than $8…that just covered the shipping. We took advantage of a promotion that www.tripadvisor.com was having and saved a bundle!
Photography: $1075 - This includes both engagement pictures and the day of (although they were done by different photographers). Because we booked our fabulous photographer so far in advance - a year or so - we were able to take advantage of the 2006/7 prices. I've found that photographer prices have gone up considerable in general over the last year…but even if we had to pay the current prices, we would have went for it…all you have after your wedding day is your memories, your new husband and your photographs! I should also mention that this price doesn't include albums or prints and it was for 7 hours of work.
Videography: $0 - I kind of regret not having a videographer. We were originally just going to use our own video camera…but my new husband forgot to set it up! I also thought my Aunt's boyfriend was going to record it, as he did for my sisters…but he didn't. We did however, luck out and notice that one of Patrick's uncles was recording it - but unfortunately, it is a little grainy.
Ceremony and Reception Music: $175 - We hired one of the Church's Organists to play during our ceremony. It was lovely, but it would have been ideal if she had come to the Rehearsal…ah well. For our reception we created a play list on itunes and using our laptop we asked a cousin to manage it - we gave him a gift card as a thank you. Although our cousin did a great job, in hindsight we would have just hired a DJ…that and had a hosted bar all evening…lol
Floral: $1450 - This included all of our personal flowers, as well as those for the Church and reception tables…we DIY'd the centerpieces…but everything else was professionally done. We used Costco and www.123roses.ca as our supplier for the DIY - they were great!
Cake: $425 - We used Cakes By Krista. The cake was delish…but the decorating was sub-par…it wasn't anything like I envisioned…not sure if this was my fault or hers…I also regret spending so much on cake…so much went uneaten (and that was after had 4 pieces…lol). We've already dug into part of the left over bottom layer and no freezer burn! We can't wait to eat the rest of the top layer on our anniversary! Can you believe I was able to bring it back to Victoria all the way from Belleville, Ontario? Thank goodness for freezer bags!
Hair and Make Up: $245 - My hair was done at an Aveda Concepts Salon called "Diva Salon"…the owner/manager was a dream to work with…but way too much product was used…lol. The amount I'm quoting included a hair trial…which was a waste of money in my opinion. I did my own makeup but had a trial at MAC where I had to purchase so much make up…this too was kind of a waste of money. On the day of I wore minimal makeup and I still felt great. You don't need to cake it on just because it is your wedding day ;p
Men's Attire: $695 - This included 4 groomsmen ties and one Father of the Bride tie. My Groom purchased a 3 button black wool suite, a new shirt and tie, as well as cuff-links…he sure looked sharp! The suit was from Moores here in Victoria…they kind of lacked customer service and organization…ah well. He also had his alterations done there…the pants ended up being hemmed too short and had to be fixed - no biggie, right?
Gifts: $1600 - This includes bridesmaid gifts, groomsmen gifts, gifts for the parents, aunt and uncles involved, flower girl and ring bearer an, the readers, etc. etc. It is a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but a lot of people also helped make our day the day that it was - no regrets here!
Assorted Décor: $1000 - This included the fabulous table runners my lovely Aunt made for us, matches, napkins, votive place cards, table numbers and frames…etc, etc. I honestly don't think people spend enough on décor. Unless your venue is already amazing…spend some of the budget and use some elbow grease to make the place beautiful! It is amazing how many pictures you'll get back from people at the venue…you want it to look great!
Transportation: $2000 - This includes flights and car rentals…but not hotels. Technically we are a "destination wedding" couple…our destination just wasn't tropical… We still had to pay for many of the costs of having a destination wedding…hotels, flights, car rental, shipping of décor items, etc. On the actual day of my Dad used his car to drive me to the Cathedral. My 'maids used their cars and my Groom used our rental…which was also our get away car. It all worked out great in the end. The only small regret I have is not hiring someone to drive my Dad and I to the Church…there was supposed to be saved parking for us out front….somehow there didn't end up being enough room…or so we thought - it was a little stressful. It would have been nice for my Dad and I to just get dropped off and not worry about parking ;)
Total Cost: $24 200.02
Below I'll post some screen prints of our excel spreadsheet…which is a bit more detailed. Click on them to enlarge.
Was it worth it? Absolutely! But, the 24K would have be A LOT harder to stomach if we had to shell it out all in a matter of 6 months…or even a year. We've spent this much over the last two years…it made it a little easier (likely easier to overspend too ;) And like I said before, my Dad paid for a lot of the costs and for that we are so thankful for!
