Budget

So our original budget was $15,000. . . . and we actually made it!!!

We made the decision to splurge on:

The Photography - $2000

The Rabbi (We want to have the rabbi that is doing my conversion to officiate at our ceremony. That means that we will be flying him to our venue and paying for him to stay overnight.) - $750

The food (I loooooooooooove good food and I really wanted to have a nice meal at the wedding) -$3000

Beverage - $1700

String Trio (in honor of my grandpa that loved music) - $700

My dress, alterations, accessories, hair, and makeup (I guess I'm just too vain, but I've always dreamed of feeling beautiful on our wedding day. . .)- $2000 . . . and a second dress for a trash the dress shoot . . . and a third dress when I gained enough weight that my seamstress said "too tight in the hips" and "lose weight before the wedding" . . . means I'm out another $1000

Day of Coordinator (I don't handle stress well) - $1000 . . . and an extra person . . . +$200 more

That leaves slightly less than $4000 for EVERYTHING else. Other big ticket items were:

Chuppah (I over-ordered raw materials, but total cost for ALL materials was) - $650

Table Numbers/Centerpieces - $350

Invitations (50+) - $300

Altogether the total cost will be $16,100 $16,000 including tips and tax. We went a tad over-budget, but not terribly. Everything is booked (with contracts) and I'm done with projects mostly. We paid for just under half of the wedding and my parents are covering the rest of the cost. Things not included in the budget are: rings, honeymoon, hotel room, wedding gifts to each other, and the suit (he had one).

It makes me cringe to see how much money we are spending in relation to this event. I see so many places where I could have done something differently and saved another $100, but it's a bit late now to go back and change things.

I try to make myself feel better by adding up the money I saved with DIY projects (a little over $5300) and through bargain hunting/"the look for less decisions" (around $10,000).

Hopefully, I can also sell some things after the wedding and maybe recoup $1000 or so. That would put the total expenditure at budget. ;)