Stuck on You: Wedding Budget

The title of this post is a misnomer. The Pin Cushions didn't actual budget for our wedding.

That's not to say we were throwing money around willy nilly. We tried to keep costs down and had a general "around $20 thousand" goal, but we did not budget out every item from the get go. I admire couples who sit down with a notebook, or a google doc, and chart out what they think each purchase will cost, plan accordingly, and change their future habits based on past purchases. Truly, truly impressive.

We couldn't do that. 1) We've never been budgeters. I think my "being cheap" gene has helped me to not need to budget too much (plus I'm lazy!). And 2) We had no idea about the cost of ANYTHING related to a wedding, so trying to guess numbers would have been fairly pointless.

So, we had a general goal of $20,000 (when it's written out, it sure sounds like a whole lot of cash). We tried to make money conscious decisions but weren't ever sticklers about one item being 'over budget'. If something seemed too expensive, we didn't use it. Though Mr. Pin Cushion may be a scientist, we didn't go about the process too scientifically.

Enough with the gabbing, here is the Pin Cushion Wedding Cost Breakdown:

Venue: Radonich Ranch with coordination from Vignette Events
Cost: $10,142.00
Our venue included a whole slew of goodies. Not only did it include the site, but they provided food, non alcoholic beverages, rentals (tables, chairs, silverware etc), flowers for the ceremony site and the reception, plus the venue coordinator, Marky, was creative and great to work with.
The venue fee was $3,000.
Food cost per person was $72 ($36 for children and vendors)

Photography: The Weaver House (Formerly Steep Street Photography)
Cost: $4,114.80 (includes travel fees from Portland to San Francisco and tip)
We had our photographer, Kelty, and her second shooter, for the entire day. We received more than 800 edited photos. She sent us all of our images on CDs, plus we have full access and rights to our photos.

Bride's Attire and Beauty:

Cost: $2307.35
Wedding Dress: $1,698.35

Birdcage veil and hair flower: $70
Alterations (including tip): $225
Shoes: $154
Hair and Makeup (including trial and tip): $160

Groom's Attire (no beautification necessary)

Cost: $245
3 Piece Suit from Express Men: $215
Custom made Gingham Tie: $30

Cookie Table

Cost: $116.22
Cookie Jars from Crate and Barrel: $53.80
Table Runner (Ikea fabric): $15.98
Glass Milk Bottles (Ikea): $11.97
Red and White Napkins: $4.47
Ingredients (a guesstimate since I did not keep receipts or keep track of ingredient cost): $30

Band: Full Tilt Band

Cost: $2000.00 (including tips)

4 man band (well, 3 men and 1 woman). They played for 3 hours during our dinner and for boogeying down. The singer also did the announcements (of us as a couple, time for cake etc)

Reception Tables:
Cost: $187.21
Table Numbers (stands, paper and ric rac): $50.69
Green Burlap Runners: $56.62
Striped Napkins (made from Ikea fabric): $79.90

Flowers: Lina Floral

Cost: $539.00
As I mentioned, our venue coordinator did the flowers for our ceremony and reception, so we just needed the flowers for "our people"
Bridal Bouquet: $95
6 Bridesmaid Bouquets: $270
7 Boutonnieres: $84
6 Wristlets (instead of pinned corsages): $90

Rings

Cost: $59.94 (does not include my engagement ring)
Groom's Ring (includes shipping): $59.94
Bride's Ring: none. I ended up not finding a ring that I liked enough to fit with my engagement ring, so I took off my ring before the ceremony and he gave it back when we exchanged rings.

Fauxto Booth: DIYed

Cost: $24.97
Fabic and PVC Pipe: $19.98
Props (chalkboard, fake flowers, handmade mustaches): $4.99

Miscellaneous Costs (including things that were too cute not to buy):
Cost: $220.58
Stripey Straws: $10.25
Ikea Frames (to hold instructions for guestbook, fauxtobooth): $7.98
Croquet Set and Picnic Basket (Craigslist): $40
Ribbon (used for a whole slew of things): $53.75
HUGE balloons for photoshoot: $36.95
Ribbon Wands (DIYed) and tin holder: $22.95

Assorted fabrics and baker's twine: $48.70

Cake: The Buttery
Cost: $400
This was for the simple, 3 tiered cake. It did not include delivery, which ended up being more than a bit of a headache on the day of (it was questionable whether my parents, who were picking up the cake [one of which was the officiant]) were going to make it in time for the wedding).

Guestbook: Components all bought at PaperSource

Cost: $94.05
Envelopes and cards: $54.10
Blank scrapbook: $39.95

Favors:

Cost: $30

60 strawberry plants (we had some casualties). We also used leftover twine and fabric from other projects.

Paper Products: All DIYed

Cost: $327.53
Save the Dates (envelopes, paper, Moo cards): $88.65
Invitations (envelopes, paper, printing, cutting): $93.90
Thank You Cards (fabric, envelopes, cards, stamp and ink pad): $42.18
Postage for everything: $102.80

Alcoholic Beverages: Bought at Costco

Cost: $1095.00
Hard alcohol was not allowed at our venue, so we just provided beer and wine.
White Wine (3 cases, $16 a bottle): $567.00
Red Wine (2 cases, $11 a bottle): $264.00
Beer (3 cases Stella Artois and 4 cases Fat Tire): $154.00
Champagne (10 bottles, about $11 each): $110

Total cost: $21,985.78
$21,658.65

Are you and your partner stringent about budgeting? Do you have a strict budget, or are you looser with your purchases? Also, feel free to ask me any questions about the Pin Cushion Budget. 

All photos by the aforementioned and fabulous The Weaver House 

Stuck on You: The End of the Night

Before we realized it, the end of our wedding day had arrived. We had an early start to our wedding (3pm) and the party ended at 9pm. While we were planning, I was super concerned that it would feel as though we were shutting the fun down early. But on the actual day, I was so exhausted, mentally, emotionally and physically, I can't imagine wanting to keep partying. I was more than ready to hit the hay come nine o'clock.  

We gathered everyone and took one huge guest photo. 

And then we made our getaway to a nearby hotel in my pom-pom'ed out Honda Civic.

Are you planning an all-night rager for your wedding? Or are you going to have a reasonable bedtime after your I Dos? I would have fallen asleep on the dance floor if we had tried to party any longer!

All photos by the fabulous Weaver House 

Pin Cushion Flashback:
The gals hit up the salon. Then, the gang gets dressed. We have a sob-filled first look.
Our wedding party poses with kids' murals. And we make them wear fake noses and hold balloons.
The cermony site gets pimped out. I have an emotional breakdown before walking down the aisle. The Pin Cushions get married. We're happy at happy hour. We have an unconventional guest book and give guests strawberry plant favors. We strand our guests without a table. Speech, Speech! Our guests enjoy cookies and wedding cake. Everyone busts a move on the dance floor. And busts a gut laughing. 

Stuck on You: Laughing

If our wedding photos had a theme, I think it would be laughing. Which ain't too shabby if you ask me. We got some awesome eyes-closed, mouth-wide-open, leaning-over, cover-your-mouth laughing photos.

Everyone got involved:

Fab sisters in laws

Our officiant (my dad)

The groom and his groupies

Pin Cushion Aunt

My cousin Kaitlyn (that is a real good laugh there!)

Friends being dorks

Mr. Pin Cushion's Grandma

Laughing while sitting at tables

Laughing while catching up

Full on clapping to emphasize the funniness laughing!

My grandma and I

(Good thing I didn't strain any neck muscles from laughing on my wedding day, which it looks like I'm at risk of doing in that photo)

If you could fill your wedding day with one thing, what would you choose? Love? Laughter? Chocolate? Sunshine? Family?

All photos by the fabulous Weaver House 

Pin Cushion Flashback:
The gals hit up the salon. Then, the gang gets dressed. We have a sob-filled first look.
Our wedding party poses with kids' murals. And we make them wear fake noses and hold balloons.
The cermony site gets pimped out. I have an emotional breakdown before walking down the aisle. The Pin Cushions get married. We're happy at happy hour. We have an unconventional guest book and give guests strawberry plant favors. We strand our guests without a table. Speech, Speech! Our guests enjoy cookies and wedding cake. Everyone busts a move on the dance floor. 

Stuck on You: Dance the Night Away

I applaud couples who are organized enough to start dance lessons months before the wedding. The Pin Cushions were not nearly this with-it. In fact, not only did we not take any dance lessons, we 1) didn't even rehearse once, 2) didn't pick our first dance song until a few days before the wedding.

Perhaps that lack of preparation led to us looking a bit bewildered on the dance floor.


But once the band started playing the song we (finally) picked ("I Got You, Babe" by Sonny and Cher), we started to get in the groove.


And before long, we were having a rip roaring good time.

Mr. PC wowed everyone (including me) at the end of the song with a very suave dip-and-kiss move.

The father-daughter dance was next, and I was scared my dad and I would become a blubbering mess together. But I needn't have worried! My dad brought the dance moves (the spin, the pseudo-dip, the arms over your head, the promenade [are you impressed with my made up dance move names?]), leaving us no time for tears!

In the span of about 3 minutes, my dad managed to spin me 28 times. That is an impressive statistic. Watch the video to witness the spinning action. Also not to be missed in the video: me putting my heel through my hoop skirt and getting stuck, requiring assistance from my maid of honor. That can be spotted at 0:48 (the spinning needs no time stamp, as it's occurring every three seconds or so).

After the wild father-daughter dance, Mr. Pin Cushion slowed it down a bit with his mom. I think he was more nervous about dancing with his mom than he had been for our first dance song! His mom was a professional ballerina, so he knew if they stumbled, it could only be pinned on him (where as when he was dancing with me, I have the combo of: no rhythm and two left feet, so a fall could easily be blamed on me).

Despite the nerves, they danced fabulously to James Taylor's "You've Got a Friend".

At this point, the rest of our friends and family had a move. So they went on the dance floor to bust it!

We'd had concerns with having an early-ish wedding that it would still be light out and people wouldn't dance. And while some people didn't, I think those people wouldn't have wanted to dance no matter the circumstances.

Looking back, I think 2 things helped get people on the dance floor. 1) The bride and groom having a good time (which we did-trust me, I danced with everybody!). And 2) A live band. Our band was a splurge for us (The Full Tilt Band- [they were reasonably priced, but anything is expensive compared to a free i-pod]), but I think the energy they brought to the wedding day was priceless!

We had such a great time, and probably lost a collective 20 pounds of sweat (it was so hot in the barn and people were really getting their groove on).

All photos by the fabulous Weaver House 

Pin Cushion Flashback:
The gals hit up the salon. Then, the gang gets dressed. We have a sob-filled first look.
Our wedding party poses with kids' murals. And we make them wear fake noses and hold balloons.
The cermony site gets pimped out. I have an emotional breakdown before walking down the aisle. The Pin Cushions get married. We're happy at happy hour. We have an unconventional guest book and give guests strawberry plant favors. We strand our guests without a table. Speech, Speech! Our guests enjoy cookies and wedding cake.