Anyone Else Overwhelmed With Cost?

[Lia33]

@@calgarybride2015 Our $125 per additional person does NOT include anything special. They gave me the break down - fee for them to be at the ceremony, fee for the dinner at reception, fee for more wedding cake, fee for more finger foods during cocktail hour - all summing up to 125 per additional person. A mariachi band is included in our package too so this we may have during cocktail hour!

 

@@KAT2015 You ladies have some nice ideas for centerpieces! I have no idea what I will do for this but will also likely be using my bridesmaids flowers as centerpieces to save money. That's a great price for chair sashes! I might look into finding cheap ones here to bring with me but I almost rather use whatever I can from the resort just so I don't have to worry bringing it with me - even if it costs me a bit more. 

 

I'm afraid to see what the costs for me with the favors and OOT bags will be (in addition to my additional guest costs   It's definitely easy for the charges to start adding up...

[KAT2015]

@@calgarybride2015 Our $125 per additional person does NOT include anything special. They gave me the break down - fee for them to be at the ceremony, fee for the dinner at reception, fee for more wedding cake, fee for more finger foods during cocktail hour - all summing up to 125 per additional person. A mariachi band is included in our package too so this we may have during cocktail hour!

 

@@KAT2015 You ladies have some nice ideas for centerpieces! I have no idea what I will do for this but will also likely be using my bridesmaids flowers as centerpieces to save money. That's a great price for chair sashes! I might look into finding cheap ones here to bring with me but I almost rather use whatever I can from the resort just so I don't have to worry bringing it with me - even if it costs me a bit more. 

 

I'm afraid to see what the costs for me with the favors and OOT bags will be (in addition to my additional guest costs   It's definitely easy for the charges to start adding up...

 

@Lia  The key to the centrepieces is making sure they pack well!!! I might see if the resort has driftwood but I am concerned with how much they may charge for that.  I think we will only have 3 tables, 4 max (10 people to a table), so that keeps our cost down.  

 

I'm not too worried about bringing it with me. I hope to just do a cheap duffel/suitcase.  We only have to pay an additional $25 for an extra suitcase on the plane, and if I can leave the old suitcase behind it will work well.

 

Tip on the OOT bags - as I have been looking.  If you use discountmugs.com, you can order all their product without a logo.  They have beach bags (which I will do one per family/couple and then a few individuals), acrylic cups and so on.  If we go this route, we will make tags for the bags (instead of  a logo) and you can order waterproof stickers from etsy with a custom logo for your cups.   It depends on how many people you have coming - I estimated for 30 people I think and I got everyone in under $10 per person. 

 

As we move along this will evolve.  I may add/subtract things.  The OOT bags will be the last thing I do just because I will want my final numbers first, which I won't have until about February!

[nadiakat17]

cheaptotes.com has canvas totes for 89 cents. I may plan to try to print out iron on transfers for them and have really cheap bags!

[calgarybride2015]

Another thought about the bags!  I wouldn't go nuts on personalizing them with YOUR info because people would be less likely to use them again. Personally, I wouldn't.   What I did for our cups (didn't do bags) is just used 'Mexico 2015' which is fairly generic.  Just a thought to cut down on costs.

@@calgarybride2015 Our $125 per additional person does NOT include anything special. They gave me the break down - fee for them to be at the ceremony, fee for the dinner at reception, fee for more wedding cake, fee for more finger foods during cocktail hour - all summing up to 125 per additional person. A mariachi band is included in our package too so this we may have during cocktail hour!

 

@@KAT2015 You ladies have some nice ideas for centerpieces! I have no idea what I will do for this but will also likely be using my bridesmaids flowers as centerpieces to save money. That's a great price for chair sashes! I might look into finding cheap ones here to bring with me but I almost rather use whatever I can from the resort just so I don't have to worry bringing it with me - even if it costs me a bit more. 

 

I'm afraid to see what the costs for me with the favors and OOT bags will be (in addition to my additional guest costs   It's definitely easy for the charges to start adding up...

 

WOW!!  we get the same but at $32/pp. We could have had it more expensive - around $45-50/PP but we thought the buffet meal was good enough!!  And we had read good reviews on it from past brides. Maybe this price is a bit lower because we don't get ANYONE included - I know you get the 30. We don't get a mariachi band though!  I am considering splurging on this if we end up getting the 2 booking bonuses.  Right now it seems we will (every 17th person free and we had 35 adults book with us - so we should just hit it!), but our final invoices don't come out from Air Canada for a couple weeks so we shall see *crossing fingers*

Edited September 1, 2014 by calgarybride2015

[Lia33]

@@calgarybride2015 Seems like there's a give and take for it all! It definitely seems that where ever it seems money will be saved, we end up having to splurge in another way. It is what it is at this point loll That's a great deal to have every 17th person free!

 

And I agree about the personalization. I don't plan on personalizing anything permanently because I know it will just either become a souvenir or something never used. I will keep it simple when the time comes!

[TinkerSofi]

Our resort didn't have packages and at first it really felt like they nickel and dime you and that everything brings the costs up but in the end it's costing us about the same as the package we were thinking of getting with another hotel, with the difference that now we are getting more of what we want and less of the extras that we didn't really care about. It was a bit tougher to start the planning progress because without the prices of how much everything costs it was hard to know whether we could afford the wedding there or not. That's where this forum became so useful!! 

 

I think all hotels, even those without packages provide you with at least the white basic linen. Then you can add things and if the hotel's are too expensive you can always check ebay for things like colored napkins or chair bows. 

 

$125 per person is crazy! especially considering that most people will not eat the cake so you could at least save a few bucks on that regard.

[MrsCtoB]

Yes certainly overwhelmed and always trying to weigh what is most important to us. I think we have been pretty realistic with budget etc but certain things have taken me by surprise. Agree with the personalization advice! So true.

[Ksarnowski]

Two weeks in and I'm already stressing

[TinkerSofi]

Two weeks in and I'm already stressing

I think that it's until you accept that DW weddings are really not as cheap as everyone thinks haha. You eventually get used to it. If you have any doubts, call around some vendors in your city to reassure yourself that you made the right choice . I think after you get over the initial shock you realize everything is actually quite affordable when put into perspective . Just the fact that we don't have to invite all these people that we see once a year but they keep asking us when they'll get their invitation   saves us a lot of money hahaha. 

[MrsCtoB]

I agree @@TinkerSofi and my FI always gets a kick out of it...he says I should tattoo the phrase "Do you know how much this would cost here?" to my forehead because its usually what I say when I get a bit overwhelmed. I have a HUGE family and the fact that our wedding total is currently at 32 not 320 is very comforting