pro Bam!!!!! Eeeeeekkkk!!!! 8.11.2018 (pictures, budget breakdown, advice)

Date: 8/11/2018

Location: Leawood, Kansas

Guests: Invited 172, 118 said “yes” and attended.

Complete budget breakdown and vendor list:

Photographer – Photo’s Edge - $3,500

Inclusive reception venue – Deer Creek - $10,431

Bakery – Kansas City Cupcake Company - $230

Florist – Bobby Kyser Events - $1,510

DJ – Complete Events - $800

Ceremony – Church of the Resurrection - $2,050

Day of Coordinator – Bobby Kyser Events - $550

Rehearsal Dinner – Nick and Jake’s - $1,800

Men’s shirts – Jos. A Banks- $217

Hotel stays - $424

Food for the wedding party day of - $140

Wedding dress – Stella York from Belle Vogue - $1,487

Veil – Erica Koesler from Belle Vogue - $218

Hair piece – Amazon - $14

Alterations – Rosa Carminda - $300

Bride’s shoes – Kate Spade Keds and Badgley Mischa sandals - $90

Earrings – Kate Spade - $22

Jewelry I bought but didn’t end up wearing – Kendra Scott - $138

Mani/Pedi - $67

Bride’s hair and makeup – Posk KC Blowout Bar - $420

Money toward bridesmaid’s hair and makeup - $87

Cake serving set – Amazon - $10

H’s ring – Shane Co - $535

Suit – Jos. A Banks – Free for the wedding. He already owned it from a wedding he had been in previously.

H’s shoes - $80

My wedding band – Shane Co - $155

Cake topper – Etsy - $18

Cake stand – Target - $14

Guest book – Amazon - $16

Card birdcage – Amazon - $28

100 Invitations/Rsvp Cards/Detail Cards/20 Rehearsal dinner invites/1 return address stamp - $359

Stamps - $151.75

Unity ceremony candles/candle holders – Etsy - $60

Seating Chart/Signs/frames – Zazzle/Target/Amazon - $76 (I had a $40 credit from invitations, so this would have been more expensive)

Premarital Counseling – Prepare and Enrich Group class through our church - $110

Marriage license - $85.50

Gift bags for parent/WP gifts - $66

Thank you cards – Target - $30

Menus – Vista Print - $60

Lost deposits - $235

Bridesmaid robes – Etsy - $140

Brides people gifts - $276

Groomsmen gifts - $140

Groomsmen socks – $41

Groomsmen ties – Tie Bar - $153

Parent gifts - $151

Bride getting ready shirt - $23

Grand total *as long as I typed all the numbers right*: $26,736.25

Things we are glad we did:

-First look. It was such a special and intimate moment. I loved having that time with my husband and not having to share it with a bunch of other people. It was my favorite moment from the day. We also did “sunset” pictures, which were absolutely amazing. I would highly recommend getting some because the lighting was incredible.

-Inclusive reception venue. I finished up my graduate school semester 8 days prior to the wedding. I took 9-12 graduate level hours during the 3 semesters I spent wedding planning in addition to working 32-40 hours a week and doing 12-20 hours at my internships a week. I did not have the time or energy to sort through a billion different vendors for rentals/catering/booze/whatever. We did not look at a single venue that did not have inclusive catering/bar packages. This made our lives SO simple AND we saved a ton of money. Since we did the all-inclusive option, we got the room rental for free and tax and gratuity was included in the pricing. We did an open standard bar, buffet, passed appetizers. It was all delicious.

-Open bar. We did a standard open bar with our venue. The majority of people drank liquor over beer and wine so we were glad it didn’t go to waste. The majority of weddings in our area a Beer/Wine open bars or dry weddings so it was definitely appreciated by our guests! I even had a friend come up to me and say, “Who has margaritas at their wedding?! This is awesome!”

-Hired a DOC. Our DOC didn’t really do much for us prior to the wedding day (as opposed to some that do help starting 30 days out). I did all of the vendor coordination and created the day of timeline. Our DOC was mainly there to set up and tear down and contact vendors in case we ran into issues on the day of the wedding/crisis control, which was amazing to not have to worry about. We only paid $550 for the services and it was well worth it.

-Real flowers and floral centerpieces. People noticed them and I was getting compliments all night long on them! People kept asking who our florist was. It was something that was very important to me and I loved how it all turned out. We had 11 tables and had 3 different centerpieces. The head table (was actually a king’s table) utilized the bridesmaid bouquets and a long garland (from oriental trading, the only fake floral item we had. It had real eucalyptus tied into it and you honestly couldn’t tell it was fake).

-Azazie. This was such an easy process and we had zero issues. My girls loved them and loved that they got to pick their own dress in the budget that they were comfortable with. They also had junior bridesmaid dresses so my junior bridesmaid was able to coordinate perfectly.

-Wait to take our honeymoon. We got married 8/11/2018. Originally we planned to take our honeymoon immediately following the wedding but we didn’t think I would be able to get that much time away from my clinical internship (currently in graduate school) so we planned one for my fall break in October (just got back and it was amazing). We found out in May that I am required to take 2 weeks off from my internship in August so I was pretty bummed about not being able to take out honeymoon right after. HOWEVER! The day after our wedding, FH started coming down with an ugly cold that he was still fighting off after two weeks after the wedding. We are so glad we ended up doing a delayed honeymoon now!

-No Save The Dates. These seemed pointless to us and we wanted to save our money. I don’t regret not doing them at all. Nobody missed them.

Things we would do differently:

-Hired a videographer. This was originally not in budget for us since we went way over budget on our photographer. We did not expect to have 54 declines out of 172 (saved us $5,000) or else we would have gotten one. We did get an audio recording of our ceremony, but it’s not the same as a video.

-Cut our guest list a TON. After the wedding, we have really sat and evaluated the day. We invited 172 people and had 118 attend. Looking back, we wouldn’t have invited 59 of the 118 people that actually attended. We probably could have cut our guest list to 100/120 and been happy.

Things that didn’t go as planned:

-The venue was HOT. This summer has been insanely warm and our venue was pretty warm despite the fact that (they claimed) the AC was turned all the way up. Our venue has an entire wall of floor to ceiling windows which likely contributed to that. I think this is part reason why we didn’t have more people dancing (part of it was just a crowd thing).

-Family DRAMA. We anticipated some, but the people we were concerned about were fine and the people we weren’t worried about acted like wild animals. This was a good opportunity for us to set boundaries early in our married life but it did put a big damper on our day.

Details. My grandma's rosary and my MIL's hankie that was given to her on her wedding day.

Rings.Dress.Putting on earringsDetails for HH reading my letter to himMy mom helping me put on my dressMore of my dressMy dad seeing me for the first timeAgain......My mom and IMy mom and I againOur first lookOur first lookSunset picturesSunset picturesSunset picturesSunset pictures

First lookFirst lookHelping me with my veilPraying before the ceremonyCeremony detailsToast with on of my best friends at the receptionCake for receptionSunset picturesPicture after the ceremonyPost-kiss pictureCrying during the ceremonyLaughing during the ceremonyLaughing some more!

One of our centerpiecesAnother one of our centerpieces