our wedding: budget

j and i had a special savings account for our wedding. for the year we were engaged, we both put money in it every month. it made the actual month of our wedding easier. we weren't stressed about the costs at all. 

while we were planning our wedding, i kept a list of all the money we were spending on the wedding. we didn't have a set budget, but i thought it would be interesting to look back at how much things were when we got married. i was surprised about the things that ended up costing the most...

this is what we actually spent broken down into percentages:

alcohol (shots, wine with dinner, drinks from the drink tickets we gave each guest): 13%
food (dinner and dessert): 20%
decor (from an awesome company in moncton, plus shot glass favours): 10%
transportation (flights for j and i, shuttle for guests, rental car, hotel rooms): 20%
bridesmaid stuff (dresses, earrings, pedicures, limo): 12%
jon's suit, our wedding rings: 10%
wedding coordinator, photographer: 10%

wedding dress: gift from my parents
flowers: gift from my parents
hair: gift from my sister
cake: gift from my aunt
"dress rehearsal" wine and cheese the night before the wedding: hosted by my parents


having my flowers done as a gift was huge. i chose some of the most expensive flowers, and insisted that the table centerpieces be in square, clear glass containers. mom ended up buying quite a bit of glassware that we never ended up using. she would send me pics of trial runs that she did, then we would make changes. we skyped near the end so i could really see all the details. when i imagined my wedding, flowers were always top priority for me. i can imagine that the flowers probably would have been 20% of the budget. or more. i was really happy with how the flowers turned out.

also, my bridesmaids ended up going to the mall the night before the wedding to buy shoes for themselves and me. i had already ordered 5 pairs of shoes twice (aka we now have 10 pairs of beige shoes that were never worn), but neither seemed right. i really struggled to find shoes i liked (also, i am not really into shoes), and was planning to wear an old purple pair of wedges my sister had. but in the end the girls got me the light blue ones i wore, and they were awesome. they are now part of my sister's shoe collection.