We decided to set the total budget at $5000, a reasonable amount of money that we could save within the next year. If we get help from friends or family members it will be a wonderful surprise but we didn't want anyone to feel burdened with the wedding expenses and we also didn't want to start our marriage in any debt of our own. This budget is taking a serious amount of research so I'll tackle the biggest chunks of our budget, the photographer, cake, and attire.
PHOTOGRAPHY: After getting prices quotes from about 10 photographers, I think we're going to allow $1000 for the photography. I've seen prices from $500 to $4000 so it will be difficult to find the perfect fit but we have a long time left to look. If anyone can recommend a photographer in the Southern California area I'd appreciate it!
CAKE: I used google image searches to find styles of cakes that I like and emailed them to several bakers in my area asking for estimates on the work. The average for my area (southern california) turned out to be roughly $300 for a cake, $3.50 per slice with buttercream frosting or $4.50 per slice with fondant. The price will depend upon how much detail the cake has, filling, frosting, and how many people you plan on serving.
ATTIRE: I have not been to David's Bridal to look for my dress yet but they have a HUGE selection. After browsing their dresses online I saw several that would be beautiful and they were all under $500. We're hoping to keep my fiance's tux rental at about $100 and no higher than $80 for each bridesmaid dress. David's Bridal also offers a discount for bridesmaid dresses if you buy your wedding gown there! This will put the attire budget at about $1000.
So using $1000 for the photography, $1000 for the attire, and about $300 for the cake, we will have $2700 left for the rest of the elements of the wedding. I think I'll be using the budget tool on http://www.mywedding.com/. All of the budget tools on the sites I've linked to before are awesome and user friendly but I think I like the style of this one the best.
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