is it really a bargain (bridal hindsight #2)

taken from wedbykez.com (back and blogging it)

As I mentioned in a lot of my post I was determined to have a beautiful wedding to our budget. Mickey and I were not about to sell organs to pay for our wedding.

What I discovered about planning a wedding is there is always a price to pay, it may not be money, but it may be time that you have to sacrifice or even some blisters from running around town.

Continuing with the deconstruction of the wedding I will use our table arrangements as an example.



Thanks to Tania for the photo while I am waiting on our wedding photographers

When you are up to this stage of the planning, dealing with florist, you will learn that vases are normally an "added extra" and can be an unexpected blow to your budget.

Through my googling and emails I learnt that the average vase for an arrangement, whether through a florist, a discount store or even through wedding hire businesses is around $13-$22 a vase. Times that by the number of tables and it can quickly multiply to a few hundred bucks that you didnt have in your budget. Ouch!

Luckily I found Julie from Classic Chair Covers. Fabulously reasonable and exactly the style, and more importantly, the height that I wanted.

Wedding Tip: when planning a table arrangement make sure it is either higher or lower than head height. Otherwise your guests will have an obstacle course to talk across the table to each other.

I arrange hire through Julie and saved extra by picking up the vases and returning them to Classic Chair Hire myself. A lot of businesses charge for delivery and set up (as they should) but if you are willing to put in the effort you can save a few dollars by doing it yourself.

Admittedly, I had a hour drive to get the vases to the florist the week before the wedding - but it saved my going mental at home stressing about "what I had forgotten or hadn't done". In fact, getting out the house and getting active helped me keep calm.

When planning your wedding you have to weigh up the price versus the effort and decide which one is more important. Too many jobs before the wedding can be stressful but paying the price for someone else to do the job can be costly.

What's your priority?

Liked this article? Check out the Bridal Hindsight series...
the celebrant to marry a celebrant (bridal hindsight #1)