A treatise on weddings #7 Bridesmaids should look awesome not ridiculous and #8 Expect unexpected expenses

#7 Bridesmaids should look awesome not ridiculous
 Nuff said on that note i think, don't you~

 
#8 Expect unexpected expenses
We actually did pretty well on the whole wedding budgeting thing. We may have gone a grand or two over budget, but that was mainly because of last minute unexpected stuff. Some of it was a case of people not paying for stuff they had agreed to, and me not being motivated enough a month later to say "oh by the way can I have that $100 you owe me for x". I may yet get to it...but argh. It is not something I have ever been good at.

• We have not yet got out $1000 security deposit back from the venue, with no explanation from the owners - over a month later. We will be chasing it this week, however I have a bad feeling. The owner made no mention of any trouble as we packed up that day - but one month is a long time to not give a security deposit back! If they dont I will be broadcasting it loudly because in my books a professional business would run through the costs first, and show you the issues before you leave, rather than stinging you later. That's just dodgy brothers!
• We unexpectedly ended up paying (although may still get given money for some of it) for baby sitting costs, for hair and make up for some who didn't pay the makeup and hair lady, for flowergirl dresses, bridesmaid stuff, ....On the day, and the weeks preceeding and following, and even now, I'm so tired that little things like chasing money from people just seems insurmountable and petty. Although when it adds up to $500...and you have rates to pay it could certainly come in handy.
• You have in mind a budget for a dress. All the dresses in your budget are nice enough in style, but awful quality. So the dress costs more than expected.
• You forget to budget for all kinds of annoying stuff, like string and gaffer tape and chalk and marker pens and tissue paper, tea towels for the chef....well, it all  adds up.
• The op-shops put decanter prices up from $2 to $10 when they see you coming. All of a sudden op shop vases don't look cheap any more.
• You and your significant other are so busy with pre-wedding stuff, that the lawn has suddenly become a meadow - you are to buggered to deal with it so pay a gardener $50 to mow for you.

As you can see, lots of little things, but when you add them all together it gets to be a bigger number. We were lucky, we saved for a year  and saved more than we budgeted. I highly recommend a fairly detailed budget and then, like any project manager add at least %10, if not %20 or more contingency.  Some things will come in cheaper, others more expensive.

There are however many ways to save money:

• Allow parents to chip in and take care of random stuff like buying the hay bales, or the wine for the friday BBQ
• Ask people to help with making stuff - like wreaths or serviettes or bunting..or whatever
• Op shops are good for old frames for things like black boards (I think I spent no more than $2 on each frame)
• Ikea is good for candles and candle holders and all kinds of stuff. They have beautiful cream candles, and you can catch sales for things like a dollar a bottle for water bottles. Granted, you can rent things like water bottles, and probably for seventy cents....but you can always re-sell stuff later on e-bay or at garage sales, and get some of that $1 back, which you certainly can't do if you hire them. The down side of that is, that until you have all those sales...you have a heap of crap hanging around the garage...or a whole lot of christmas parcels ready to give away. ha ha
• There is nothing wrong with borrowing stuff - jewellry, fur stolls for bridesmaids etc.