Miami Wedding Planners » Budget Weddings

We’re Sourt Of Eloping, Can We Still Have A Small Party To Celebrate?

The Wedding Planner — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 20:44:52 +0000

My fiance and I have been talking about getting married in April of 2010 for about a year now. We’ve been planning, budgeting… and we were ready to go to the bank to take out a loan on Friday (this comming friday).. when suddenly I realized “we just cant do this”…
We’re 22 years old. We just bought a condo in October. And weddings are horrifically expensive. Even cutting out flowers, photographer, half of my family/friends from the guest list, and finding a really reasonable reception site…. its still just WAY too much!! Money that my fiance and I do not have and I dont want to spend the next 5 years paying off a loan in this economy. We need to save our money and have some security for ourselves.
We decided that instead of going to the loan on friday, we’re going to go to town hall and apply for our marriage licence Which, I think is kind of romantic in a silly sourt of way.
Would it be wrong or tacky for us to have a party at the end of the summer to celebrate? Nothing formal. They have a pavillion at a near-by beach that can be rented out for under 2,000 – including tables and chairs… My family always throws big parties and we all kind of know what who is cooking (mom does the salads, grandma does the pasta/meatballs…) we’d do like a really informal buffet style celebration??

I Am In A Wedding And The Maid Of Honor Is 19yrs Old – Has No Idea What She’s Doing & No Concept Of Money…

The Wedding Planner — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:11:58 +0000

5 bridesmaid, one lives out of state so we are down to 4 – all of us have very limited budgets…. We already threw the bride her shower, and paid at least $150 each for this, now the maid of honor is talking about a “intimate shower” – she insists it’s NOT a bacholerette party, even though she wants eveyone to buy lingerie – and she wants to have it at a restaurant with about 15-20 ppl and she wants us to pay for this as well!!! I have been in several weddings, and have never heard of someone getting two showers. I suggested having guests pay for their own dinners because this is basically a bacholerette party whether she wants to call it that or not – She refuses and says its bad ettiquette… What should I do?? I am broke – I want the bride to have a good wedding but the maid of honor has no clue of what she is doing! Estimated guess it will cost over $300 total for this “intimate shower”!!! HELP!!!

Key Facts About Barbados…?

The Wedding Planner — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 08:15:42 +0000

key facts that some people may want to know about Barbados…
KEY FACTS
The United Nations Development Index (1996) ranked Barbados third in terms of quality of life among 160 developing countries worldwide (Hong Kong and Cyprus ranked first and second respectively). Barbados ranked ahead of countries such as Spain, Italy and Ireland.
Our research and surveys show that visitors highlight the friendliness of Barbadians as its greatest and most pleasing asset. This is reflected in the highest repeat visitor factor in the region of 39%
The people of Barbados have a history of long ingrained Christian principles, a sound and free educational system with a literacy rate of 97%
Barbados has the third oldest parliament in the world with 358 years of an uninterrupted parliamentary system of government.
Barbados was the only vacation destination in this Hemisphere with a scheduled Concorde service. One of the retired British Airways concordes now resides at our international airport.
On this “mustard seed” of an island (21 miles) long and a smile (14 miles) wide!
- We are the only coral island in the region with all white sand beaches.
- Barbados has pure drinking water and was the first Caribbean island to have piped water.
- Excellent telecommunications.
- Utilities available 100% island-wide.
- Accessible to everywhere.
- Consistent cooling North-East tradewinds.
- Maximum daily temperature 75-85 F year round.
————————————–…
FAST FACTS AND FIGURES
CAPITAL: Bridgetown
POPULATION: Approximately 254,000
CLIMATE: Eight to nine hours of sunshine most days. Temperature between 75 F and 90 F year round.
GEOGRAPHY: A 21 mile x 14 mile Caribbean island. West and South Coast have calm Caribbean sea and endless beaches. Rugged cliffs and Atlantic Ocean on East Coast.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: English with a broad dialect. See a Street Vendor Talks
CURRENCY: Barbados Dollar – US $1 = BDS $2 approx.
DRIVING: A temporary yearly Barbados licence costs BDS$10 and is obtainable from car rental agencies and Police Stations. Full licence must be shown. Drive on left. Go to Barbados Tourism Encyclopedia “Documents”
TIME: GMT-4 hrs. There is no daylight saving time in Barbados
ACCOMMODATION: Caters for all tastes and budgets from luxury hotels and all-inclusive resorts to rooms in small hotels and self-catering apartments.
SPORTS: Snorkeling, diving, fishing, sailing, waterskiing, tennis, squash. Three 18-hole and three nine-hole golf courses. See Barbados Golf
GETTING THERE: (Flying Times and Airlines)
ELECTRICITY: Electricity in Barbados is 110 volts/50 cycles
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: See Travel Documents
HEALTH REQUIREMENTS: See Health in Barbados
WEDDINGS: It is now possible for ceremonies to take place on day of arrival, providing documents are in order.
————————————–…

http://www.barbados.org/keyfacts.htm

I Am Getting Married In The New York Area And I Need To Know What To Properly Tip.?

The Wedding Planner — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 02:15:56 +0000

I am already paying an 18% gratuity to the catering hall, so I am guessing that covers the wait staff and others there, but what should I tip on top of that to my maitre’d and/or bridal assistant? And what is appropriate to tip my vendors (photographer, video, dj)? People say 15%, but that would mean like 500 dollars for my photographer and that’s just ridiculous if you ask me. Also, keep in mind, I am paying half price which comes to 52 dollars a head for them to eat at the reception as well. I have budgeted for tipping, but I don’t want to under nor overtip. Also remember, NY weddings are more expensive than the average wedding in America. I’m not saying they’re better, so please don’t be insulted, just cost more. Please help!!

Hi All, Do They Ever Hired A Guy As Their Wedding Planner?

The Wedding Planner — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:44:53 +0000

I’m 26YO guy who will starting a wedding/event planner course in NYC. i did some of weddings (of my friends) in my community church. i did (almost) everything. from budgeting, decorating, invitation, time planning on the big day, making a hand bouquet for the bride, center pieces, become the Master of Ceremony, and i even sing in their wedding, and of course clean it up when it’s done. the Bad thing is, i never photograph all of my creation. so i dont have a portfolio. my only question is, do you think they will hire a guy as their wedding planner? i really want to become as awedding planner, open my own business so bad.
any suggestion? advice?
and can someone give me an idea, how much (approx.) the beginner wedding planner can make?

Wedding Discrimination?

The Wedding Planner — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:57:20 +0000

My parents have offered to help pay for my wedding. (5,000) They offered more but I didn’t feel comfortable taking it.
It seems that there is alot of judgement on brides whose parents still offer to pay for their weddings from people who had to pay everything themselves. I’ve seen it not only on Y!answers but in general life.
It also seems that people who have huge budgets get mad when you offer ways to make things less expensive. Why would you have a 15k wedding that LOOKS like 15k when you can have a 15k wedding that looks like you spent 30k?

Was This Tacky Of Me?

The Wedding Planner — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:02:32 +0000

My boyfriend of 6 months invited me to one of his good friend’s weddings. I’m a full time college student taking 18 credits, interning (for no pay) 3x a week, and working a lousy 9-dollar an hour job once a week. I literally make 40-50 bucks/week, which goes to car insurance, a gym membership, and gas for my car. I NEVER shop. The last time I bought something was around Christmas time. I really cannot afford a dress right now and my parents won’t help me. My boyfriend offered to pay for a dress, but I feel bad so I originally said no. Now that I’m looking at my budget, I realize I barely have enough to buy one and the wedding is next week. So tonight I asked him to help me by paying half the price of whatever dress I find. I feel really bad about it now though. I feel so tacky. Is this wrong?

A Few Wedding Questions?!?!?

The Wedding Planner — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:48:35 +0000

Ok so I have a few wedding questions, best answer will go to the person who answers all of them!! (cause every time I ask a question on here with several questions on it, I normally only get a few answered) Thanks in advance!!
1. My wedding on August 9 2009 and I am wondering when the invitations should go out?
ADDITIONAL INFO – My FH’s cousin (might as well be brother) is getting married in July. And alot the same out of towners (some out the country) are going to have 2 weddings to attend. We want to make sure that they come to ours instead of theirs if they are only going to be able to make if for one of them.
2. When should the request date for the RSVP’s be? (you know the date on the card, please respond by????)
3. We are on a budget and I am wondering if having the nice plastic champagne and wine glasses is tacky? My venue does not offer real glass because it is a concrete floor, but he said you can rent them. But I am not really wanting to rent them because we do not have a clean up crew and all of that will be taken care of by the families.
4. Who can I get to serve the cake, is it not acceptable to ask someone from the wedding to do so? or should i see if i can hire someone to do that?
5. Ok so this is the last one!! My FH has some people that are in Costa Rica that need to be invited. So naturally I sent them their save the dates (I printed those at home) in Spanish. So if I order nice preprinted invitations I can only do that in one language right? So should I spend the extra cash and get the nice preprinted invitations in Spanish for them (there are only about 10 people who would need the Spanish ones) or should I just buy the cheaper print your own and do those in Spanish and save the money and only buy the nice preprinted ones in English?
Thank you again for your participation!! Good luck to all of the other brides out there!!

Vendor Question?

The Wedding Planner — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:17:20 +0000

So, I’m not engaged yet. But, I definetely know it’s happening within the next few months. I think my mom knows about it, because she’s been talking about weddings and what I’d like to do for my own. She’s normally not like that. Anyway……..
My mom and I were talking budget and guest lists. She actually offered more financial help than I ever thought she would. So, go me!!!!
I really love this one reception hall, but you need a 150 person min. I have a decent sized family, along with my boyfriend. When I did a quick estimate in my head, we have about 130-140 guests.
So, not enough for this reception sites minimumn. I’ve heard that you have to feed your vendors (photographer, DJ, videographer and such)
Is this true? If so, could I use the extra 5-10 meals/people as part of my overall count (making it 150). Or are those meals/people generally seperate from your overall head count? I know the vendors meals are usually 1/2 price

Was This Tacky/wrong Of Me?

The Wedding Planner — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:22:36 +0000