Help me plan my wedding?

[Evil Baby]

I have managed to cut the list to 128 people and am still trying to get a few more on the chopping block. Preferably I'd like only 100 people but I think it'll be closer to 115-120 people in total.

We have set our budget at $15 000. I wish I could make it less but I just don’t see that being possible. Not including any proceeds from a Stag and Doe we have an extra $5000 that we can play with if we have to but have very little desire to spend more than $15 000.

The wedding will be in the Niagara Region, preferably in Niagara Falls it self but not necessary.

The soft date is for June 5, 2010 assuming we can get a hall for then. We have started looking at halls and hope to have one booked by the end of the week.

Basically that is as much planning as I have at the moment. We have purchased a wedding planner book and set out a budget spreadsheet based on the recommendations of that book.

The one hall that we looked at is about 15 minutes from Niagara Falls, and is $54 a plate which includes everything(including open bar) except for the wine/wine glasses.

Questions for now…

While looking at other halls in Niagara Falls itself, it appears we will need to hire a catering service ourselves.

Does anybody know an affordable caterer in Niagara Falls? - Found plated meal for $27 per person
How much should I expect to spend per person for alcohol? - ~$24 per person
Does anybody know an affordable photographer?
Does anybody know of a church in Niagara Falls that will perform a civil ceremony? - Can find any but there are some nice chapels that will seat upto 100 people

What percentage of people that you invite and accept can you expect to show up at the ceremony?

So far those are the immediate questions. Beyond that if anybody has any other tips I’d love to hear them.

Is it better to order invitations online or local?
What things am I better of doing my self?
If you have any recommendations for other things like flowers/invitation/cake/wedding dresses/etc… feel free to post here or pm me.

[Evil Baby]

Reserved for later.

[robster77]

Check out frugalbride.com. Might be able to get some good advice and tips from the members there.

[3weddings]

The best advice comes from the forums at weddingbells.ca

[ever1221]

15 000 isnt much, I'd add another zero to the left.

[Evil Baby]

15 000 isnt much, I'd add another zero to the left.

lol, well if you can give me the winning lotto numbers I'll add another 0. I know it's not a lot but we're really hoping to not break the bank if at all possible.

Thank you robster77 and 3weddings for the links. They have been book marked for further reading.

[3weddings]

Start checking the B&Bs in the area, you might be able to have a lovely garden wedding at one vs. the larger hotels/banquet halls.

If it doesn't have to be Niagara, there is a charming restaurant on the Credit in Terra Cotta. It is a wonderful venue.

http://www.terracottainncanada.com/banquet.html

...and dresses, find THE dress and then find it online.

Also come the fall all the stores will have their seasonal sales. MY friend got her dress in Markham (Main St.) for $100!!!!! during one of these sales.

[CSK'sMom]

What halls are you looking at Evil? Don't forget that the Niagara Parks allows weddings in the gardens as well as receptions too IIRC.

Churches don't do civil ceremonies. If you want a non-religious, civil ceremony you're going to have to find an Officiant and a site.

Great affordable caterers... Check out NCI (Niagara Culinary Institute) at Niagara College. All overseen by the Professor Chefs. They also have event/wedding planner programs at the school and supervised students take on events/weddings as part of the program. Might be worth looking into.

[Evil Baby]

What halls are you looking at Evil? Don't forget that the Niagara Parks allows weddings in the gardens as well as receptions too IIRC. Churches don't do civil ceremonies. If you want a non-religious, civil ceremony you're going to have to find an Officiant and a site.


First hall we looked at that quoted us the $54 for everything was the Willoughby Fire Hall. It was a nice looking all, not nearly as nice as Delphi but Delphi was $98 a plate. We have an appointment with the Knights of Columbus hall and the Parish Hall on Thorold Stone Road. We were also looking at the Black Sea Hall in St. Kitts but decided if we were likely to go outside of the Falls we would probably take the Willoughby hall.

The finacee doesn't want to have anything outside for fear of bad weather, so it's all indoor halls for now. We were considering the park at the bottom of Clifton Hill has it's partially covered but not sure yet.

Figured I couldn't have a civil ceremony at a Church, not a big deal to us, just something my Dad wanted(which is odd considering he's not religious at all)


Great affordable caterers... Check out NCI (Niagara Culinary Institute) at Niagara College. All overseen by the Professor Chefs. They also have event/wedding planner programs at the school and supervised students take on events/weddings as part of the program. Might be worth looking into.

I will look into that.

[TCWeasel]

We have set our budget at $15 000. I wish I could make it less but I just don’t see that being possible. Not including any proceeds from a Stag and Doe we have an extra $5000 that we can play with if we have to but have very little desire to spend more than $15 000.


It can be less. It all depends on what you're looking for. To give you an example, my wedding was much less than $15,000. We didn't have a lot of money, but that wasn't the main motivation that led to the reduced cost of our wedding. I'm not much for the formalness of weddings and receptions, neither is my wife. Thus we decided that an outdoor 'backyard' type of reception.

* We did our own invitations and guest gifts. You can make yourself some fantastic party invitations, it's not difficult it just takes time.

* We rented chairs and a tent for the reception.

* We didn't have a official photographer, yet still have a great many good wedding photos. Especially now. With a large number of your guests bringing their own digital cameras, it's easy to have a huge number of photos available to you.

* We did not have an open bar. This was not a decision made because of the costs, we could have handled the costs. This was based on what I've seen happens when there are open bars, people drink far too much and that causes too many problems, in my opinion. Not that I would have expected any of our guests to get carried away. We didn't charge to make a profit, just enough to discourage over indulging.

* The food consisted of making our own salads or people donating, a roasted big and some beef. Though I might be biased, the food was very good and much better than many catered affairs.

* We borrowed a sound system and provided our own music. No DJ. Just a laptop and some MP3s.

Did it cheapen the affair? I don't think so. It wasn't formal, it was a luau themed event and people had enjoyed immensely. Basically, it was a party. That was our objective and it was more than matched. It isn't for everyone. Some would much rather have a more formal affair with tuxes and a wonderfully decorated hall. That's a choice and I fully respect those who choose to go that route. Though those people who spend upwards of $75,000 and above I just don't understand.

If I recall correctly, the entire thing was under $5000, for about 110 people. We explicitly made everyone aware that gifts were not expected. We had already accumulated anything a married couple would need.

While I expect that you may not wish to take the exact route we took, you are not required to do the standard boilerplate wedding if it's not what you want. It is your day. Go with what makes you happy, not with what you think people will expect. There are so many "non standard" wedding ideas available that will be enjoyed by your guests, will be memorable and will not cost a fortune. You could use the extra $5,000 on lots of wedding related stuff or you could put it towards a downpayment on a house or a car or a kickass honeymoon.

[ji2o0k]

For the photographer....why not ask CSAgent (fellow RFDer) and find out how much he charges?

He has posted some of the pics he takes at exhibits etc. Looks pretty good.

If you end up hiring CSAgent, make sure he pays me a 10% finder's fee....thx!

[Impossibles]

I'm getting married in 6 weeks (eek!)

A couple tips I've picked up:

-Invitations at any bridal shop are fairly inexpensive and they look very proffessional (you can get nice ones for around $2.50 each). I looked online, but there is a big difference b/w seeing a small picture and looking at a full sized sample. I know some of the sites will send you free samples, but in the end I didn't think the savings was worth not buying local. HOWEVER, if I was going to do it again, I'd make sure to buy the invitations that have the card you rip off for the RSVP, or just have some printed up on similar paper. They charge almost as much for the RSVP as the invitation. Also don't worry about the number, more people than you think won't be able to come.

-Get your bride to be to go to wedding shows and put names in for caterers, you'll get a few free meals out of it. Also don't be afraid to ask people for referrals for caterers. Food is one area where you don't want to skimp. You don't want to feed 100 people crummy food. A caterer will be anywhere from $18-$30+ a head. I dislike the barron of beef, so when I mentioned we didn't want it, they said that will save a lot of money (of course depends on what you replace it with)

-Make sure you include $1000-$1500 (or more) for wedding bands. We didn't realize how expensive her ring would be.

-Find a place that grows and sells flowers. You'll save oodles.

-I was told 1 bottle of wine for every 2 people.

I'll post more if I think of any.

[CSK'sMom]

Off the top of my head don't forget about the Lion's Halls, one in town and one in Chippawa IIRC. We've been to several events at St. Antoine's Church Hall and they have their own ladies cater. It's really good and really resonable. And of course the endless number of halls at local hotels like Americana, Hilton, Marriot, etc. Club Italia is a gorgeous hall and they have their own caterers. I know they can do cheap(er) meals and parking is not an issue.

[xstatik]

The one hall that we looked at is about 15 minutes from Niagara Falls, and is $54 a plate which includes everything(including open bar) except for the wine/wine glasses.
.

Wow! $54 a Plate!!!

In the GTA it is at least $100-$120 a plate for a decent hall (Over $150-$200/a plate at upscale halls)

[goddess]

Wow! $54 a Plate!!!

In the GTA it is at least $100-$120 a plate for a decent hall (Over $150-$200/a plate at upscale halls)

i was about to say the same thing!!!!!
wedding costs in the GTA are absolutely ridiculous :(

[Evil Baby]

Question: If we are inviting ~130 people to wedding, how many should I expect to show up at the actual ceremony?

[Mardos]

Wow! $54 a Plate!!!

In the GTA it is at least $100-$120 a plate for a decent hall (Over $150-$200/a plate at upscale halls)

If it was $54 a plate i would be having 300 guests lol