Priorities on Your Wedding Day? Saan dapat lakihan ang budget?

[sildusoleil]

Ano ba talaga dapat ang dapat pinaprioritize ng couple sa kanilang big day? I am a bride to be. I have never been married pero eto lang ang 2 cents ko kung saan dapat lakihan ng magasawa ang budget sa kanilang kasal.

1. Bridal Cake - Ang purpose ay maipakita ang "Cake-cutting" ng magasawa.
 "The bride cuts the first slice of cake to provide good fortune in the marriage. Nowadays, her groom helps in this task, to ensure that he shares the good fortune."
 Hindi naman kakainin ng lahat ng guests mo yung cake at iba sa kanila ayaw ng sweets kasi my diabetes or takot tumaba/magkadiabetes. Hindi kailngan lakihan ang budget dito.

2. Wedding Dress - Ok lang lakihan ang budget dito kung gusto mo talagang "iyo" ang gown mo at ikaw lang ang may ganong wedding dress at gusto mo ikaw ang pinakamagandang babae sa wedding mo. Basta ba may budget ka. Pero money-wise, hindi mo priority ito dahil isang beses mo lang sya isusuot at hindi naman nila malalaman kung sinong fashion designer ang gumawa ng dress mo or kung gawa ba ito sa mamahaling materials maliban nalang kung tinanong.

3. Catering - Madaming caterers sa bansa at maraming nagooffer ng makataong presyo at lasa. Ok na ang 200-350 per head. Depende rin sa guests mo kung sosyalin lahat dapat sosyal din ang foods pero kung hindi naman masyado ok na yung nasabing budget.

4. Venue - Lagi talagang mahal ang reception venue. Syempre dyan sila kumikita. Pero kung makakahanap ng mas mura at maayos na location (maayos na parking at hindi mukhang dugyot) ay go na doon. Bawiin sa decorations.

5. Decorations - Depende sa design pero kung resourceful ka siguradong makakatipid ka. Ask friends, relatives para makatulong.

6. Flowers - Hindi kailangan ng fresh flowers, pwede na yung gawa sa fabrics pero wag naman yung gawa sa plastic haha mukhang cheapipay. Depende rin ito sa design ng reception/ceremony mo.

7. Tables and Chairs - Mura lang ang rent nito di kailangang lakihan ang budget.

8. Wedding Ring - Depende sa napagkasunduan ng magiging magasawa. Sa amin ni hubby, ipapasmelt lang namin yung gold na meron sya at ipapagawa sa Meycauayan. Pero kung walang iapapasmelt budget is less than 10k (mahal talaga ang gold, walang magagawa).

9. Invitation Letters - Hindi kailangang lakihan ang budget dito. Common sense.

10. Hair and Make-Up - Maraming magagaling na freelancer ang maganda gumawa at mura pa, tyaga lang sa hanapan. Hindi kailangang malaki ang budget dito.

11. Bridal Car- Pag may kotse gamitin nalang yung sariling kotse pero usually 3k ang service dito. Pero kung makakakuha ng less mas maganda.

12. Photo and Video - Eto ang recommended ko na hindi tinitipid. You need a talented team to capture the biggest event in your life. 

13. Music & Entertainment - Hindi rin ito dapat tinitipid. According to Martha Stewart Weddings website, 81% ng success ng wedding ay entertainment. Aanhin ang magagandang photo at video kung hindi naman bakas sa mukha mo at ng mga guests mo ang kaligayahan na dulot ng perfect entertainment. http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/231226/50-money-saving-tips/@center/272419/youre-engaged

**Note: Hindi lahat ng reception venue pumapayag na venue rent lang, you need to avail their food kaya kung gusto makatipid humanap ng venue na pwede kumuha ng catering na di nila katie-up or which ever is better.

Pero ang pinakaimportante ay ang buhay mo after your wedding day. Hindi siya happy ending dahil magsisimula palang kayo, dapat happy start at nasa saiyo na iyon kung gusto mo hanggang sa dulo ay happy parin kayo. Aanhin ang magarbong kasalan kung nakakaisang bwan palang kayo ay nagaaway na kayo.

TIP: Wag ipangutang ang wedding budget mo. Magpakasal ng naayon sa budget (na hindi inutang). Sisimulan ninyo ba ang buhay nyo ni mister na puro pambayad lang ng utang ang kinikita? Nasaan ang ipon?

Just sharing. Opinions and "Constructive Feedback" are welcome.

[anneshirley]

Hey sildudoleil, I agree with making sure you don't incur long-term debt for your wedding. Instalment plans are good ways to manage cash flow, but both the fiance and I agree that anything we buy using our cards (with the exception of real estate/cars/big-ticket long-term items) we should be able to pay off in the next month's billing cycle.

Anyways re: priorities it really varies per bride. There are so many factors: budget, personal preference, etc. Most of your items naman make sense but there's no cookie-cutter formula. For example, here's mine acc to % total budget:

30% Reception Venue & Caterer
I'm holding my wedding reception in a hotel so they're lumped together na. My fiance and I make it a point to go to nice and quality restaurants so it's kinda out-of-character for us to scrimp on this.

20% Travel Expenses
We're both based overseas so travel does take up a lot of our budget. These are indirect costs but since we wouldn't be traveling as much (at least out of pocket haha) if we weren't getting married, I put this into our tracking na rin.

15% Entourage Styling
At first glance this looks to be a huge chunk of the budget but broken down it's reasonable naman. This is comprised of the groom's suit (2%), bridal gown (3%), entourage suits and dresses (8%) and hair/makeup/styling on the day for everyone (3%).

10% Photography & Videography
I'm a firm believer of no matter how simple or grand the styling is, as long as it's captured beautifully it wouldn't matter so much. Besides the food, this is  non negotiable for me.

10% Accommodation
Being a destination wedding, we're paying for the accommodation for immediate family for the long weekend. There are cheaper alternatives (AirBnB for example), but we're more comfortable billeting them somewhere where they don't have to be too wary of property and needing to tidy up everytime.

5% Wedding Rings
I don't think this needs a lot of explanation: this is the only thing after the wedding that you get to maximize kasi haha

Everything else (flowers, invitations, wedding favours etc) are less than 5% na. As much as I think these elements tie the whole event together, priority-wise these don't top my list.

[bonzaigirl]

Hi sildusoleil   Anneshirley is right, the priorities vary per bride.  In our case, we didn't really factored our wedding rings and engagement rings in.  Those are with his budget.  We have a 60-40 or 70-30 budget   60/70 for him, 30/40 for me . Our priorities are basically Photo/Video, Caterer, and reception venue and  preps place, church and coordination.

Well basically these are our most expensive, if we have to factor in the wedding rings, then the wedding rings will be there as well.  I am not going to go and discuss it one by one, as it is pretty much basic.

I am not saying that the other suppliers are suppliers that I can live without during our wedding, but the rest are basically the suppliers that Iwill book after I've booked my church, reception, venue and caterer.  As these will need reservations right away.  Plus these suppliers will be the foundation of my wedding.  Then the rest will follow.  But a large chunk of our money will go to the former.  Hope this helps

[sildusoleil]

Napagkasunduan na namin ni hubby kung ano ang gusto namin for our wedding kaso di ko alam kung saan magsstart maghanap. Ang dami kasi sobra.

May wedding expo this August 28, I believe... helpful rin para makahanap ng venue, caterers etc.

[bonzaigirl]

If I may, start with your date, then find your church and then reception venue or vice versa.  That will be the first question all suppliers will ask you, when and where.  Good luck sa preps

[corpse_bride]

^Meron din ata weekend of Aug. 1 at PICC. Usually 1st ones you need to book/reserve are Church/Ceremony Venue, Reception Venue, Photo & Video services (this one ngayon ko lang nalaman urgent need din pala). It would help din if you come up with a motif or just an inspiration. Para you'd have an idea na gano kadaming decor ba you need or anong style of entourage gowns you'll want to have. Very lost kasi kami nung una. When my fiancé told me the motif he wanted, I ran with it na :) happy preps, sis!

[belle_v2g]

The church is our main priority coz as apostolic pentecostal christians, we are only allowed to have our ceremonies with either a protestant or baptist church. The church at all is not expensive but it's the reason why we chose glass garden as our venue (distance to church via katips road is the quickest and most accessible route with 20 mins travel time).

Next priority is food as the guests will be spending almost their whole day with us on an ordinary day (wedding held on a Tuesday) so i guess, they deserve a good treat.

Photo and Video is our next splurge coz we wanted the event to be documented properly.

[dcpdane]

imho ang hindi dapat tinitipid ay yung mga "matitira" after the wedding. these are usually the photos and videos. very critical ito kasi these will be the only ones left for you to see until you grow old and gray. yung cake, hindi masyado. ilang seconds lang naman yung cutting of cake. mas importanteng ma-cut nyo ng tama para walang bloopers. lol! bridal car hindi (unless car enthusiast siguro yung couple). invitations could set the mood for your guests. if you want to uhm... "intimidate" them and make sure they abide by your dress code (if you will impose it strictly), then give them a sophisticated invitation. you don't have to print it out for everyone, though. kahit yung may mga roles lang. then the rest you can just send pdf files via FB or email para tipid. lol

i used to agree on spending less for the gown. but my h2b despises the idea. he wants me to walk down the aisle daw with full confidence, face the cameras comfortably etc. sabi rin nya, ako raw ang "bida" sa pics so it has to be really elegant and pretty. medyo napapayag ako ni h2b, and now we've stretched our budget from 30k to 50k for my dress alone. i still can't believe we would actually shell out this much for a dress that will be worn for one day only. but then again, it's not just any other day in the calendar, it's our wedding.

[dcpdane]

i forgot to mention the food. hindi dapat ito basta-basta. especially in my case, destination wedding kami. people will adjust their lives for this special day. i know they love us kaya sila aattend, but it is also just right to feed them well. give them a good time because it's a celebration, after all.

[yannuh]

Non nego sa men ang church. Gustong gusto sya ni H2B. Medyo namamahalan na ko for a chapel pero sulit naman the exterior:)

Next na dapat lakihan ang budget should go for FOOD. Then hotel accommodation, then venue.

[hannah_03]

       For me it depends on you and your h2b. Hindi naman kailangan na bongga, but more on what holds meaning for the both of you. Sa amin, food, photo/video and the wedding rings are what we splurged on. Pero hindi pa rin kamahalan compared to others.
     The rest so far very cheap na. Even my wedding gown will be my sister's wedding gown. My mom will just put beads and an overlay. Bridal car will be my first car. My father volunteered to get flowers from Dangwa and make the simple Church decor. Etc.
    Good luck to us. This site is helping me a lot in my planning. I also dont have a coordinator so extra savings there.  Just research a lot so you have may options. 
   
         

[supermom18]

for me yung church and the food!! kasi food lagi ang napipintasan pag napapansin ko eh.. 

[cheezums]

FOOD and RECEPTION VENUE. Amen. 

Whenever I attend weddings, these two ang talagang napapansin ng mga guests. Church is also important, pero they will spend most of their time at the reception kasi, and most guests (if not family or entourage), let us admit, would rather skip the ceremony and go to the reception na to eat! haha!  Pero non-nego sa amin ang air-conditioned chapel for our church (should really be chapel, not a big church) and in a private area. Sanctuario de San Jose was what I really had in mind. Kaso I find it expensive. Parang di ata makatarungan na maningil na mahal to get married sa church, it is not a business.  So glad I found Archbishop's Palace na nasa loob pa ng villa in the middle of a garden, pasok na pasok talaga sa banga, kaya hindi na kami napagastos ng bongga sa Sanctuario de SJ.

So while our budget remains lower than "average", we did not scrimp on the food and party (reception) venue, all out din kami sa booze. Bec it is what our guests will truly remember. They won't remember the bridal car, or how the flowers at the church or bouquets looked like, or how our invitation looked like, things like these NOT worth it to splurge on, really. So everything else, I tried na tipid as much as possible, w/o sacrificing the quality of course, still. I am actually semi-DIY-ing our aisle decor.  Laking tipid, and unique pa. Aisle decors should not overpower the bride (or other entourage) when marching anyway. 

I wrote articles on my blog on how a wedding can still be awesome without being expensive, and how Philippine weddings can really go over the top nowadays. If we come to think of it, it's really crazy 

[angelzero]

^^agree. People will forget everything else except the food. We had a budget wedding but we made sure masarap ang food. 25% of our budget went to the caterer. Medyo invest din sa photographer - around 10% of the budget. Our church di naman kamahalan kaya ok lang. Bonus na yun. Everything else we made sure we didn't splurge. Though it will take a lot of research to get the best out of your money esp. if you don't plan to hire a coordinator.

[cheezums]

^Super agree. Sa amin 50% of our budget went to the reception venue + catering (package na kasi).
We had a chunk of our budget din alloted to PV, it's important for us, though di pa rin naman kamahalan yung binook namin. We got Imagine Nation for photo and Vidlens for video, and they are really good!  That's true, you just have to spend time researching and comparing so you can get the best value for your money. Affordable doesn't mean panget. THERE'S ALWAYS A WAY TO SAVE. Like the hotel bookings, I kept searching for ways to get a discount so I can book the hotel we want. And I did. I do not like paying for regular prices Haha. 

[caleeice]

Our biggest splurge is our P/V suppliers with good reason. It is important to have good documentation because in the future, you would want to look back or show your (grand)kids all the beautiful moments that were captured in your photos and videos.

We also prioritized food and reception venue. You want your guests to enjoy the day/night as they join us in celebrating our unions.

Other essentials are your coordinator (which can help make or break a wedding) and hair and make-up (of course you would want to look your best on your wedding day).

[j.adore]

Food - it's offensive to serve sub par quality food especially when your guests made effort to attend

Photo and video - memories are better captured
Find promos or up and coming suppliers to get savings.

Rings - worn daily and should last a lifetime

[mrsBuens]

^Expenses namin napunta sa mga ito (1- highest)

1. Food/Reception, After Party
2. Photo/Video
3. Accommodations, Transportation

[cheezums]

Sa thread on 'worst wedding ever seen', I read a post that I could not forget. She attended a wedding that looked oh so so pretty, but food was blah, halatang they scrimped on food. Seems like for documentation purposes lang daw yung nangyari, just to look good on photos and video. That's so sad. I agree that PV is really important kasi you cannot do the event all over again and you want to immortalized the memories ika nga, you want it to look great. But what's even more important is THE MOMENT. The actual day and what actually happened. 

[LGV]

At first the food and p/v are the non nego for the both of us but since it was a long preps and as we go along parang everything went non nego na for so many reasons. For example the gown, suit and family's attire the grooms family ayaw ng kung ano ano lang since my husband was the first to get married, they paid for it so its all good. I never imagined splurging for my wedding gown but we did, super way beyond the budget na gusto ko but hubby paid 90% of the wedding and sya ang may idea for me to wear a designer gown. Ang sinagot ko yung mga extras like candy buffet, souvenirs etc so obviously sa tabi tabi ko nalang yun nakuha except sa cake we kinda spent a little. Ayun after the wedding pinauwi lang naman sa relatives.

Then we woke up one day gusto na namin lahat maganda kung pwedeng yung pinaka the best yun ang kukunin namin kung kaya din lang naman, kung baga my take on this is lageng merong pwedeng magbago sa plans talaga depende kasi talaga. Minsan kala mo ayaw mo nun pero pag nakita mo and nafeel mo yung satisfaction you'll like it din pala. Basta again, the food and p/v should be non nego lalo na tulad nung nabanggit na maganda lahat ng details then panget ng feedback sa food. Hindi na kasi yun makakalimutan ng guest forever. Hehe!