Budget - Last Update 25/9

Last updated 
25/09 - Added invites.
18/8 - Added cake topper.
25/6 - Added Flowers
20/6 - Added Grooms shoes, bridesmaids dresses, groomsman's  ties and guest book.
19/6 - Added Grooms suit and shirt.
2/6 - Added final shoe cost and cake cost.
5/5 - Added in our cake quotes.
2/4 - Original post.
 
One of the first things my fiancé and I did to do with the wedding was to do up a budget. I found that not many people had actually posted their budgets, or if they had they hadn't given details of what it included ($1000 for flowers is great but what did that get you?). I'm sharing our budget and our actual costs here on the basis that it's a really useful tool for others. Our budget is for our wedding only - it doesn't include our engagement party (that came in at about $1,400 I think) or a honeymoon.
All that I ask is that after we've committed to paying for something no one tells me how much cheaper we could have got it for!

P.S. Sorry I can't post this in a more user friendly way.

Bride Attire
Dress
Budget: $500      Actual (so far): $266     Cost Status: May Increase
My future mother in law is making my dress which is why the budget was quite low. The pattern for the dress cost me $22 from Spotlight. I purchased all of my fabric from Fabulous Fabrics in Balcatta. I spent $244 which included lining, satin for the dress, netting, tulle overlay & a zipper. I didn't buy any interfacing as my future in mother in law already had plenty. Still need to buy some boning but this is dirt cheap. The cost of this may still increase though because I'm still half keeping an eye out for a different overlay fabric.
Veil
Budget: $100     Actual (so far): $0     Cost Status: Finalised
I budgeted $100 for a nice, simple veil. I've decided to go veil-free and am just have fresh flowers in my hair. These are included in my flower costs.
Shoes
Budget: $60      Actual (so far): $133     Cost Status: Finalised
I originally thought I'd be happy finding something standard on sale - I ended up wanting yellow shoes which and so spent $83 on a pair of shoes online from China which are epic fail. I gave up on the yellow shoes and went out and bought a white pair from Spendless for $50 :)
Jewellery
Budget: $0      Actual (so far): $0      Cost Status: Finalised
Added this in for completeness. I actually got all my wedding jewellery through an insurance claim after I had a heaps of inherited rings stolen.

Groom Attire
Suit
Budget: $200     Actual (so far): $349     Cost Status: Finalised
We were originally going to hire the groom's suit. He has since decided that he would prefer to buy one.. which I agreed with once he mentioned that other men would have had that same suit stripped off them by their new wives on their wedding night. This ruined hired suits for me forever.
We managed to score one on sale. It was worth every over-budget cent - he looks so damn fine in it.
Shirt
Budget: $200     Actual (so far): $45     Cost Status: Finalised
We went cheap on the shirt due to the over budgetness of the suit. The original price tag on the shirt was $75, but because sales are awesome we got it for $45.
Shoes
Budget: $100     Actual (so far): $90      Cost Status: Finalised
Gotta love stocktake sales. Picked the groom up some sweet shoes for $90 that were reduced down from $150! Bargain!
 Cufflinks
Budget: $0     Actual (so far): $35      Cost Status: Finalised
Forgot to budget for Groom's accessories, such a cufflinks but managed to pick some up for $35 at Myer in a 30% off sale. Bargain!

Bridesmaids Attire
Dresses
Budget: $150 each      Actual (so far): $115 each      Cost Status: Finalised
We got the bridesmaids dresses in the stocktake sales - they were reduced to $115 each from $199 each. Bargain!

Groomsmen Attire
Budget: $100 each     Actual (so far): $77     Cost Status: Will increase
We were originally going to hire suits but our wedding has taken a more casual turn. As a result they will be wearing their own black pants and white shirts. We are buying them ties and will either or hire or buy them vests.
We got the ties in the stocktake sales. They are really nice ones and I hope that they will wear them again. The original price of the ties was $55 each, but we got them on sale for $38 each.

Hair and Makeup
Hair
Budget: $300     Actual (so far): $251     Cost Status: Projected
This budget is for myself and two bridesmaids. So far I have actually paid $50 for my hair trial and I won't be having another one unless I change my mind about my hair-do. The cost is $80pp on the day (it may be a smidge less depending on what hair styles the girls get), minus $25 (a special from an expo), minus 10% if I have five or more people getting their hair done (both mums will be so this takes it to five people), plus $10 travel fee. Our hair will be done by Alana Vassallo.
Make-up
Budget: $225     Actual (so far): $315     Cost Status: Finalised
I really under-budgeted for make-up. I allowed $75pp and did not take into account that I would need to have a trial. As a result, I have asked the lovely bridesmaids if they would mind doing their own make-up. My final costs are - Trial 1: $60, trial 2: $50, me on the day: $75+$10 for fake eyeleashes, Mums (x2): $60.

Ceremony
Hire Fee
Budget: $300     Actual (so far): $200     Cost Status: Finalised
We found exactly what we wanted while still saying within our budget for the ceremony venue. Because of our budget, some people who we will invite to the ceremony will not be invited to our reception. This meant we didn't want the ceremony at the same venue and we also wanted somewhere with a fair bit of space. We decided on a garden wedding and have booked Amanda's Garden in Southern River. It's perfect...and the best part is that the hire 'fee' goes to the foundation!
Music
Budget: $300     Actual (so far): $0     Cost Status: Finalised
We included music in the budget for the ceremony as we were originally thinking that it would add a nice touch. We realised after a while though that we didn't want traditional wedding songs so we would be better off just playing music through a CD player.
Celebrant
Budget: $500     Actual (so far): $480     Cost Status: Finalised
Celebrants are generally pretty standard in their fees. You get the occasional one that wants to charge you the earth but they are generally around the $500 mark so our estimate was good. Their inclusions generally don't vary but if you're having an outdoor wedding make sure that they have a PA system! We are using Diana McGrath.

Reception
Hire Fee
Budget: $500     Actual (so far): $0     Cost Status: Finalised
Some venues charge hire fees so it pays to include it in your budget. You can find out these fees often from the venues website. We will be having our reception at Roley's On The Ridge - they do not charge a venue hire fee if you spend a certain amount (otherwise they will charge something to make up for their looses by giving you exclusive use).
Music
Budget: $0     Actual (so far): $0     Cost Status: Finalised
We really weren't keen on spending $$ on a DJ. When looking for a venue we took into account that somewhere that had their own speakers and would let us hook an ipod up to it would be an advantage.
Decorations
Budget: $200     Actual (so far): $200     Cost Status: Will Increase
The $200 I've included in here so far isn't actually decorations, it's for white linen. $200 was a very low budget - start adding chair covers, ceiling drapes and the like on and it will explode. Luckily for us, Roley's is a beautiful venue as it is and our decorations will be minimal - just a small centrepiece (like a small vase with flowers in it) for each table. If you're on a budget, when you're looking at venues consider how much they will need to be decorated and do your research into decorating costs!
Food
Budget: $3,300     Actual (so far): $3,388     Cost Status: Projected
The cost of food can be a killer and it can be hard to find somewhere with good food that won't break the bank. These figures are based on 55 people @ 61.60 per head. For this we are getting the Roley's Tasting Plate for an entrée, a choice of stuffed lamb or red spot emperor for mains, both served with salad, cake-age (we are using our cake as dessert - they will serve it with a coulis or cream depending on the type of cake) and tea and coffee. This included GST. Also beware when budgeting for food that a lot of venues won't lock in a price for a wedding that's over a year away.
Drink
Budget: $1,485     Actual (so far): $1,600     Cost Status: Projected
We are not having a beverage package. Our venue doesn't offer one but even when looking at other venues I just don't think it's good value for money (unless almost everyone is a heavy drinker). Our venue was able to advise us on an indicative cost for drinks. They said generally $26/head is what it works out to. We are also having champagne (well, sparkling) on arrival with strawberries which they guestimate will work out to an extra $200. If you're on a budget, remember there are options like only having certain drinks included (we are not allowing cocktails or spirits) or having a tab rather than an open bar.

Stationary
Wedding Invites
Budget: $280      Actual (so far): $157     Cost Status: Finalised
We did a DIY job. The cost includes all postage. We are inviting around 55 people, so this cost was for about 30 invites. You can see the mock-up here: http://asunshinyday.blogspot.com/2010/08/invites.html


Save The Dates
Budget: $0      Actual (so far): $28     Cost Status: Finalised
We accidentally left these out of the budget but ended up spending stuff all anyway. We got 50 fridge magnets from Vista Print. We were really happy with how well they came out. If you are going to use them, make sure that you sign up to their newsletter. It seems every second day they have 'great deals' like free postage or %s off.

Photographer
Budget: $5,000      Actual (so far): $5,000     Cost Status: Finalised
We actually cheated a bit with the budget on this one. Originally we only allowed $1,500 but what we ended up spending was so much more we re-did the budget because otherwise we would have just been constantly over budget no matter what we did. Wedding photographers greatly vary in price. After looking at online portfolios, we emailed a heap asking for their price lists. Based on cost and their portfolio we narrowed it down to four that we wanted to meet with. We met with one photographer that was going to cost about $1,500, another was about $3,500 and then two that were around $5,000. After meeting with all of them we eliminated one of the $5,000 ones based on their poor business skills. Basically we weighed up cost versus quality and ended up booking Angela Higgins - her work is fantastic. One thing Angela offers is a gift registry service so that guests can contribute to our wedding photography as a gift if they wish, which is an idea that we loved!

Transport
Budget: $400      Actual (so far): $0     Cost Status: Yet to Purchase
This was a ridiculously small budget. If you are wanting limos or anything budget a lot more than this! We liked the idea of putting on a bus between the ceremony and our reception venue and then back to the city for our guests.... but this was going to cost more than our budget and we still would have no way of getting to the wedding ourselves! We aren't particularly fussed about cars so we are not planning on blowing this budget. The plan at the moment is to hire a couple of Audi's from Europcar and ask our Dad's if they can drive us (we'll have to figure out the logistics though so that they can ditch the cars in time for drinkies at the reception). If you're on a budget, another option is to just use your own car or borrow one of someone that has something nice :)

Rings
Budget: $0      Actual (so far): $0     Cost Status: Finalised
As with my jewellery, we used the money from an insurance claim to buy these. To give you an idea on cost though, my ring cost $270. It's an 18ct gold plain band and I think it's 3mm thick.. or maybe 2mm. My fiancé's is also an 18ct gold plain band and I believe it is 6mm thick. His cost a bit over $1,000.

Flowers
Budget: $500      Actual (so far): $367.50     Cost Status: Finalised
Flowers can cost a bomb if you want massive centrepieces or decorations for your ceremony (from what I've been told). Our budget was allowing for 3 bouquets and 1 buttonhole. We got a series of quotes for our flowers, and ended up going with Hazel's Bridal Design. Our flowers are yellow hothouse chrysanthemums. the brides bouquet will be straight flowers, and the bridesmaids bouquets will be smaller versions of the brides bouquet. We ended up getting 3 buttonholes - same flower as the bouquets. The price also includes 3 flowers for my hair, a throwaway bouquet and delivery.


Cake
Budget: $200      Actual (so far): $430     Cost Status: Finalised
What we budgeted for a cake was ridiculous. We were originally going to make and decorate it ourselves and this budget would have covered the cost of ingredients.  We've decided not to make it because it's just going to be too much stress.. but that means that our budget is way out.
We got a few quotes for this cake. The quotes exclude the topper and are for a 3 tiered version which will feed about 60 people for dessert. Quote 1: $585 + $35 delivery. Quote 2: $510 inc delivery. Quote 3: $710 + $45 delivery. Quote 4: $620 + $20 delivery. Quote 5: $450 + 30 delivery.
After discussing it with the Quote 5 lady, we have ended up with what we want, but it will have a polystyrene top tier. Apparently the bottom two tiers will be sufficient to feed the amount of people we need to. We are going to have the bottom two tiers as a white mud cake (yum!). It's ended up costing us $400 + $30 delivery :) We are using a lovely lady named Kelly who works from home. Feel free to ask me if you want her contact details - she has some photos of her cakes that helps with the whole not knowing what it might turn out like thing.

Favours
Budget: $250      Actual (so far): $0     Cost Status: Yet to Purchase
We are probably going to skip doing favours... maybe. I keep changing my mind on this one but I really think it's a bit of a waste of money. Not spending it here will make up for us going over budget in other areas too.

Cake Topper
Budget: $0      Actual (so far): $105     Cost Status: Finalised
So we forgot to budget for a cake topper. I found that you can get cake toppers easily for around the $50 mark.. but once I started looking on Etsy at personalised ones I was sold. A cake topper is something you can keep forever so I think it's worth spending a little bit of moola on.

Guest Book
Budget: $0      Actual (so far): $288     Cost Status: Will increase
We forgot to budget for a guestbook. Whoops! We have purchased a 10.4" digital photo frame and are planning on setting it up so that people can write us a message on a blackboard, take a photo and load it into our photo frame :)

Items we have budgeted for but I'm not including in this:

• Bridesmaid and Groomsmen gifts

• Gifts for parents.

Items we have discovered that we haven’t budgeted for (we’re hoping we can still keep in our overall budget by saving in other areas though):        

• Thank you cards.

• Drinks for the ceremony (because we’re inviting some people to just the ceremony we wanted to put on a few drinks).

• Touch up make-up.

• Other bits like signing pen, fancy cake knife, cake topper.

Grand Total: $15,400