How Does your Wedding Stack Up?

The Knot recently released their 2008 Real Weddings Survey, which surveyed 18,000 couples of various ethnicities, education, and income levels across the United States.

The average cost of a wedding in 2008: $29, 334 (up 5% from 2007). This is significantly more than my budget for our wedding, but I am lucky to live in a rural area where lots of my costs are significantly lower than the national average. The most expensive cities to get married in were: "Long Island, New York; New York City; Northern New Jersey; Hudson Valley, New York; Chicago; Connecticut; Los Angeles; South Florida; Rhode Island; and Orange County, California."

Are you a DIY bride (like I wish I were)? You're not alone. "More than half (55%) of brides made their own favors and ceremony programs. Other top DIY categories were escort cards, save-the-dates, invitations, and decorations."

Both Amore and I will have fairly casual weddings. We're not the only ones: "Only 20% of weddings in 2008 were characterized as 'formal/black tie.'

I will have a nearly nine month engagement and Amore will have nearly a year. Our engagements are short compared to most couples: "Couples marrying in 2008 were engaged for an average of 15.7 months, more than 25% longer than those married in 2007. A majority of couples (71%) lived together prior to getting married."

So how are "Recession" brides changing their plans? "The 2008 Real Weddings Survey results reflected greater wedding spending overall, despite the growing economic concerns last year.
In a more recent survey conducted by The Knot (in March 2009) a majority of brides (60%) indicated that their wedding spending is proceeding according to plan, while 40% have reduced their wedding budgets by approximately 16%. "

How does your spending compare to the national averages? Are you changing your plans because of the recession?

--Love

The Bridal Trend I Can't Live Without

I. Love. Photobooths.
More than a dress.
More than a cake.
More than dresses for my girls.
More than Chacos for the guys.
More than a processional or a recessional.
More than anything.
(Except, of course, for C.)

C & I are photog buffs. We love pictures and what's more fun than cramming into a small space and taking cutesy pictures of yourself.

So when I saw in a bridal magazine a long time ago (I don't even remember when it was...) that renting a photobooth for a reception was a trend, I fell in love. I had to have one.

I started researching for photobooth rentals in the Knoxville area. I found several nationwide rental companies that can service Knoxville. Here's a snapshot (pardon my pun!)


Funtastic Foto
Funtastic Foto looks like a really fun place to rent from, because they have lots of fun options for your photobooth. In addition to the classic strip of photos, you can have fun backgrounds and cutouts.

Photo-Me
Photo-Me rents classic photobooths and digital booths. Unfortunately, they don't serve Knoxville :(

Photo Express
Photo Express also offers Dance Dance Revolution games for rental! How fun is that?

Party Booths
Party Booths offers logo printing on your photos. How perfect for a design freak! Love it!

Volunteer Photo Booth Rentals
Volunteer is a fun Tennessee-based company that also offers a "Snap-Lab" rental--digital cameras and instant photo printers.

I. Heart. Photobooths.

My parents, the generous benefactors of the wedding, are, unfortunately not big fans for dropping $900-$1800 on an "extra" for the wedding. So I'm thinking about how I'm going to afford this rental, and I decided to ask Brent. Brent is the youth director at our church, and he's also C's boss. Brent rents a lot of things for youth functions, so I thought I'd check with him to recommend a rental company. I knew he had never rented a photobooth here, but I knew I needed to pick his brain. His suggestion?

D.I.Y.

"Use your Mac! It has a Photobooth application. Rig up a booth yourself and use that application, then you don't have to pay for a rental."

Brilliant.

A quad of shots of me from the photobooth application. Please excuse the weird slanty eyes in the third picture...

Here's my plan: Construct a PVC & Black Fabric "Booth". Place laptop with above-the screen camera on one end, and a bench on the other. Hook up a secondary monitor to laptop. Hire or convince a friend to press the button to take the picture. Print on instant photo printer.

I. Love. Photobooths.

And now I can afford one.

-Amoré

"If you want complete control...

"You'll have to take complete financial responsibility."

I'm sure every couple who has had someone other than themselves footing any or all of the bill for their wedding has heard this at least a hundred times. Chalk up Time #1 for Amore' & C tonight. The issue in question: Meeting with the Church's wedding coordinator for the first time.

C works at the church that he & I are getting married in. We've both grown up in this church, and we're excited to exchange vows there. Since C works there, he & I have decided that all things church-related (that is, scheduling, our reception location options, etc) will all fall to C. He's perfectly capable of handling such things, and, let's faces, he's got friends in High Places.

Enter the first meeting with the church's wedding coordinator. C & I opted not to hire a wedding coordinator, but the church has one on staff to make sure things go smoothly and to act as a liaison between the church and the couple. C & I have yet to meet with the coordinator due to scheduling. We have our first meeting with her tomorrow. I imagine that we'll talk about the ceremony, our big ideas, where we'll have the reception, if it's possible to have it at the church in the location we want, etc. Should be a short, casual, let's get started meeting.

Now, Enter MOB, stage right. MOB, C & I are all going to visit caterer #1 tomorrow. So MOB asks if she can come to the meeting with the coordinator. I tell her, as politely as I can, that C & I want our first meeting to be just with the two of us. Cue "If you want complete control..." line. Cue giant exasperated sigh from the bride-to-be (I've never called myself that before! I like it!)

In my head, we're not making any decisions tomorrow, so it's not even necessary for MOB to be there. We're just chatting about what we want, and I'd like to give C the chance to talk. He barely gets a word in edgewise with me around, and he's got a snowball's chance if MOB & I are both there. I'm not trying to deny her any decision-making. I'm not going to sign her up to pay for lots of things we can't afford. I just want my fiance' & my first meeting with the wedding coordinator to be something that we do together--and alone.

Mom just came into my room (I'm still living at home, or rather, living at home again, after being away for college for 4 years) and assured me that she's ok with C & I meeting with the coordinator by ourselves. I hope for all of us that she means it.

When was your first who's-paying-for-what tiff?

-Amoré