I wish we’d had wedding insurance: Our wedding venue stole our money and ran
When I eventually got engaged, I had one venue at the top of my list; Brooklyn’s reBar. We immediately put down a deposit and made monthly payments for 18 months. We had 17 days until our wedding, I was freaking out over whether or not my mantilla veil had been delivered, when I got a Facebook notification that reBar was closed.
Couldn’t afford it, don’t regret it: why I skipped wedding photography
In our area, an “average” wedding photographer charges about $1500. A “good” photographer, about $3000. A photography student from the university, about $800. So, we could either have the wedding we wanted, or a low to mid range photographer with absolutely nothing else. Put that way, the decision was easy. It’s not that we lack appreciation for the art form of photography or don’t think there’s any skill involved. It’s just not something we’ve personally made a priority.
The myth of the “gift grab”
In my many years of publishing a wedding website (and then four years of running a parenting website) one of the things that came up time and time again the concept of a “gift grab.” Maybe this logic used to make a little more sense during a time when most couples A) weren’t paying for their own weddings or B) weren’t living together before getting married. But back here in 2014, round these parts? 43% of us are paying for our own weddings. Why in the world would we spend money on a wedding (or even just a reception) just to get gifts?!
How much money are you willing to put into your offbeat-ness?
I’ve just started looking around at venue options, and I’m realizing that my dream venue (funky and yes, offbeat) is potentially going to cost us TWICE as much as this more traditional, kinda-boring venue that offers wedding packages. Thinking about this reminded me again that offbeat does NOT necessarily mean less expensive! Then it made me wonder how much other Offbeat Bride readers are willing to spend to pursue their nontraditional visions — versus going lower-budget for a more packaged wedding. Given that many corners of the wedding industry are set up with packages, how do you decide between an easy/low-budget package vs. a more expensive but more authentic offbeat vision?