The Dreaded "B" Word

Duh duh duh!  BUDGET!

Initially Brian and I had intended to stay within a $25K budget.  However, after visiting The Charles Hotel and a lot of the local venues in the city, we quickly realized that we would have to amend that budget.  I think if Brian and I were truly committed to staying within that budget, we could have made it work.  We toyed with having the wedding in the winter around the January - March timeframe but, alas, the life of an accountant would have made that impossible.  That would have been the busiest time at work for me where I'd be lucky to even have the Friday before the wedding off so that was quickly nixed.  We also could have had our wedding outside the city but that would totally not have been "me".

So we've since bumped up our budget to $35K and this is only for the Western part of the wedding.  Since we're also holding a Chinese reception and tea ceremony, we've also added about $5K for that.  Fortunately, my parents will be paying for that portion of it as a wedding present to Brian and myself.  However, we may be pitching in a bit here and there - such as my qi pao and cheongsam which I'll probably be getting made in China.

Here are the details of our budget that we created a few months ago.  Along the way since then, we've had to reallocate funds to accommodate unexpected expenses.  For example, I was under the impression that flowers would not be that important and we would be having the bare minimum in florals and have DIY centerpieces.  But then Brian seemed pretty sad that we wouldn't have real flowers and then I found Bumble Bee Landing and fell in love with her work and one thing led to another and then we had a florist.  And then Brian's mom had only request - to have a videographer.  And that's how we found David Bettencourt.  I was going to DIY the invitations with my gocco that I bought two years ago just so I could use for my wedding (no lie) but then I found MaeMae Paperie and fell in love again. I need to stop falling in love with wedding vendors.  It's an issue.  But all these things caused us to change our budget somewhat.  However, we've still stayed within our original plan....just allocated differently.  See the link to our actual Google Budget Spreadsheet.

Of course with all this talk of budgets and weddings, a part of me realizes that I'm being pretty blase with throwing all these figures.  I am very aware of the fact that this is a LOT of money...and I know it's just for one day.  There's no real reason except that I know how much fun weddings are and I know how much this one day can mean for not Brian and myself, but for my friends and family.  I'm the first child in my family to get married and my entire family is excited about it.  My grandmother giggles everytime we talk about Chinese traditions, my aunts get fired up about which are lucky days and unlucky days, and my cousins and I pore over wedding magazines together.  I hope for my friends that it's a night for friends who live thousands of miles apart to come together for one night and party like the old days.  But for me, I selfishly want this day so I can see Brian at the end of the altar.  I can almost feel the butterflies now as I imagine the look on his face as I walk towards him.  I don't need to spend a lot of money to get that moment but I would also pay anything to get that moment.

Chu-EEZE!

Right after we picked the venue, I knew the very next step was finding our photographer.  Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, this has been the hardest part of our wedding.  I am not joking when I say that I contacted at least 8 photographers who were all booked on our date.  I really shouldn't be surprised since September is so limited in dates.  The first Saturday is Labor Day and a lot of people don't want to take away from people's vacations during holiday weekends.  The second Saturday is September 11th....not a date you would really want associated with your wedding.  You get the point.

Let me preface by saying that even though I had to go through a lot of photographers to find her, I am SOOO glad that I did.  Jen Ing came recommended by several photographers and I was immediately drawn in by the emotions that she captures in her pictures.

I'm so excited about having Jen shoot our wedding!  Now if only Brian and I can decide on a location to shoot our engagement pictures...

Hey Mr. DJ!

For Brian and myself, picking the DJ seemed to be the most “iffy” vendor to choose. For example, you know how to judge photographers and videographers. You view their portfolio and you either like their work or you don’t. Done. But with DJ’s, how can you judge their work? It’s not like you can just take a setlist they’ve used at weddings because (hopefully) that set has been customized for the bride and groom specifically. Judging that setlist is NOT a reflection of the DJ’s work. With that dilemma in mind, we realized that the only way to get this vendor out of the way was to look at price and how well we “clicked” with that vendor.

Before meeting them, Brian and I set our base parameters.  Our budget was $2000. We needed them to be there at 5 PM for the ceremony to provide the microphones and speakers. Also, since the cocktail hour is gong to be held in the same courtyard as the ceremony, then some light music for the ceremony. Then our wedding reception is set to end at 11:30 so it would be roughly 6.5 hours of service that we would need the DJ for (minus setup/cleanup time). Also, we were possibly interested in having some lighting options just to provide more of an ambiance on the dance floor.

The first DJ we met with was DJ Raffi. I had heard great things about him and was really eager to meet him. Honestly, I really did like him. He was extremely professional and personable and had DJed for weddings at The Charles before. He had created a slideshow of the last wedding he had been there and was extremely helpful in answering all our questions. He seemed to be the most experienced DJ we met and seemed like he would be the most prepared for any catastrophe (should it occur). However, with experience comes the price for experience. There were extra charges to set up the sound system in the courtyard for the reception and cocktail hour as well as pretty high hourly rate charges to extend service beyond the 5 hour basic service. As a side pro, DJ Raffi did have very affordable lighting options that we liked. For people that have a slightly larger DJ budget, I would definitely recomend for them to meet with DJ Raffi.

On the same day, Brian and I also met with Tom Laquidara .  Of all the DJs we contacted, his prices were the most affordable.  I liked him and he seemed very passionate about his job and about serving the customer.  He had a more laid-back approach and seemed like someone who would not try and overtake the wedding.  However, I was really worried about getting people on the dance floor and about the lulls in the wedding where I would need the DJ to get people pumped up again and we decided to keep looking.

At this point, I felt like Goldilocks searching for the perfect porridge.  Luckily, we hit the mark with our third DJ - DJ Seth from BeatTrain.  Our main contact from BeatTrain was extremely professional and gave us reassurance that because they had multiple people in the company, there would always be a backup in case something happened to DJ Seth.  Then he disclosed that DJ Seth's wife is pregnant with their first child and is due to give birth sometime around our wedding.  This worried me for a quick sec but, honestly, it's not a huge dealbreaker for me.  I just appreciated their honesty from the beginning.  Also, their prices were juuuust right.  :)

My suggestions for DJ hunting:

• Set your budget
• Set the services you want and the length of time
• Know what kind of DJ style you want - someone more involved with the wedding, less involved, etc
• If you need them for the ceremony, ask what microphone/speaker systems they use 
• Ask what type of equipment you need to provide (i.e. tables, coverings, etc)