When Moose and I set out on our wedding journey, we initially set a budget for $10,000 that WE would personally spend. We figured that number would be good enough to cover the basics and still have a damn good time to show for it in the event that we did not receive any family help. Before you get all "oh, being in your thirties you shouldn't expect family help"-- we didn't. We told our families that while we would love it if they could pitch in if they wanted to help us out, the expectation wasn't that they had to. Our families have been beyond happy with that approach and helping in ways that I didn't expect-- but more on that in another post.
Back in December, my initial tent quote for a 30' x 45' x 8' tent, lighting, dance floor, and canopy to the Carriage House (land of dancing and, more importantly, the bar) was $2374.00. Yep. A good (almost) quarter of our budget. So I did what any good bride on a budget does: freak out.
I started thinking of things that we could cut back in order to hit that number. Maybe I consign a dress, rent a dress, or even better: don't get a traditional wedding dress. Maybe I could cut back on things like having a cake-- sweets bars are all the rage, right? Hmm... WAIT, I KNOW... I'll see what we can cut out of our catering budget.
So I sheepishly called our caterer (Tastings Caterers-- so far, working with them has been absolutely freaking WONDERFUL) and asked what could be done to cut the menu a few thousand dollars. I may or may not have bust into tears at that point, but was given the best gem I have been given so far in the grand world of wedding planning: "Can you see if you can share a tent rental with the person the day before you?"
MIND. BLOWN.
I immediately shot off an email to my contact at the Codman Estate to see if there was anyone there who might want to split a tent for the weekend. At that point, the Codman was still not rented for the day before our wedding, but they would keep me posted if things changed.
When a little over a month went by and I didn't hear from anyone, I reached back out to our tent vendor and requested some things be changed to our proposal since we needed to have it booked, stat-- we could keep the tent and canopy, but getting rid of the lighting and dance floor would cut down around $900, making it slightly more affordable. I kid you not, an hour after hitting send, I was emailed by my contact at the Codman to see if it was OK to make an introduction between myself and the people who are holding a wedding there the day before.
At that point I had written off a dance floor and lighting, but when the mother of the bride mentioned they were things she wanted, I reconsidered. I mean, spending $200 on a dance floor instead of $400 was in my best interest now that the tent itself was only $800. We still wouldn't need the lights, but I am able to remove them from my quote.
Final quote cost? $1140. So I get the tent, the canopy, and the dance floor for HALF the price. Plus now we will be able to go in and decorate on Friday night once the tent goes up, rather than running around on Sunday morning.
I never knew that you could do this, but it's apparently a little more common than people realize.
Lesson learned: always look for creative ways to cut the budget without compromising what you get. ALWAYS.
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