Hello weddingbee readers!  Its been a long time since I’ve blogged, but I read something today on WB that piqued my interest.  I’m talking about budgets, of course!  In response to one of the comments, I’m going to break down my budget for you.  Hopefully it will help some brides budget their wedding.  Just a quick note – I dont actually remember the exact amounts anymore, so these are the closest estimates that I could come up with.

Total Budget – $40,000

Reception:  $22,000
Florist:  $4,400
Photography and Video (excluding albums):  $4,100
Invitations, STD’s and Programs:  $1,000
DJ:  $1,350
Officiant:  $400
Tea Ceremony:  $1,350
Wedding Dress (including alteration) & Shoes:  $1,750
Groom’s Tux:  $700
BM and GM (everything including clothes to gifts):  $1,200
Hair & Makeup (for everyone):  $600
Transportation: $1,600
Quartet: $500
Hotel for 2 nights:  $1,000
Tips:  $1,500
Other and Miscellaneous:  $1,500

Total Cost:  $44,950

I ended up going over by about 12%.  Plus, I’m not even including things like facials to prepare my skin, the hair appointments prior to the wedding, wedding bands for both of us ($4,000), and personal training sessions.  So I probably spent another $8,000 if you count that.

Did I think that my budget was “high”?  Well, no….not for NYC anyway.  I’ve been to weddings that cost much more than this.  But I’ve also been to ones that cost much less.  Personally, (and I am completely biased here!) I think $40 to $50K is a very reasonable amount for a NYC wedding.

I’m sure I could have had a much cheaper wedding if I didn’t have it in Manhattan.  But Manhattan was just so much more convenient for everyone involved.  I probably did not need to stay at a hotel for 2 nights either- but then again, I just really needed to NOT be home before and after the wedding.  Did I really need a 16 person limo to drive us around the day of?  Probably not.  I could have probably spent a lot less on the florist – but I loved her work! I also probably didn’t need the string quartet to play for 1 hour – but I wanted that too!  At the end of the day, I probably could have scrimped and saved on a lot of things which would have saved me about $6,000 ~ $10,000 without changing the location.  Mostly though, I think of that money as my “sanity money” – meaning that I spent it to keep my sanity during those stressful planning days. 

My parents gave me about half to help me pay for the wedding, and we came up with the other half.  We truly consider ourselves to be very lucky because we were able to afford the wedding of our dreams. 

Whatever your budget may be, I think the most important thing is this:  that the memories of your wedding day brings a smile to your face when you are old and gray.  I know mine will. 

Ok.  Let’s be candid about this.  How many of you like your mother-in-law (MIL)? Anyone?  Anyone? 

I’m just kidding.  I know there are plenty of you who get along fabulously with your MIL.  For the rest of us, I found a hilarious blog called MILDEW (Mothers In Law Do Everything Wrong).     They’ve recently moved to another site (click here), but all of their old stuff is on the MILDEW site.  I have been laughing my ass off for the last hour reading this stuff (I should be working….oh well).

Enjoy!

I am an infomercial whore.  I love watching these paid commercials late at night.  I love all kinds of informercials – skin care, kitchen gadgets, cleaning gadgets, and most importantly, fitness inventions. 

Admit it.  When you first saw one of theseyou wanted it too, right?.  Toned abs without doing anything!!!  How cool is that?  Just push a button and it works out the muscles for you.  Wow!  But, logic won out in the end and I didn’t end up buying it.  I mean, if its too good to be true, it usually is.

However, the last few nights, I’ve seen some products that really makes me want to pick up the phone and order.  (I blame my addiction on insomnia.)

   Hip Hop Abs – get the best abs ever by dancing to hip hop and without doing any sit ups!!! Wow!

The Bean – it cradles your back and you wont have any back problems while sculpting your core! Double Wow!

This time, I decided to do some research on the products.  This is a site where real customers review informercial products after they’ve tried them.  And for each review, you can vote whether you believe the review is real or a fake.  Based on this, you can decide if you want to order.  They review everything.  Abdominal products, exercise equipments, diet pills, workout videos, etc. 

Then there is the InfomercialBlog, and it keeps you up to date on the world of informercials, including fraudulent companies and products.  Based on this blog, and the reviews on Amazon, I am in the process of purchasing Turbo Jam. 

Now, there were complaints about the original company, Beach Body, regarding fraudulent charges.  I think that’s why the Beach Body’s website no longer works.  Either way, I am ordering from trusty Amazon.

Its a bit pricey at $79.99, but it was rated as the top infomercial product in all categories by InfomercialBlog, and has a 4.5 rating on Amazon based on 51 reviews.  Since I’ve gained about 7 pounds since the wedding, I figure I can spend $80 bucks and see if it works.  If it doesn’t, well, then its a lesson learned, right?

So I am going to try out Turbo Jam, and I will definitely keep you updated! 

Ok, not a star, but I am starring in my own wedding video!  My videographer just sent over the link for the highlight video today and I couldn’t be happier!  I only wish I were more…..telegenic or videogenic…or whatever word is the equivalent of photogenic is for videos.  Click below for a peak into my wedding day!

The Butterfly Wedding

I have to take this moment to thank my photographer/videographer, 5 West Studios.  Spencer has been amazing throughout this process, and I am extremely excited about the pictures and the videos.  Just watching this video brings a smile to my face. I highly, highly recommend them!  You wont regret it!

My husband is such a sweetheart.  Whenever he sees something interesting and wedding-related, he sends me the articles so that I can blog about it.  Today, he sent me something that is really blog-worthy and combines my two favorite things:  weddings and Disney! 

Here are some excerpts from the Wall Street Journal.

Fairy-Tale Wedding?
Disney Can Supply the Gown

Princess-Inspired Designs
Aim to Attract Older Crowd;
Subtle Mermaid Styling

Walt Disney Co. has made a fortune out of turning little girls into princesses. Now it plans to turn big girls into princesses, too.

In a move to expand the reach of one of its most popular franchises, Cinderella and her regal friends are moving into the bridal business with a line of wedding dresses and accessories. Disney has teamed up with couture bridal designer Kirstie Kelly to transform blushing brides into their favorite princesses, complete with billowing gowns and crystal tiaras. At a cost of $1,100 to $3,000 for each gown, brides will be able to walk down the aisle in dresses inspired by Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine or Ariel.

About dress designs…..

I would really like to see some of the dresses in person.  I’m so curious to see how Ms. Kelly interpreted Belle and Ariel (my two favorite Disney princesses)!

*Disclaimer:  Mr. Butterfly’s interest in this article is slightly biased since he works for Disney, but it is still an interesting article.

On Sunday, February 11, 2007, I said goodbye to my wedding dress.  Part of me is actually very sad.  I loved that dress.  I loved the way I felt in it.  But my practical part won the battle in the end for these reasons:

• I know that my wedding dress will never be worn again.  Well, the chances are it wont be worn again, and it was taking up valuable NYC closet space.
• It wasn’t a very expensive wedding dress to begin with, so I didn’t feel the need to save it.  
• I admit it – I wanted the tax write-off.  Although I don’t know how you decide on the fair market value of a wedding dress.  Its just guess work, isnt it?
• I didn’t have to clean the dress before donating it so I saved a few hundred bucks.
• Oh yeah – its also for a really good cause.

I kind of wish I had spent more time on Sunday looking over the dress.  I did get to see it briefly at the Bridal Garden (where I donated my dress).  The lady kept telling me how pretty the dress was, and hoped to sell it that same day. 

I guess all I can hope for now is that some girl, somewhere will wear this beautiful dress and feel like a princess on her wedding day – like I did on mine.

If anyone in NYC wants to donate their dress, please check out the Bridal Garden.

54 West 21st Street, Suite 907
(between Fifth & Sixth Avenues)
New York, NY 10010
Tel: 212-252-0661 Fax: 212-367-9050

Congratulations to edamam3 on winning the veil giveaway contest! 

Please email me your information (name, address, etc) to butterfly@weddingbee.com.

Mrs. Butterfly here.

I’ve decided to part with my veil.  As much as I loved my veil and the way it made me look in pictures, I wore it only for the ceremony (a grand total of 30 minutes).  Its a two layer, ivory veil with ivory trimming along the bottom.  It’s been tailored so that the two layers are evenly spaced apart throughout the entire bottom.  Kinda hard to explain….but either way, it looks awesome.

That’s the only picture that I have right now which shows the veil on me.  I can find some more pictures later if anyone is interested.

Anyway, if you want it, please just comment and tell me when your wedding is so that I can ship it out on time.  I will be choosing a winner randomly! The deadline is this Sunday, February 4th, at midnight.  Good luck!!

So MTV has a new show, Engaged & Underage.   Now, I dont usually watch MTV, but I think I may have to watch this show for an episode or two, just to see what its all about. 

Engaged & Underage

Series premieres 1/22/07 at 9:30pm. Airs Mondays at 9:30pm. Ends 3/12/07.
(30 min.)

Engaged & Underage is a half-hour verite documentary series. In each episode, we follow a young couple, between the ages of 18 and 21, during the final weeks of their engagement, leading up to a wedding (which may or may not be called off). In addition to showing all the drama, tension, and humor inherent in the days before a big event, Engaged & Underage also portrays a young couple as they take their first steps towards adulthood, and begin to define themselves as people outside the confines of their parents and home life, young people who feel they are ready to start homes and families of their own.

This show really brings to light a controversial question:  Can you be too young to get married? 

For those of you who asked about the petal cones, here is the website where I got the directions.

I used the 8.5″ x11″ paper template, but cut off the bottom square area to make the cones.  I got the paper and the ribbons from Kate’s Paperie.  You will need a paper cutter, a self-healing mat, and some adhesive.  I used my trusty ATG tape gun (recycled from making my invitations).

The only difficult part is trying to glue the cone into place, while keeping the tip of the cone in a perfect point.  I found it helpful to first roll the paper into a cone shape.  Even though making 20 of these took me several hours, they were totally worth it for that one single photograph of us walking down the aisle, being showered in petals. 

I am so glad Mrs. Bee talked me into making it.