Jessica Quindlen: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Sound Cents Podcast. I'm Jessica Quindlen. Today we are discussing all things saving and budgeting for weddings. I'm excited today to be joined by Emma Protsik, our Supervisor of Financial Coaching. Hello, Emma.
Emma Protsik: Hi Jess.
Jessica Quindlen: How are you doing today?
Emma Protsik: I'm good. How are you?
Jessica Quindlen: Good, good. And Sarah Bickers, our Lead Community Educator.
How are you, Sarah?
Sara Bickers: I'm doing well. We're excited to be here.
Jessica Quindlen: Yes, I'm so excited to have you. I'm very excited because both of you are in the throes of planning your fall weddings, which is very, very exciting. So this is perfect for what we're talking about. I'd like to just start with how did you start planning for your wedding?
I feel like you get engaged and it's exciting, and then what do you do? So, Emma, let's start with you.
Emma Protsik: Yeah, it's definitely overwhelming thinking about all those things. I think priority number one though, for you and your partner is to set that budget. So talk about how much you're willing to spend, what you're looking for overall in that wedding.
This is also a great time to [00:01:00] set priorities and values when it comes to those. So there are lots of traditions around weddings and lots of opinions involved, of course. But really figure out what matters most to you and your partner. Are there traditions that you can cut out? Are there things that matter more to you to budget for and have those conversations around?
Jessica Quindlen: Awesome. How about you, Sarah?
Sara Bickers: So, I'm a really big Pinterester. I'm somebody who spends a lot of time looking at places to travel and also wedding images. And so it's something that I had already spent some time kind of daydreaming about. But when I did get engaged and started to actually really plan for a wedding, I had all these images in mind and then I had to have conversations with my partner, with my family about what our budget was going to look like.
And so, we sat down, took a look at some numbers, talked to our family members to see if there was anything that they'd be contributing to kind of get those guidelines so then we could start figuring out how all of those big picture ideas that I had had for some time could fit into that.
Jessica Quindlen: I love it. That's [00:02:00] awesome. So, I know we're still obviously planning and there may be some expenses to come, but so far what were some of the biggest unexpected expenses that you've come across? Start with you, Sarah.
Sara Bickers: Oh, my goodness.
Jessica Quindlen: It can be more than one.
Sara Bickers: So I did a lot of research at the start to find out average numbers of things and just look at different places I was interested in.
And the average cost of a wedding in Colorado is about $30,000. Now obviously that number is quite inflated by people who have huge extravagant weddings. So, it's absolutely possible to have a wedding for less. Those are just the average numbers. But when I was looking at those big expenses, they’re typically the venue.
And that one I kind of anticipated. But the one that I think I didn’t anticipation was catering. So I had looked at catering cost in another state before and then I decided I was getting married in Colorado and I was quite shocked, especially with the preferred caterers at our venue, [00:03:00] how much they were asking for and how little it included.
So, it was just food cost. It wasn't the cost for the plates and for linens and all those other big packages. So, there are ways to get that down. There are caterers that are cheaper, but some of them can charge quite a bit of money for food.
Jessica Quindlen: Good to know. And yes, I mean, fed guests are happy guests, so there's not always a way around that, but I can only imagine how expensive it is.
How about you, Emma?
Emma Protsik: Food was actually a big one for us too, and it's funny, Sarah, I think that that's kind of one of those ways you can fight those traditions as well if food's outside of your budget. We are actually having a pizza party basically, so we're getting some pizza delivered and a salad bar. So again, it's all about just bringing it back to the values.
Another huge expense that we faced that I had no idea about was definitely those florals. So, again, it definitely depends on how you want your wedding to look, but, that was pricey and for something that you don't really get to hang on to for much longer if you’re looking at those live options.
So that's one expense that we also decided to cut out. [00:04:00] Our, my bridesmaids actually aren't going to have bouquets in any traditional sense. We're going to Sam's Club or Costco and getting some baby's breath and making it work that way.
Jessica Quindlen: I love it. Those are such great ideas. So kind of building on that, what are some other ways that maybe you have found that you could save?
Sara Bickers: There are a lot of different areas to save when it comes to weddings and as Emma mentioned, before. I would definitely recommend sitting down and figuring out things like what your values are and what you really care about. So that way when you're looking to cut costs, it makes those decisions a little easier.
For me, one big area I saved was actually. on our venue cost. So, I was looking originally at getting married on a Saturday, which is pretty typical because a lot of guests like to be able to make that a sort of weekend event. But for us we were looking at Saturday venue costs, at the venues we wanted and they were quite expensive and they were also pretty booked by the time that we started looking. And we realized that most of our guests were going to be taking time off to travel anyway, because we're having our wedding in Colorado. Most of our [00:05:00] family is from out of state.
So we are having our wedding on a Thursday. And the difference between the venue cost from a Thursday, a weekday wedding to a Saturday wedding is quite significant. So if it's something within your, like you're capable of doing and having it on a weekday or on an off day or off season, you can save a ton of money and get your dream venue that way.
Jessica Quindlen: I love that. That just makes me think how far in advance did both of you plan this? Plan your dates?
Sara Bickers: We picked mine about a year before the wedding date.
Jessica Quindlen: Okay. How about you, Emma?
Emma Protsik: I think we were around that timeframe as well, around a year.
Jessica Quindlen: Yeah, that seems typical. I was just curious.
Emma Protsik: Look earlier rather than later, of course for all things weddings.
Jessica Quindlen: Yeah, absolutely. I love it. Are there any other resources that you've found that are, you know, helping you plan?
Sara Bickers: Well, there are a ton of resources out there. And there are a ton, also a ton more ways to save that. I'd love, I'd love to talk about that. I found this through those resources as well.
Jessica Quindlen: Great. Please.
Sara Bickers: Those other wedding websites are definitely great places to get started with just a ton of recommendations and [00:06:00] like getting things set up.
But I've spent a ton of time just on Facebook and different wedding groups getting advice from brides all over the world about how they're saving, what they're doing, what the traditions are, things like that. And I've even met other brides through those platforms that are having their wedding at the same venue I'm having it at, so we can have that conversation as well.
Emma Protsik: I think another great resource too are those Wedding Expos. So, check out your local area. A great way to kind of check out different vendors if you're not exactly sure where you want to start. You can also get some pretty good deals. I get lots of email discounts from the ones that I gave my information to.
Jessica Quindlen: I love that. So, Sarah, what are these gems that you want to share with us about other fun ways to save?
Sara Bickers: Oh, it's just a long list of different, different categories. So one tip that I'd like to share is take a look at your guest list. The average cost per guest for a wedding is around $300. We talked about food expenses already.
That's certainly a part of it. But if you think about every little component [00:07:00] that goes into planning a wedding and every little thing for each guest, it does add up. So, cutting down on your guest list, while not ideal, can be one way to save a ton of money on your wedding, because it does open the opportunity to have smaller weddings at different places.
Jessica Quindlen: I love that. I've never thought about the true number. You know, I think you often see or hear, you know, $150 a plate and that's, food, venue, but then you have to factor in if you are wearing a dress and the flowers and really making that number higher. $300, I guess. Yes, I'm just doing some quick math in my head that adds up.
Emma Protsik: and I think too, if you are worried about saying no to some people, I know again, lots of feelings and emotions for a wedding. Get creative. Maybe you can have a party in someone's backyard to celebrate with those individuals that couldn't make that guest count initially.
Jessica Quindlen: Oh, I love that. Yes, that's very true.
Any other gems or things you've seen other people do? Maybe you are not doing them, but do you know of other tips and tricks?
Sara Bickers: One specific thing about Colorado. Colorado is one of the rare states that doesn't require you to hire an officiant for your wedding. So if you're looking to [00:08:00] cut some, cut some costs there, you can declare yourself married, you can go get the paperwork, you can have a whole ceremony doing that.
You can elope doing that. But it's one of the rare states out there that doesn't require you to hire somebody to do that.
Jessica Quindlen: That's fantastic. I did not know that. Are either of you having officiants?
Sara Bickers: I am not. That is an area I decided to save on. We were originally planning on asking somebody, but they didn't think they'd be able to make it out for the wedding for that, and we decided rather than hiring a stranger, we wanted to just make it special and do it ourselves.
Emma Protsik: No, we're using my partner's sister. So we got no cost there, thankfully.
Jessica Quindlen: Very nice. I love it. So going back, these are sort of ways that you can save, but I guess as far as planning ahead for your wedding, either during that sort of engagement period, or maybe you are single or in a relationship, but the, the question hasn't been popped yet.
What are some sort of tips on actually just having that money? Like do you feel there needs to be a fund? Do you need a conversation with family or do you think it's feasible even if you [00:09:00] get engaged and there is $0 allocated to make that work so that you're not planning a wedding 10 years down the road to save all that money.
Emma Protsik: I think with any goal, the earlier you can save, the better. There's nothing wrong with preemptively saving money for different things. I really do like the idea of kind of separating those funds, that way you can keep track of those and you have that more emotional connection. But if you don't have any money saved up, again, that's where you can bring in the conversations about the overall budget, what you can afford, and if there are family or friends that can maybe help you out there.
Sara Bickers: Yes. And with that particular situation, if you haven't started your wedding savings and there isn't any support and you're starting from zero, it might be worth having the hard conversation about when you're going to have that wedding. Ideally you don't want to wait something like 10 years to be able to reach those goals, but a lot of people approach it differently to do what works best for them.
Some people go ahead and have a, a courthouse wedding, a small thing, or do a little elopement, and then plan to have a big ceremony in a few years with all their friends. Some of them decide to go ahead and postpone it for [00:10:00] few years to save up, or some of them decide, okay, like I'd rather have my wedding and get married now with the money that we do have and can budget for, and it might not be my big elaborate dream wedding, but it's the one that's going to work for us.
So, it's up to everybody to figure out what's going to work best for them.
Jessica Quindlen: Yeah, I love that. That's great. Any other, anything else you'd like to add?
Sara Bickers: Use the resources out there. I know we shared a few, the expos, Pinterest, but just having conversations with people to get their tips and tricks and, the ones we've shared here today are great, but there's a, a large list of advice and areas to save and things out there that you can find.
Jessica Quindlen: All right. Well, that brings us to the end of our show. Emma and Sarah, thank you so much for being here. It was great having you.
Emma Protsik: Thanks, Jess.
Sara Bickers: Thanks Jess.
Jessica Quindlen: Thank you for listening to Sound Cents from Ent Credit Union. Be sure to follow our podcast as well as rate and review us. I'm Jessica Quindlen. I will see you next week.
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