Finally found some time to blog again. I have no idea why but being a housewife is enough to keep myself busy. Cook and clean, cook and clean, cook and clean. It’s a vicious cycle! Sometimes hubby ask me, “What do you do everyday when there’s no work? Can u be more productive than just doing nothing?” I wish I can make him understand that I’m NOT doing nothing. *Sigh* NEVERMIND. They don’t understand. *roll eyes*

So hubby is quite proud of me that I finally started my blog. At least I look like I’m doing something when there’s no work. *snicker*

Anyway, what shall I blog about today? Lets talk about a much needed topic (for the much needed ones, of coz! ). Our Wedding Budget.

You know, there is this common questions from quite a lot of my friends. How much money do you need for a wedding? How much? Some inexperienced friends think that RM15k is enough. I generally just answer them, “You need 50k.”

“50k? That much?”

“Yes, that much.” Even if a wedding may not cost so much, you will need 50k to start up to make all the bookings and so on.

(By the way, this RM50k budget is referring to a Chinese Malaysian Wedding. So if you are from another country or a different culture, it may be different.)

When it comes to our wedding budget, hubby and I are one of a kind. I see many of our couple friends spending to achieve their dream wedding. Our dream wedding is a budget wedding. The less we spend, the happier we are. In a chinese expression: “CHEAP, GOOD & QUALITY.” Also, back then, 50K is a big number for me. In fact, a shockingly big number. Spending hurts me. I can feel the pain in my heart. And  a wedding is indeed an expensive ordeal.

And one word of advise: Never be in debt for a dream wedding. Never be in debt for anything, if possible. It’s easy to spend. It’s not easy to save. It’s way harder to pay up a debt in the midst of all your commitments and needs.

All rites. This blog is going to be a bit more practical. I am going to share with you my wedding budget and hopefully it will help you work out yours. What is this 50k? I am going to find out for myself now. You wouldn’t know until you see the numbers. Here goes. (Let me look for our wedding budget excel sheet)

There. Here you go. Our budget is not entirely an honest one, a rough guide as some are P&C. What hubby and I tried to do is to beat the price of the planned wedding budget that was proposed to us. We did it for most of it but not all.

Check List	How we SPEND	How we BUDGET	Details (Quote in RM)
Matrimony Gown Rental	1,400.00	1,000.00
Dinner Gown Rental	900.00	1,000.00
Pre-wedding Photography Gown	550.00	–	I wanted more dresses! Found cheap ones in a boutique
Make up Artist (Actual Day)	950.00	1,000.00	2 sessions for matrimony and dinner
Make up Artist (Pre-wedding)	150.00	1,000.00	a special price from a friend
Wedding Heels	229.00	200.00	got a pair of Lewre. Love it to bits
Groom’s Suit, Shoes, etc.	–	1,000.00	He used his old set
Pre-wedding flower	19.50	70.00	Some random fake bouquet from a store
Pre-wedding Heels	99.90	200.00	Guilty of getting another pair to match my dress
Wedding Band	2,000.00	1,500.00	This really depends on the brand, material, design…
Pre-wedding Photographer	1,000.00	1,000.00	I didn’t take the bridal package. Each has its pros & cons: Free lance photographer or bridal package
Wedding Photographer	1,500.00	2,500.00
Wedding Videographer	4,000.00	3,000.00
Holy Matrimony Hall Rental	1,000.00	3,000.00	This depends on your church but we booked from the hotel for convenience purposes
Ang Pow (love gift)	2,000.00	3,000.00	For your bridesmaids, bestmens, helpers. Probably RM50/e
Corsage & bouquets	487.00	1,000.00	My florist friend gave me a special price. Thanks dear!
Decoration	–	1,000.00	Provided by hotel. Fresh flowers wedding arch and a few flower stands. They are pretty though.
Lunch Reception	–	3,000.00	Negotiated, got free refreshments from the Hotel
sound system & workers	1,480.00	2,000.00	A special price from our event partners
Wine (30 tables)	1,500.00	2,500.00	Consignment basis
Wedding Card (350 pieces)	225.00	450.00	Chose the cheapest design. My kiamness (stingyness) to the MAX
Wedding Album	259.20		Got this from photobook.com as my photographer doesn’t provide an album
Wedding Picture (Deco)	260.00		My ONLY deco. A picture at the entrance.
Check List Total	20,009.60	29,420.00	Check out the price DIFFERENCE. *clap*
Wedding Dinner
Kuala Lumpur	27,011.00		30 tables
Malacca	5,250.00		10 tables
Dinner Total	32,261.00
Total Spending	52,270.60

Disclaimer: Some of the quotes above does not reflect the actual to respect our suppliers/vendors/friends (which means my budget is slightly lower for some *hint*). Also, this is not the best wedding budget. Different couples have different preferences and priorities. OK? But our priority. Haha. Told you: CHEAP, GOOD, QUALITY. Cheap and Good is good for us.

Including the dinner, we hit a 50k budget!  And that is because we have 40 tables in total. So, it can be way more depending on what you want for your wedding, or way less.

There is so much to share about this excel sheet. Do take note that this does not include the bride’s dowry which may cost up to RM10k, Honeymoon:5k-10k, and if you are moving to a new house: 20k-50k depending on the things you buy and the renovation needed.  My purpose of this is not to scare you. It is to help you. If your budget is tight, forget the honeymoon and just rent a simple studio unit or apartment.

The good news about this excel sheet is that it haven’t included our love gifts in form of cash from friends and family. Thanks to all their blessings that it ease us off our 50k budget. *phew* I heard there are couples that spend less that 10k once they received their love gifts. But of course, it still depends on your family culture. Some couples return these love gifts to their parents.

What else? (I am not an excel sheet person. I fried my brains working on it. *stoning right now*)

Okay, the tip here is that we got a wedding dinner discount from The Mid Valley Wedding Fair. Also, our wedding dinner quotation from a smaller town is way more reasonable. So the love gifts can easily cover our dinner. If you do not have enough cash, you may wanna negotiate a term with your restaurant/hotel for payment right after the dinner.

We saved on the decorations, wedding cards and performances. My wedding wasn’t perfect. There were no pretty candles and photo frames and wishing tree. But it’s okay. I was still a happy bride. (Do take note it wasn’t just about the money. I didn’t find time to DIY or get help from friends. So I made do with no decorations). You know what? I should have made used of my friends. *full of regrets* However, we did get our friends to emcee and perform which made the experience much more warmer and personal than hired performers. I am thankful with all my heart for all these friends that helped us make our wedding day a special one. In fact, it was like a High School Musical!

Our priorities for our budget were my dresses, MUA (make up artist), hair, photography and video. Hmm… I guess that is pretty much it? It’s all about the BRIDE. A Beautiful Bride. *beam*

Wow, I am so tired now. I thought I can share with you about my dresses and so on but this blog will be way too long. Maybe another blog for another day? 🙂

To end this, let me share with you some wedding pictures.

 

 

 

So… if you are prepping for your wedding, enjoy the journey!

If you need any tips or advise, feel free to PM me on my Facebook. Will try my best to help.

Cheers,

Mary