Wedding budgets can be unbelievably stressful during the planning process. When you're not working with a planner, it is easy for costs to surprise you or for you to leave items out, or to forget them completely. I see it all the time when I am hired on as a "Day Of" coordinator. During our "month out" meeting I am letting my couples know of the added and sometimes not budgeted costs to expect, like thank you cards after the wedding. I don't want anyone to be surprised by something at the last minute!
My little sister will be saying "I Do" in just a few short months. Even though it's hard sometimes as a wedding planner AND a sister, I try to only offer my thoughts when asked! However, I just could not help myself when we were on FaceTime this past Sunday. She kept sending me screen shots of the invites she was putting together and asking if they looked good and they did. They were beautiful! But sometimes picking the perfect invite isn't the last step in your invitation budget. I reminded Gabby, as I do all my clients, that on top of the price for the invite you fell in love with, you would also need to put stamps on the RSVP envelopes and to bring the set to the post office once they arrived to find out exact postage because depending on what you chose, it may weigh more than the standard.
This week, as Gabby was about to press the finish button on her beautiful invites, she called me for reassurance. I told her they looked great and asked her how many she was ordering. When she told me she was ordering 105, the exact number of wedding guests, I had a good laugh and then filled her in on why! Sometimes a bride gets so caught up in the moment that they don't always think clearly. I explained to her that since she only needed to send one invite per couple on the list, she could cut the amount and, more importantly, the cost almost in half! I wish I could have captured her face right at the moment because it was priceless! I was able to capture this shot of us breaking the news to her fiancé, Ian, and happily letting him know they would be spending far less then originally thought on their invitations. Sometimes sisters know best!