Wedding Budget | Houston Wedding Blog

If you’re like most brides, you have a wedding budget. It may be a BIG wedding budget, or, especially if you’re footing the bill for your wedding yourselves, it may be somewhat more…modest. No matter the size of your wedding budget, you’ll want to figure out where to allocate bigger dollars and where you can hold back a bit. Because, after all, you get what you pay for, darling.’ With that in mind, here are our top picks in wedding splurges that are truly worth the investment.

Lighting

Professional lighting can completely transform the look of your venue or space. It’s also easier on your pocketbook than flowers and decor.

Interactive Fun

houston cigar lounge - bachelor parties & wedding favors — Cigars: River Oaks Royal Cigars

Engage your guests with interactive wedding reception activities such as a photo booth or video booth, a cigar roller, or even a live wedding painter. These interactive entertainment options add something extra special to the celebration and provide you and/or your wedding guests with wonderful take-home tokens.

Dessert Table

While a wedding cake is essential for most couples, nothing will delight your guests more than a variety of delectable sweets such as a donut wall, a candy table or a color-themed wedding reception display of mini desserts.

Late Night Snacks

Romantic Wedding at The Bell Tower on 34th — Photo: JW Baugh Photography

If your celebration goes well into the night, guests may start to feel hungry again even after dinner has been served. So satisfy their late-night cravings with sliders, a breakfast bar or street tacos. They will thank you for it!

Photography/Cinematography

Wedding Photographer in the Woods — Photo: Giving Tree Photography

When it comes to documenting your wedding day, you can not have one without the other. Wedding photos will be great for albums and online posts, while wedding videos will capture the speeches, dances and other priceless moments for generations to come.

Shoes & Accessories

A major designer wedding gown not in the budget? Don’t worry. You can still get the designer look you crave by splurging on beautiful bridal shoes and bridal accessories. Choose designer bridal pumps or wedding sandals with heel bling, crystal toe accents or bows, and an exquisite veil or bridal headpiece that amps up the wattage of your wedding-day ensemble…at a fraction of the cost of a lavish custom wedding dress!

Join us in welcoming Shaun Gray, the wedding planner extraordinaire behind Gray & Associates Events, to the Houston Wedding Blog! Shaun and his team strive to help wedding couples “celebrate well,” sometimes with a grand, traditional wedding in Houston, other times with a beachside-blowout in Galveston… and always with a well-stocked supply of Champagne. We asked Shaun to explain exactly what it means to “celebrate well,” and for his advice to wedding couples who want to do just that!

Photo: Courtesy of Gray & Associates Events

At Gray & Associates Events, we know that you want to host a wedding celebration that your family will cherish and your friends will love, and one that both you and your partner get to enjoy — without having to do excessive work! That’s what we call being able to “celebrate well.”

Here are my five tips to assist you in doing everything you can throughout the planning process to ensure you and your beloved get to celebrate well at your wedding:

1. Do You — Don’t get caught up in what your bridesmaid did at her wedding last year, or pay too much attention to Aunt Linda’s constant reminders that peonies are so beautiful during this time of year. If you don’t want peonies, then it doesn’t matter. If you keep trying to find ways to appease your family and friends, your wedding will look more like a thrown-together version of 50 other people’s weddings, and less like a celebration to honor your new union.

2. Go Big Before You Go Small — Worry about your venue, your wardrobe, your food and your photographer first. If you haven’t selected a venue yet, then stop Pinning “5 Farm Tablescapes Everyone Will Swoon Over,” especially if you aren’t set on having a rustic-style wedding. If you try to force a preconceived theme on a venue that doesn’t lend itself well to your theme, then it’s pointless to book the venue, so keep looking.

abbienathansparklers copy Photo: Courtesy of Gray & Associates Events

3. Hire A Planner — Weddings In Houston is a great resource to find our great city’s top event planning experts. Even if you’re not looking to “celebrate well,” any professional planner will assist you with navigating the many tasks, that, without professional help, can get you really stressed out during the months before you say, “I do.”

4. Rest The Night Before — I cannot stress this enough! If you’re a bride, make sure that your makeup and hair team don’t put you in the chair first, and take that time to relax. They’re just going to have to come back and refresh you anyway, so you can afford to have them start on you a little later and knock out some of your bridesmaids first. For guys, make sure not to get tanked the night before your wedding. You’ll wake up groggy (and probably a little sick!) and that isn’t a good look for anyone, especially on the day of your wedding!

5. Stick To Your Budget — We always make sure that we don’t put a bride in a $10,000 gown when she only wanted to spend $6,500, because, knowing all of our luck, she’d get emotionally attached to the higher-priced gown, and then be disappointed when it was too far outside of her budget. The same thing goes for your overall wedding budget. If you’re spending $50,000 on your wedding, don’t let your floral designer work you up a proposal for $25,000. But for Champagne, now, that’s a different story…

Shaun Gray (middle) and two of his associates | Photo: Karie Marie Photography

Shaun and his team really know how to make the magic happen. Interested in getting his tips and expertise throughout your entire wedding planning process? Set up a consultation with Gray & Associates Events today! Be sure to mention you heard his tips first on the Houston Wedding Blog!

Tag: Wedding Budget

6 Wedding Items Worth Splurging On