I'd skip liquor for this event. It's hard to do well in a BYOB place.
Have you started wedding dress shopping? I got my dress for $1200 at Weddings 826. Great little shop with off the rack dresses at excellent prices. I loved my dress more than the dresses I tried on for twice the price at Marshall Field's (RIP).
Huh? I don't think it's hard at all - you buy the liquor and stuff, and someone serves it.
It's hard to buy all the liquors, liqueurs, mixers, and garnishes to be able to accommodate the wide variety of cocktails that guests would expect at a full bar, let alone to do it on a budget. Beer and wine only or with a signature cocktail or two is MUCH easier and more MM with far less extra/waste.
I think this is expensive for a pizza & beer wedding. And I got married in the DC area so it's not like I don't know how HCOL works.
I've also been a SIL at a completely DIY wedding & ended up having to do all the centerpieces & set up. After spending $$$$ on flights, I was not pleased to learn I needed to be up at 6am day of wedding (I wasn't even in bridal party) & begin set up. The whole thing was completely stressful for the bride (so.many.little.things.to.do) and the people that had to do set up.
If your heart is set on this, I would try to find a venue with furniture included in the rental price, hunt for a cheaper dress, and see if the pizza places do party catering (or if there is a caterer that can do deep dish pizza). I'd also seriously consider doing beer & wine only or beer, wine & select signature cocktails.
Who's going to pick up the flowers for you the day before, tie them together, make sure they stay alive overnight, and get them to where they need to be the morning of the wedding (your hotel, the wedding venue, whatever)?
I have three siblings, a fiancee, and some close girlfriends who I'm sure could all help if they needed to. Is that mean? I also don't think I'd mind doing this, especially if I had help.
You know your family and friends well enough to know if they're okay helping. I just helped my mom who was in charge of coordinating all the flowers for my cousin's wedding. I ended up being a lot of work (we spent half a day picking hydrangeas and the day before the wedding arranging them) but she was happy to do it and I think they turning out pretty good. If you go the DIY route, I'd do a little research into which flowers hold up for longer periods of time so you have a little less stress with whether or not they die before the reception.
I'm on your side tacom. I wanted flowers so I had something to hold, lol. The only thing I wouldn't have done myself is boutonnieres since I have no clue how to make those. But we did leis instead, so I bypassed that issue.
Post by wanderlustfoodie on Aug 16, 2013 15:07:44 GMT -5
And you don't even need boutonnieres if you don't love flowers. Our groomsmen and my husband didn't have them. I'm not a huge fan of them so each guy just wore a really colorful pocketsquare (which was part of our gifts to the guys) in his tux jacket. Voila, money saved!
If you think your family can rock the DIY more power to you.
ok, extra bartender. but thinking back I've only been to weddings with 2 and it's been fine. However, it's only an extra $225, so worth it if it's questionable.
I might totally eat my words later, but I think the whole flower thing is so much simpler than people make it. jigsy I love what you did for yourself! I honestly don't care about flowers and wouldn't even carry any for the ceremony if people wouldn't wonder what was missing. I like the idea of just fresh, cut flowers plopped into ball glasses - 1 per table. honestly, how much time could that take?
She also got her bouquet, 3 pin corsages and 3 boutonnieres for $143 from Adams and Son Gardens in Chicago. I'd be plenty happy with what she had, but I estimated more because that was 2 years ago and it sounds like she got lucky.
That is the same location for one of the brides I saw on Four Weddings on TLC. I thought it looked very familiar. They other brides complained about having to go up the stairs for the cake cutting and when the room was transformed from ceremony to reception.
ok, extra bartender. but thinking back I've only been to weddings with 2 and it's been fine. However, it's only an extra $225, so worth it if it's questionable.
I might totally eat my words later, but I think the whole flower thing is so much simpler than people make it. jigsy I love what you did for yourself! I honestly don't care about flowers and wouldn't even carry any for the ceremony if people wouldn't wonder what was missing. I like the idea of just fresh, cut flowers plopped into ball glasses - 1 per table. honestly, how much time could that take?
She also got her bouquet, 3 pin corsages and 3 boutonnieres for $143 from Adams and Son Gardens in Chicago. I'd be plenty happy with what she had, but I estimated more because that was 2 years ago and it sounds like she got lucky.
That is the same location for one of the brides I saw on Four Weddings on TLC. I thought it looked very familiar. They other brides complained about having to go up the stairs for the cake cutting and when the room was transformed from ceremony to reception.
We won't be doing cake cutting. Guests will have to step out (there's a patio outside or they can go upstairs) while the room is transformed. but that's going to happen anywhere we use for the ceremony + reception, no?
I want to ditto jenny1980, Enjoy the whole process! I look back and loved the planning and the wedding. I made sure to have a lot of time for what I wanted to DIY, and cut things if they weren't really needed and I didn't have time for them.
Post by salliekate on Aug 16, 2013 15:13:59 GMT -5
I love this idea! I have no insight into big city weddings (mine was in my hometown of approx. 2,000), but I think you need to go with what reflect you and your FI. People keep saying this is a lot of money for "just" pizza and beer, but if that's you then do it. You'll be so much happier to spend money on something that reflects the two of you than spending a little more for "fancier" food.
I will add that I think a day-of coordinator is a must, and, honestly, if I were you I'd hire a planner. I think they'd be able to think through a lot of this stuff with you and hopefully help make your wedding exactly what you want.
That is the same location for one of the brides I saw on Four Weddings on TLC. I thought it looked very familiar. They other brides complained about having to go up the stairs for the cake cutting and when the room was transformed from ceremony to reception.
We won't be doing cake cutting. Guests will have to step out (there's a patio outside or they can go upstairs) while the room is transformed. but that's going to happen anywhere we use for the ceremony + reception, no?
Not if your venue has more than one room that you can use.
If it is all one room and you're doing the ceremony there, you may have 2 room transitions -- from ceremony to cocktail hour and from cocktail hour to reception proper. And that brings up another logistical concern -- who is making these transitions? (If the answer is "the wait staff," aren't they busy passing cocktail hour hors d'oeuvres or what-have-you while the cocktail hour to reception transition is taking place?)
I love this idea! I have no insight into big city weddings (mine was in my hometown of approx. 2,000), but I think you need to go with what reflect you and your FI. People keep saying this is a lot of money for "just" pizza and beer, but if that's you then do it. You'll be so much happier to spend money on something that reflects the two of you than spending a little more for "fancier" food.
I will add that I think a day-of coordinator is a must, and, honestly, if I were you I'd hire a planner. I think they'd be able to think through a lot of this stuff with you and hopefully help make your wedding exactly what you want.
Agree. And my very first question to all prospective planners would be, "Have you done events in this space before?" Given the logistical issues, I would want to use someone who had prior experience there.
I love this idea! I have no insight into big city weddings (mine was in my hometown of approx. 2,000), but I think you need to go with what reflect you and your FI. People keep saying this is a lot of money for "just" pizza and beer, but if that's you then do it. You'll be so much happier to spend money on something that reflects the two of you than spending a little more for "fancier" food.
I will add that I think a day-of coordinator is a must, and, honestly, if I were you I'd hire a planner. I think they'd be able to think through a lot of this stuff with you and hopefully help make your wedding exactly what you want.
thank you. I know I said comments wouldn't hurt my feelings, but I'm getting frustrated because I don't know what to do. Of course it's expensive for a pizza and beer wedding - we want to throw it in downtown Chicago, with downtown Chicago beer and pizza prices and 10% city taxes and servers to tip.
But I think this is a lot cheaper than it *could* be, and I don't know how to bring costs down without moving the party ouf of the city. Some places here charge $40,000 just to rent the room for the night - nothing but bare tables included.
I understand that coordinating different vendors and DIY flowers make for extra work, but isn't that why you hire a planner? Do I need two?
Basically, I want a city Chicago wedding, and I want it to feel like us without dumping $$$$$$ into it, and this was my best idea and if it won't work I don't know what else to do, other than just hire a planner and ask her to throw me the same wedding she's done 100x before? (wilted) (one that I'm sure will be closer to $50,000.)
ok, extra bartender. but thinking back I've only been to weddings with 2 and it's been fine. However, it's only an extra $225, so worth it if it's questionable.
I might totally eat my words later, but I think the whole flower thing is so much simpler than people make it. jigsy I love what you did for yourself! I honestly don't care about flowers and wouldn't even carry any for the ceremony if people wouldn't wonder what was missing. I like the idea of just fresh, cut flowers plopped into ball glasses - 1 per table. honestly, how much time could that take?
She also got her bouquet, 3 pin corsages and 3 boutonnieres for $143 from Adams and Son Gardens in Chicago. I'd be plenty happy with what she had, but I estimated more because that was 2 years ago and it sounds like she got lucky.
My sister just got married last month and had zero flowers other than a really small bouquet. Her centerpieces were potted herbs in cute buckets. I don't think anyone noticed.
I'd get in touch with the people you want to get your food from. For all we know, they've done weddings before and have an easy solution to keeping the pizza yummy.
I wouldn't get discouraged at all. What you want is totally doable, and I don't think the costs for "just pizza and beer" are all that crazy especially if that is what you want.
I love this idea! I have no insight into big city weddings (mine was in my hometown of approx. 2,000), but I think you need to go with what reflect you and your FI. People keep saying this is a lot of money for "just" pizza and beer, but if that's you then do it. You'll be so much happier to spend money on something that reflects the two of you than spending a little more for "fancier" food.
I will add that I think a day-of coordinator is a must, and, honestly, if I were you I'd hire a planner. I think they'd be able to think through a lot of this stuff with you and hopefully help make your wedding exactly what you want.
thank you. I know I said comments wouldn't hurt my feelings, but I'm getting frustrated because I don't know what to do. Of course it's expensive for a pizza and beer wedding - we want to throw it in downtown Chicago, with downtown Chicago beer and pizza prices and 10% city taxes and servers to tip.
But I think this is a lot cheaper than it *could* be, and I don't know how to bring costs down without moving the party ouf of the city. Some places here charge $40,000 just to rent the room for the night - nothing but bare tables included.
I understand that coordinating different vendors and DIY flowers make for extra work, but isn't that why you hire a planner? Do I need two?
Basically, I want a city Chicago wedding, and I want it to feel like us without dumping $$$$$$ into it, and this was my best idea and if it won't work I don't know what else to do, other than just hire a planner and ask her to throw me the same wedding she's done 100x before? (wilted) (one that I'm sure will be closer to $50,000.)
You shouldn't feel frustrated. As PPs said, you still have a lot of time. You're just at the beginning of the process. This is what the "planning stage" is all about. You formulate your vision, which it sounds like you have, you issue-spot the logistical complications so that you know what questions to ask vendors as you move forward in the planning process, and then you revise your initial vision as needed based on the answers you receive. Just because you don't have all the logistics finalized at this point doesn't mean you won't end up with a nice wedding coming in around your budget. You still have months to get from point A to B.
Yes -- call LM's catering people and see what info they may have planned, call the venue and see what people typically do, and maybe start reaching out to planners with "this is my vision -- can you make something like it happen?"
At the very least, if the pizza and beer thing isn't feasible for the wedding, you can have your rehearsal dinner at LM's.
Also, I want you to know that I'm being negative and playing devil's advocate and all that, but just because there's a lot to think about. I would LOVE for this to work for you, but there's a lot of logistical nonsense that you'll have to deal with and ideally you want to figure out all of that stuff during the "here's one idea I had" phase rather than the "we booked but HOLY FUCK this is hard and expensive and I don't know how to pull it off" phase. I want you to be able to be a very happy, low stress pretty princess on your pretty princess day
Post by heyrebekah on Aug 16, 2013 15:36:49 GMT -5
If you do the pizza I wouldn't do ALL deep dish. Deep dish pizza is great, but it's too filling to eat more than one or two pieces without feeing too full to get up and dance.
I love this idea! I have no insight into big city weddings (mine was in my hometown of approx. 2,000), but I think you need to go with what reflect you and your FI. People keep saying this is a lot of money for "just" pizza and beer, but if that's you then do it. You'll be so much happier to spend money on something that reflects the two of you than spending a little more for "fancier" food.
I will add that I think a day-of coordinator is a must, and, honestly, if I were you I'd hire a planner. I think they'd be able to think through a lot of this stuff with you and hopefully help make your wedding exactly what you want.
thank you. I know I said comments wouldn't hurt my feelings, but I'm getting frustrated because I don't know what to do. Of course it's expensive for a pizza and beer wedding - we want to throw it in downtown Chicago, with downtown Chicago beer and pizza prices and 10% city taxes and servers to tip.
But I think this is a lot cheaper than it *could* be, and I don't know how to bring costs down without moving the party ouf of the city. Some places here charge $40,000 just to rent the room for the night - nothing but bare tables included.
I understand that coordinating different vendors and DIY flowers make for extra work, but isn't that why you hire a planner? Do I need two?
Basically, I want a city Chicago wedding, and I want it to feel like us without dumping $$$$$$ into it, and this was my best idea and if it won't work I don't know what else to do, other than just hire a planner and ask her to throw me the same wedding she's done 100x before? (wilted) (one that I'm sure will be closer to $50,000.)
Maybe this doesn't fit with what you want, but what about having it at a restaurant instead of a venue? Even with food and beverage minimums I'm sure it would be much cheaper than what you are looking at here.
Also Giordano's has a fully working food truck that can hold up to 400 personal pies. It would be nice if they could bring that full kitchen, park it outside the venue, and cook... www.pizzamarketplace.com/article/214055/Giordano-s-food-truck-rolls-out-in-Chicago. I'll talk to FI this weekend and maybe we'll call next week to see if it's possible.
I love this idea! I have no insight into big city weddings (mine was in my hometown of approx. 2,000), but I think you need to go with what reflect you and your FI. People keep saying this is a lot of money for "just" pizza and beer, but if that's you then do it. You'll be so much happier to spend money on something that reflects the two of you than spending a little more for "fancier" food.
I will add that I think a day-of coordinator is a must, and, honestly, if I were you I'd hire a planner. I think they'd be able to think through a lot of this stuff with you and hopefully help make your wedding exactly what you want.
thank you. I know I said comments wouldn't hurt my feelings, but I'm getting frustrated because I don't know what to do. Of course it's expensive for a pizza and beer wedding - we want to throw it in downtown Chicago, with downtown Chicago beer and pizza prices and 10% city taxes and servers to tip.
But I think this is a lot cheaper than it *could* be, and I don't know how to bring costs down without moving the party ouf of the city. Some places here charge $40,000 just to rent the room for the night - nothing but bare tables included.
I understand that coordinating different vendors and DIY flowers make for extra work, but isn't that why you hire a planner? Do I need two?
Basically, I want a city Chicago wedding, and I want it to feel like us without dumping $$$$$$ into it, and this was my best idea and if it won't work I don't know what else to do, other than just hire a planner and ask her to throw me the same wedding she's done 100x before? (wilted) (one that I'm sure will be closer to $50,000.)
It think this is definitely cheaper than it could be! But, truly, unless you're trying to do it for under $10k or something, as long as you don't go crazy in any one area, I personally feel like that's MM enough. You clearly have a vision for what you want your day to be like. Even if it's a bit more than you would prefer to spend, as long as you can afford it you should go for it. As PPs have mentioned, you have plenty of time to figure out how to make this work. I don't think at this stage you need to scrap any of your ideas - especially if you and FI are really excited about it.
This thread is a perfect example of why I think you should hire a planner. It is stressful to execute a vision, and hard to have hundreds strangers pick apart every thought you have.
I think that having a space like this where you can bring in your own food and liquor is a huge cost saving, and I honestly have not seen pp prices in downtown Chocago for less than the costs you are talking about. Team pizza.
I also didn't care about flowers and spent less than $500 total (I had 9 bridesmaids) at an otherwise fairly traditional event.
I have thrown an event at Kitchen Chicago, but think it would feel small for the crowd you expect. I also really think the outdoor space at PP is a plus. The venue may also be able to provide you with lists of event planners and caterers who are very familiar with their space and requirements.
This thread is a perfect example of why I think you should hire a planner. It is stressful to execute a vision, and hard to have hundreds strangers pick apart every thought you have.
I think that having a space like this where you can bring in your own food and liquor is a huge cost saving, and I honestly have not seen pp prices in downtown Chocago for less than the costs you are talking about. Team pizza.
I also didn't care about flowers and spent less than $500 total (I had 9 bridesmaids) at an otherwise fairly traditional event.
I have thrown an event at Kitchen Chicago, but think it would feel small for the crowd you expect. I also really think the outdoor space at PP is a plus. The venue may also be able to provide you with lists of event planners and caterers who are very familiar with their space and requirements.
oh yes, this is definitely not even a question. lol
thanks for the tips and advice. you are always so helpful!
Who's going to pick up the flowers for you the day before, tie them together, make sure they stay alive overnight, and get them to where they need to be the morning of the wedding (your hotel, the wedding venue, whatever)?
I have three siblings, a fiancee, and some close girlfriends who I'm sure could all help if they needed to. Is that mean? I also don't think I'd mind doing this, especially if I had help.
I've been in a DIY wedding and it was stressful. Your friends and family are just that -- friends and family. You really don't want them "working" at your wedding beyond normal bridesmaid/groomsmen stuff. I'd also remember that you'll want a large window for pictures so folks won't be available to help out if they're spending 2 hours before the wedding getting ready and taking pictures.
You do not need flowers at your wedding if you don't want them. Here is a blog post about walking without them. We barely had any flowers since they are expensive and will die within a few days. It wasn't an expense I wanted just to throw away at the end of the night.
Post by theintended on Aug 16, 2013 16:26:23 GMT -5
We went with a venue with no kitchen, used rentals for everything except tables and chairs, did the set-up ourselves the day before, including all the flowers, and had no planner. We had friends and family help that weekend (but had very clear plans of what we were doing ahead of time) and it was fun. It wasn't terribly stressful, but I like a project.
I had to help DIY my friend's wedding day of and I was in the bridal party. Not fun. We were running around trying to do floral arrangements, bouquets, linens, etc. I left to get ready before the bride's sisters did (not in the wedding party) and they barely made it to the ceremony in time.
Random thought...Do you have gluten or dairy free guests?
My cousin's wedding required the guests to move chairs and tables between ceremony and reception and I didn't love that either. I wanted to go to cocktail hour and enjoy myself.
That said, I love the idea of pizza and beer I would just do wine and beer and a signature cocktail as pp mentioned. Your menu looks delicious. More bartenders for sure. There were only two at my friend's wedding (maybe 100 guests) and the line was outrageous. I only had one drink all night.
Definitely get a planner. I had one and it was such a help. Day of, we started getting ready at noon, did pictures, ceremony at 6:30, then straight to reception. Did not have time to be doing setup or flowers. My reception was in my parents' backyard (80 guests) and it needed overseeing (and the assigned seats were still not done correctly).
I think overall your wedding sounds lovely if it's what you want, it's worth the money. My mom planned a 350 person wedding at the Ritz originally and we ended up switching to 80 people at their house because that's what suited my H and me. Good luck!
Are you inviting anyone with dietary restrictions? I love the casualness of it, but I think I'd have a hard time eating at this event.
It's ironic because I have Crohn's disease and don't eat gluten, so I'd be ordering a GF personal pizza for myself and would avoid the cupcakes/brownies/beer and hit up just the veggies, salad, GF pizza, candy bar and wine. I know one guest for sure is celiac's, so I'd expect her night would look similar to mine.
vegan could do: veggie app, green salad, french bread, candy dairy free could do: veggie app, chicken wings, green salad, french bread/garlic bread, candy vegetarian could do: veggie app, bruschetta, cheese pizza, spinach/fruit/goat cheese salad or the house salad, candy, cupcakes, brownies
I don't think we would have any known vegan or dairy free guests coming. we might have 1 or 2 vegetarians.
Are you inviting anyone with dietary restrictions? I love the casualness of it, but I think I'd have a hard time eating at this event.
It's ironic because I have Crohn's disease and don't eat gluten, so I'd be ordering a GF personal pizza for myself and would avoid the cupcakes/brownies/beer and hit up just the veggies, salad, GF pizza, candy bar and wine. I know one guest for sure is celiac's, so I'd expect her night would look similar to mine.
vegan could do: veggie app, green salad, french bread, candy dairy free could do: veggie app, chicken wings, green salad, french bread/garlic bread, candy vegetarian could do: veggie app, bruschetta, cheese pizza, spinach/fruit/goat cheese salad or the house salad, candy, cupcakes, brownies
I don't think we would have any known vegan or dairy free guests coming. we might have 1 or 2 vegetarians.
I'd just make sure you ask on the invite whether people need accommodations. If you are getting GF pizzas, I'd be thrilled, but I'd have to know the menu to tell you I needed that. Usually at a buffet style wedding I can get away with grabbing a protein and whatever veggies are available. This time I'd need you to have ordered something special for me. Make sense?
Okay flowers. I had all flowers for people done professionally. It included my bouquet, bouquets for 5 bridesmaids, boutonnieres for the guys, two flower girl baskets, mother, father, grandparents, readers, cake topper. I paid $750 and I love, love loved them. I didn't care much about specifics but just hired an awesome florist and let him do his thing. Completely and totally worth the money IMO. Save yourself the stress on that end.
For the reception, we DIYed it all. I bought $300 roses wholesale and plopped 5 of them in Ikea beer glasses that looked remarkably like vases. I added a bit of ribbon with a glue gun. Our wedding was a Saturday, we picked up the roses Wednesday night. Thursday I had about 10 friends get together and we just cut them and dropped them in a vase. We kept them in the heavily air-conditioned basement (late Aug wedding) and they were perfect. Roses need a day or two to open. DH and the groomsmen were in charge of set up the morning of and we had 3 vases per table with a couple candles.