Out of Town Weddings in Buffalo

A budget is very important, especially if you are spending someone else's money (your parents, or possibly your fiancé's parents). Here is a basic list of what you should put in your budget and the average percentages of what Buffalo brides spend in each section. To figure out your amounts just take your total budget and times it by the percentage listed. Example: $20,000 budget, Reception Location 9%, $20,000 x 9% (or 0.09) = $1,800. So, you should spend approximately $1,800 on your reception location.

Ceremony Fee                     2.5%
Ceremony Decorations        1.5%
Reception Location              9%
Reception Decorations         4.5%
Food and Service                33.5%
Beverages and Bartender     9%
Cake and Cutting Fee          3%
Wedding Gown                   6.5%
Veil and/or Headpiece         1%
Bridal Accessories               1%
Hair and Make-up               0.5%
Massage, waxing, facial, etc.0.5%
Bouquets/Boutonnieres        2%
Band/DJ/Orchestra              6.5%
Photographer                       6.5%
Videographer                      5.5%
Invitations                            4%
Car/Limo Rental                  1.5%
Wedding Favors                  1.5%

Obviously, everyone will have personal preference as to what they want to spend on different things. You'll need to go through the budget after you have calculated the amounts and figure out if you think any are too high, or too low. You can then spend accordingly!

First of all, how are you going to write all those addresses? If you are like most couples planning your wedding in Buffalo, you'll have hundreds of invitations to address. Here are your options along with pros and cons:

Calligrapher:
Pros: You will get a beautiful, formal look that everyone will compliment.
Cons: Calligraphers may be expensive, and sometimes hard to find.

Write them yourself:
Pros: You can get it done at your own pace- plus, you can have friends and family help out.
Cons: Not everyone who is willing to help has beautiful handwriting, or even legible handwriting at that.

Print them:
Pros: You will get it done fast, with a uniform font that can match your invitations.
Cons: You'll need a good quality printer, or get it done some place professionally to have it look perfect.

DO NOT, whatever you do, print labels and stick them on. Not only does it look cheap, but it is much too impersonal as well. Also, it is near impossible to get each label exactly straight, which means needing a lot of extra envelops for mistakes, or a lot of crooked addresses.

Of course, it wouldn't be a wedding task if there wasn't something traditional you had to do. In the case of invitations, you must spell everything out- no abbreviations. The only abbreviation allowed is for titles (Mr., Mrs., etc.). Here's how to do it:

Married Couple:
Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Miller
345 Greentree Drive
Buffalo, New York 12345

Couple with Different Last Names:
Mrs. (Ms.) Nicole Hansen and Mr. Frank Roberts
65 Riverbank Avenue
Buffalo, New York 23456

Couple with Children:
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Potter
and family
974 Redwood Court
Buffalo, New York 34567

The inner envelope can be addressed much less formally:

Married Couple:
Suzanne and Gregory Miller

Couple with Different Last Names:
Nicole Hansen and Frank Roberts

Couple with Children:
Janet, Richard, Paula, and Nathan Potter


Whatever you choose to do, make sure you give yourself enough time to address the invitations before your deadline to send them out.