6 Wedding Budget Splurges Real Brides Were Glad They Made

Any bride on a wedding budget is most likely monitoring it closely and trying not to overspend. But what if there’s something you forget to add to the budget — or want plain to splurge on? If you’re looking into what last-minute purchases you may want to make, here are six splurges brides are thrilled they made during wedding planning.

1. A Day-Of Coordinator “I thought hiring someone to oversee the day would be a waste, especially because we got married at a hotel and they assured us there would be someone there we could work with. It was the best last-minute thing to spend money on. We paid about $800 for someone to be at the wedding for 8-hours and make sure it was set up perfectly and our vendors came on time. She also troubleshooted all the things that went wrong, so that I didn’t even know about them.” —Mary D., 32

2. A Dessert Bar “We almost spent about $500 on a wedding cake and then my fiancé decided that since we are not really cake lovers, we should spend the money on a dessert we enjoy. We scrapped the cake and instead paid the cater extra to present a dessert bar. It was such a delicious way to end the night and to be honest, nobody even noticed that we didn’t cut a cake.” —Danielle H., 29

3. The Photobooth “I know everyone has a photobooth, but it was something we almost didn’t do because it’s an added expense, and I didn’t think people would care to use it because every wedding has one now. I noticed, however, that it was such a good way to get guests out of their chairs, especially the ones who didn’t want to dance. It was also a great icebreaker for guests who didn’t know each other and just met that night.” —Sarah P., 27

4. Bottles of Water “We did bottles of water with customized labels on them for our party favor. So glad we spent the money to do that. Everyone is thirsty leaving a wedding. They don’t care about anything else or any other kind of party favor. They will take the bottle of water, and they will drink it.” —Marissa B., 30

5. An Extension With the Venue “Our wedding should have ended at midnight. At around 11pm, everyone was having so much fun. Nobody wanted to leave. We didn’t have an after-party or anything planned, so I spoke to the venue owner and we got to keep the party going until 2am. Of course we paid a pretty penny to make that happen, but it was surely worth It.” —Jessica V., 31

6. A Videographer “The one thing I’m glad I did for my own personal wedding, is pay for a videographer. I was so busy the whole night and having someone videotape every moment was the only way I could recap the night knowing exactly what happened. It was cool seeing things I missed and remembering moments I enjoyed.” —Barbara C., 31