How much are weddings?

Okay... our wedding was somewhere around $30,000... BEFORE you freak out... please read all I have to say about it though.

This number includes ALL costs... ceremony, reception, clothing (incl. my dress), flowers, photography, invitations, presents for the wedding party, etc.... you get the idea. My parents paid some, his parents paid the most, and we paid some.

I was never a little girl who grew up dreaming of a wedding... in fact, I really didn't care at all about having a wedding, however my husband's family loves big weddings.... so I told them if they wanted us to go big then they would have to contribute... so they did.

My BIG DREAM was the honeymoon!!! I love to travel! I had always wanted to go to Hawaii so that's what we did... with the help of my parents time share and their frequent flyer miles. HAHA!!! :laugh:

My husband and I had a short engagement... 6 months. About a month or so away from the wedding I asked my husband if we could call off the whole "wedding" thing and just get married on the beach in hawaii and mail DVD's to everyone (I was a little stressed)!!! Let's just say he didn't go for it! haha!

After it was all said and done... I wouldn't have changed a thing!!!! We had a beautiful, romantic, outside wedding on the most beautiful day of 2005. Minus a few kinks, everything went very smoothly.

Don't get me wrong though... Hawaii was the best part of the whole thing!!!

Good luck to you! It will work out however you wish it to. Just don't let people try to control things... it's you and your husband-to-be's day... keep it special not extravegant... it's not about all the bells and whistles... it's about the love the two of you share. I think people forget about that.

Kris

In my humble opinion...

Having been through a very elaborate wedding, 8 years later (and still in love - a deeper love) I would do things VERY differently (although that is easy for me to say now, becase I already did the big wedding)!

Focus on the two of you, what really matters, and who really matters. Don't get caught up in it all (we could have spent two weeks in Hawaii for what I spent on my dress alone - it makes me feel a bit sick thinking about it - and it seems as though weddings are getting bigger and bigger).

It's about the two of you, your close friends and family, and celebrating your marriage. Nothing else.

BUT, if it is your dream to do the big wedding, and you have the budget, go for it!!!
:flowerforyou:

My wedding was pretty inexpensive, but I'm am a very low maintenance woman so...... nothing fancy needed here. I rented my wedding dress, and my bridesmaids wore black (my fave colour) so their dresses were cheap. We rented the legion for reception, so no 5 star hall or anything. My family is really laid back so for the meal we did potluck, which I like better because there is huge selection of food for everyone. I'm not big on jewellry so my engagement ring and wedding band came from walmart, 200 dollars in total for both, so cheap as well, also got my husbands ring at walmart for 100 bucks!!

Now for all the expensive stuff I am very lucky, my sister in law is a florist, my cousin a photographer, my aunt makes awesome cakes, we got married at our church, and they only wanted a donation, and at the time my hubby's grandpa had a black 57 chevy that we rode around in style, my dad payed for the dj. It was the best night I ever had, people are still talking about how much fun they had!! We honeymooned in Niagara falls, so not too much money there either, had a blast!!!

I guess it just depends on the type of wedding you want, there is always ways to cut costs though, it just depends on what is most important to you!!

Don't 'they' say 2/3 of a months wages?

actually 'they say' its 4-6 months wages.....crazy....i know:grumble:

jeez!!! thats a little too much I don't expect a 10 thousand dollar ring! It would be nice, but I'm trying to be realistic...

My large sparkly ring was a little over $100. I knew we could afford a real diamond, but I wanted a big honkin' thing (i love big rings!!!) so we went on QVC.com and ordered me a Diamonique ring. It's absolutly lovely and I have no regrets!!

Welllll...I'm getting married next June. My ring for me was $600 (for the whole set engagement and wedding band) And it's beautiful. It's 1/2 carat and my fiance keeps telling me I should have the bigger one but I told him in the future when we are financially more stable we can always upgrade to a bigger ring on our anniversary or something (Kay Jeweler's warranty states that you can trade your ring in for a ring of more value and get the amount you paid for it off of the other ring) but to me it is the meaning behind it and what it represents not the size of the diamond. As far as his ring goes, I was looking at a ring that was like $650 and he told me just to get the band (there's one with some type of design engraved on it for $250 and he likes it better actually) For the wedding itself, I got my dress for $550 and its not one of those with a huge train but I love it....here's the link to it:

http://www.davidsbridal.com/bridal_gowns_detail.jsp?stid=2677&prodgroup=10

(it was on sale at the time $50 off) ....BTW I bought it two sizes smaller for incentive to stick to this plan and I can now zip it all the way up...a little tight but I can do it. And I've got a year to get it the rest. they may have to take it in. With shoes, jewelry, handbag, that bra thing you use to pull it all in what a boustiette (dont know how to spell that :noway:), the slip, veil, and all other accesories for me it came out to $1100. This is the one part of the wedding I was willing to let myself splurge....but didnt do too bad. He will rent his tux so that shouldnt be bad either.

The wedding is at the church and asks for a donation. We were thinking $400-500 would be enough.

We are having our wedding at the campgrounds ($500 for the night no time limit)(his father is retired and travels in an RV they will let him stay overnight at $20 a night same with anyone else...if they drink too much no need to drive:drinker: ) And to save money we are using silk flowers as our centerpieces that we are putting together ourselves and most of the decorations we will do ourselves. It doesnt bother me to use silk flowers it saves a ton of money and looks nice. Plus can be used as keepsakes. We will use a local DJ that plays at the bar I used to go to. He's not too expensive. And his parents will pay for the alcohol...yes must have open bar...well for our family and friends anyway...:laugh: :drinker: :laugh: :drinker: I think doing our own decorations will save a lot. Luckily my parents have some friends at the town hal that will let us rent tables for a lot cheaper than usual. The thing that stinks is, I live in SC and my friends and family are in OH. The wedding is in OH. So I have to depend on them to plan most of it. We send pictures via email and stuff, but its not the same. Oh well I trust them. My parents and his parents are wonderful. And my bridal party wouldnt be my bridal party if they didnt know me well enough to know what I would like. And personally I dont care too much as long as it is romantic, looks nice, and things go well. This is about us committing ourselves to each other for life and celebrating our love. So the main thing is that we can share that joy with the people we love the most in this world, our friends and family. So far our estimate for all of this is around $7-8000 give or take a little bit. Not sure. But there are a lot of ways to cut your costs. Most of it includes do-it-yourself for decorations and party favors. My family & his family will pay for most. We will throw in what we can and pay for the rings and the wedding party gifts obviously, the invites, and thank you cards. You'll know what you want when you meet that right person and the time comes. My fiance would rather go on a great honeymoon but I want the wedding. Not so much for the dress or the cinderella thing (well a little bit *giggles* maybe) but the fact that I want my closest friends and family to share a very important time in our life. Good luck to you........

in a nutshell, it definitely depends on where you live and what you want.

I had the exact wedding I wanted (husband, too :laugh: ), and we paid for it ourselves. we got married about 30 minutes outside of Washington DC and it was about $23k. Would not have changed a single thing, and I do remember the evening! We had a blast - it was about 95 people and was perfect! Biggest surprise to me was how much it was per head for the reception - child's meal was $45, steak was $92 and chicken was $85....that's where the majority of the money went - to feed people!

again - don't regret a thing and we are going on our 4th year - and still as happy as the day we got married!

You spend whatever you can afford. To me, really, what matters is your relationship. The wedding ceremony itself is not important. I don't really think people should get in debt or spend their savings in a wedding. I think the simple the better. I would spend the money on the honeymoon rathen than the ceremony. I have witnessed too many couples spending so much money on their wedding to then divorce in a few yrs. Ridiculous!!! Sorry if I offend anyone but that is my opinion. Oh, my husband and I have been together for 20 yrs, married for 18. Our first ceremony was with a Justice of Peace, just the two of us. The second one was 10 yrs later in church and we probably spent less than $2,000. Now if you are rich or your family is rich and want you to have a lavish wedding then by all means go all out!!! :flowerforyou:

I agree - you really do spend what you want, and i also agree to never go into debt for a wedding. they say money is teh main reason couples divorce. so why start with a ton of debt???

we did not go into debt - but i know plenty who did - don't make the same mistake they made!!!

check out indiebride.com

when i planned my $5,000 wedding, i checked it all the time for ideas.