Wedding Costs?

[kscwgirl]

Okay, I'm just taking a little survey here.......... don't mind me.

[Jennilyn]

I really have no idea...my parents paid for all of mine except our rings and the marriage license. I do know that we saved some money by having my aunt cater it and having the reception at my parents house. My dress was $950 though. LOL

[kscwgirl]

Mine was right around the $10K mark, and I'm willing to bet that a large chunk of that was our bar bill....

[kscwgirl]

Jen, my dress was $250, I think. Gotta love those David's Bridal sales. LOL

[jsikardi]

We eloped!

No. really. Flew to Vegas and everything.

However, when it was all said and done - I think it was still close to 10K. (we had a party a few weeks afterwards)

[ditzyscrap]

I voted for "less than 10,000" because it was WAY less than that, but we didn't elope, lol. We actually had about 300 people there.

We paid for a hall ($450), DJ ($400), my dress was $200. We had a catered supper for 30 people at $10 a plate, so about $300. My flowers cost about $300 (I worked in a bridal/flower shop, lol...got my dress there for cheap, my flowers were cheap). My hair cost maybe $50. DH and his groomsmen already had tuxes from his BIL's wedding (it was the same 4 guys, just roles were different, lol), and each guy rented his own vest/tie (which wasn't much...maybe $45 I think), and my bridesmaids each bought their dresses that I got on sale at a closing out sale ($75 apiece). We had a potluck late lunch, so that didn't cost us anything, and we didn't have alcohol (we would have had to pay a corkage fee of $2.50 per guest and weren't willing to pay that, so we didn't have pop or alcohol). We bought juice mixes (peach - the powdered kind) and rented one of those big jugs from McD's. We only decorated the head table...and we didn't have a cake made. Our photographer was a friend and we only had to pay for developing the 11 rolls of film.

Really I think with EVERYTHING included that we paid for, it was maybe $3000, if that. Including our "honeymoon" which was staying in a super fancy hotel room for 2 nights...half of it was a wedding gift from one of the groomsmen, he and his wife paid for our wedding night there and we paid for the second night...it included tickets to the waterpark, where we met all of the bridal party and their spouses for some fun on Sunday afternoon.

[BrattyMeg]

V.E.G.A.S

would elope again in a heartbeat! I'm a no stress kinda gal

[Sarah8914]

All we really paid for was one reception (which FIL paid for) and my dress. And little fees here and there I suppose... But the wedding itself cost nothing. and my mom has enough connections that she and all her friends took care of my reception here. And friends made cakes, I didn't do flowers. Aww, great day. Oh, I forgot the photographer, but he was only $300 (got all my negatives!)

[Robin Carlton]

I said $10-20K - my mom gave us a $10K budget and then we paid extra for a really great photographer ($3500 or so at the time) and then I also included our WDW honeymoon which we paid for and that was about $6500 or so. Wouldnt change a thing!

[rachelv]

I really wish we would've eloped! We were young when we got married (18 &19) and my mom took charge of the wedding. It was a cheaper wedding, too many people, horrible wedding pictures, just about everything I wouldn't want My fault for not just eloping when we wanted to.

[nesser1981]

Ours was about $9000 with honeymoon and all.

[twentytinytoes]

We had a cheap wedding. LOL we had justice of the peace, immediate family only and did it in Doug's parent's back yard. It was prob $1000 for everything. Dresses, suits, marriage license, cake but we only had to buy my dress.

[tuneskids]

mine cost similar to what Bree's cost ...

we got our hall rental for free because my Mom & stepdad were members of the club that owned the hall, and we got the cheapest rate for catering by the hall for the same reason. We also had my "Uncle" Don (family friend) bring a few roasts and some potato salad and such to supplement the amount of food we ordered for catering.
My MIL paid for our ceremony costs (organist and for Father Michael, who happened to be her boss at the time - she works for a Diocese, doing Cannon Law - sp???). She also made all the wine that we served (we also had a pay bar if people wanted other than wine) - and I created the labels for the bottles.
My dress was $200 brand new, from stock from the year before we got married. Our rings were cheap (mine was $50, Des' was $200). I bought the girls outfits for around $50 each (shoes, skirt and top), the guys rentals were about $150 for all three of them. My Mom bought Cody's and Jenna's outfits (probably around $30 with her staff discount at the department store she works at).
Our night at the hotel was paid for by a collection of guests. And our honeymoon (5 days camping with the kids, exploring the Lower Mainland, going to the Aquarium & Stanley Park, etc) was paid for with money received as gifts.
Our photos were done by a friend, and they paid for all the film and development. And our flowers were discounted thanks to a friend that worked at the flower shop I went with.

I think our biggest "expense" was a vehicle rental for a week, since we had our Matron of Honor and our Best Man staying with us, and we drove a very small compact car at the time.

[InLoveWithDOTS]

I always wanted to do the Vegas thing but we didnt end up doing that.

We had a really small wedding (maybe 35 people?) ..... Leap Year Day 1996..... 20 below zero and we were pulled on a sleigh ride (which was really a hay ride because the snow had melted in a rare thaw the week before) out to a cliff where we were married by a friend who was a JP. We paid hefty for the photographer (no regrets), and we also had a DJ, food catered and alcohol. I think we probably paid about $7000 total? Just a guess....

[mrs_jb]

Mine was a little pricey, which I don't regret really but I think that I would do things differently now. We did have a largish wedding, with a really big reception and a large rehearsal dinner, everything was done at the same local country club (which was more for sentimental reasons then anything else).

[Brandy]

20 bucks max.....we went to the court house and that was it. in the middle a humongous blizzard, 2 months after having owen, spent all day down there. Then had a guy get all excited cuz we were getting married then came back and acted like we were 2yr olds and said "oh you guys even have rings" his friend goes "no we exchange goats not rings" and the guy got upset (it was me jeff and my best friend and his.)

[lauren grier]

not too much.. 100 for the jp, prolly 20 for my dress.. 20 for my shoes.. If you count the wedding bands that's prolly around another 500 ( I don't really remember).

If I ever get married again (we're not together anymore), I had always dreamed about getting married in ireland That would prolly cost about 9million dollars though LOL

[Angie4b1g]

I picked eloped although that isn't exactly true. We did have about 8 guests. The whole thing including my dress was under $500. We just took everyone out to dinner afterward. My maid of honor had just been in a wedding the month before so I had her wear the same dress. The best man just wore a suit. Dh owns a tux. It was easy.

[Becca Bonneville]

We didn't elope but it was wayyyy under the 10k mark. We went to Panama City Beach to get married. We found a wonderful place there that did it all, performed the cermony (on the beach), had the reception/party afterwards in their very nice building which included all the catering, music, cake, photos, etc.

[rochelle789]

We spent 10-11K, with about 1000 of that being my dress. If I had it to do over again, I'd take my dress and bouquet (both of which I absolutely loved!) and go to Vegas with close family and friends. No cheesy Vegas wedding though. I'd go to the Venetian or something.

[Shawna]

I think ours was under $10,000 but not sure of the exact figures since it was almost 8 years ago (I'm sure if I dug out all my wedding planning stuff I could tell you almost to the exact penny though lol)! We had a big Catholic wedding including Mass plus a reception, dinner and dance with around 200+ guests I think. I know my parents (they're divorced) each gave me $2500 to spend (for my dress, flowers, photographer, videographer, cake, invitations and bunches of other stuff and then I spent around another $1000 or so of my own $$ on stuff like my shoes, veil, toasting glasses, ring bearer pillow, flower girl baskets & petals, cake cutting items, stuff for the table decorations, my dress alterations, etc. I think Rob paid around $1500 for my engagement and wedding rings and I spent another $250 on his wedding band. And his parents paid for the church & reception hall rental since they were members of our church, plus they paid for the rehearsal dinner and possibly part of the catering of the dinner. Oh and my Dad paid for the two kegs for the reception himself cause my MIL didn't really want alcohol at the wedding but my Dad said you have to have alcohol at a Catholic wedding & he's not even Catholic lol!! Our plane tickets for our honeymoon in San Antonio were a gift from my Mom and Stepdad and then we paid for our hotel & car rental and then our food and tickets to the places we went (Six Flags, Sea World, the Schlitterbahn, the Zoo and a few other places) so that was maybe another $1500 or so. We had the wedding I'd always dreamed of and I definitely wouldn't change one single thing about it!!

[ColleenSwerb]

I'm currently planning our wedding, and I'm figuring on over $30k. My parents are paying, and I'm sure Jordan's parents will chip in too. My parents are expecting 200 ppl, so they catering alone at the reception (which we got a RIDICULOUSLY good deal on) will be almost $20k itself.

[meems]

Originally Posted by rachelv

I really wish we would've eloped! We were young when we got married (18 &19) and my mom took charge of the wedding. It was a cheaper wedding, too many people, horrible wedding pictures, just about everything I wouldn't want My fault for not just eloping when we wanted to.

i went through similar experience. Basically my wedding turned into my mother's wedding and she and I really don't have the same taste. When my mom showed me where she was planning to have the wedding (gymnasium of a church that none of us had ever attended, which was painted a horrendous green/blue), I just mentally and emotionally separated myself from the whole ordeal and let her do what she wanted. She was paying for most of it anyway. I had never planned on getting married so a dream wedding wasn't something I had ever thought about or was even that important to me.

But when my DD gets married then I will have the wedding of my dreams, bwhahahahahaha. totally kidding. I have no desire to plan something like that.

[SaraAmarie]

Mine was also way under $10k. My sister had gotten married just 5 months before I did so dh and I tried to pay for as much as we could ourselves. I have a very talented and creative family- my aunts did all the flower/decoration arangements with flowers we got from Sams Club and Hobby Lobby. My MIL did our cake. I found my dress (which I LOVED) at a thrift store!! We only did cake and punch at our reception which was at a beautiful park and cost only $25 for the day. My uncle did the photos. We went with semi-casual dress for bridesmaids and groomsmen. For our honeymoon, we stayed 1 night at a fancy hotel then took a week and a half to travel and camp which cut the cost down. It is exactly what we wanted at the time!

[Leila]

Our wedding, including dress/shoes/hair (except for the color/cut, I did my own hair)/nails/rings/marriage license, cost less than $400. Our "reception" cost more than half that at $271 for seven people to eat at Dan McClusky's.

[scarletsierra]

We were really really blessed. My parents set us a budget of $25,000. We were able to have our dream wedding. Surprisingly it wasn't an over the top huge affair and wasn't a huge wedding..but we did get to choose some really wonderful vendors and had an awesome venue. And the open bar was a HUGE expense in and of itself, lol! I would have loved and felt completely thrilled with a wedding that wasn't as costly. In the end, it's just one day.

[amy_camp80]

We got married in the Bahamas on a cruise. We stayed in the penthouse suite and everything. I think it was between 10 and 20k, but it may have been less than 10k. My dh did it and I'm not too sure how much it cost, but we loved it! It was beautiful and stress free.

[pbumbaca]

Ours was right around 10K and that was 20 years ago. I think I'd elope now!

[iJenny]

Mine was $15K. My parents paid and they gave us the budget and we didn't have any trouble sticking to it. My dress cost less than $500 which was nice. We had the reception at a nice hotel and had a catered buffet dinner which was nice. There were 250ish (maybe closer to 300) people there, but we didn't have much of a choice. Both my parents and Jeff's parents grew up in the area so between all of us, we know EVERYONE around here. lol
The only major thing I splurged on was the wedding cake which cost $950 but its still to this day my favorite part of the whole thing. I"ll have to try to find a picture of it. It was so great.

[Amber1279]

my 1st wedding cost SO much .. of course that was including hotel bills and flights for family/wedding party

[iJenny]

Originally Posted by Amber1279

my 1st wedding cost SO much .. of course that was including hotel bills and flights for family/wedding party

I should add that we have VERY few people fly in for the wedding. Like I said, everyone we know and love is pretty much around here. lol

[scrapmonkey]

I don't know how much our wedding cost as my parents paid for most of it (fortunately, I'm an only child). We only had about 100 guests. I think it was under $20K, but I know the photographer cost them $4K (and I got a total of 1 picture for myself), the band was another $4K, and I think the reception was another $6K for the space and food. Hubby and I paid for the actual wedding (church, minister, flowers, wardrobe) and I think combined that was about $1,500-1,800 (my dress was less than $200), and we also paid for the delicious cake (another $300). Hubby's mom paid for the rehearsal dinner and I know that was $500. Mom and I made the wedding favors and decorations (Chinese takeout boxes with the Chinese character "Love" stenciled on with inside glass rock magnets and chocolate truffles; table decorations were a square mirror slab with one lily with a green organza ribbon with "Love" rubber stamped on it), so I don't remember how much that part cost. So, yeah, I think it was under $20K....

[Julie Billingsley]

My vote reflected both wedding and honeymoon. Our wedding was done cheaply so we could enjoy a nice honeymoon We had a 7 day Caribbean Cruise! The wedding itself was probably like 2,500, including my dress (which was a white prom dress... LOL). But the honeymoon was like 13,000. So glad we did it that way!

[lizzyfizzy]

wow...i cannot imagine spending in the 10's of thousands for a few hours. i know it is the most important day of your life. i assume sponsor some starving children or something and go to vegas. holler!

[LeeAndra]

*lol* This is SUCH a sore subject with my mother. Thank God my sister is getting married next summer and having the most traditional boring wedding ever, so when I get married again (and for the last time!! *lol*) and it's so NOT what she likes, she will have my sister's wedding memories to sustain her.

I planned my first wedding in six weeks. Originally slated for the August after I graduated college, we bumped it up to the weekend I graduated college so I could move directly from my college townhouse into my ex's house without 'living in sin.' *snort* The cheesy wedding chapel inside a Universalist Unitarian church, complete with fake wooden trellis and fake dusty white flowers, was $500. The minister/judge was $200. Ex bought a suit at Value City for $30 and already had shoes. We bought his wedding band and my wedding band at one of those kiosks in the mall for $20 apiece. My eing was a garnet, so it was only $200. I printed out invitations for our 18 (?) guests at home from blank ones I bought at Paper Warehouse, so maybe $30 there. I had a friend play her flute for music, another friend videotape, and my sister and father took pictures. We had no attendants and never took a honeymoon.

My parents paid $250 for my dress, $150 for flowers, dinner at Outback Steakhouse for 15 people, and a small reception at their home a couple weeks later where Mom served cold cuts for sandwiches, finger foods, and a wedding cake that she baked.

The next and last wedding will cost more, but that's due to paying for a real photog and taking a honeymoon.

[Teresa]

Admittedly, we (and our parents) spent a lot of money on our wedding last September. And you know what? I don't regret a single penny. It was an incredible day in an amazing place (19th century mansion) that I'll never be able to spend with so many people from all areas of my life (and Jay from his) again. I "splurged" the most on my dress and the photographer, both of which I agonized over doing at the time, but am so happy I did. Our honeymoon was fabulous too and we want to go back someday. Spending a lot on "just one day" isn't for everyone, and there's nothing wrong at all with spending less, it was just what we wanted to do for our friends and family as well as ourselves (and were blessed enough to be able to do). I still get compliments about it and that just makes me beam!

[AmyM]

We sorta eloped. I got married on the sand in Myrtle Beach. The planning was stressing me out, me and mom weren't getting along, the dates weren't coming together for the photographer, preacher, etc... it was a mess. So my dad was like, Amy take the money and run. That's what I did LOL
The only thing I regret is that we actually told a few people. It was nice to have my best friend there, but it ended up being maybe 10 folks, and they weren't really invited. Word spread you know, and I didn't want to be mean if they were willing to drive all the way down there.
We're gonna do it again eventually, just me and him.

[Qcaller]

Not really sure what the total was for our wedding, although I'm sure it was under 10 K. We got married in DH's grandparents back yard. SIL and I created the flower arrangements from silk flowers and I was able to rent them out to another couple a little later. We had an "ice cream social" type of reception instead of a big dinner. We rented chairs and Johny on the Spots. We bought a dozen market umbrellas on sale instead of renting a tent. My dress was around $200 from David's Bridal. For the rehearsal dinner, we had a pig roast at the same place. For our honeymoon, we sublet a loft in Brooklyn NY. The whole affair brings me such happy memories. My only regret is that we didn't get a better photographer. We hired some hack who was an old family friend. Nice guy but he just didn't have an artistic eye. The pix are decent but not great.

--Pam

[uptowngirl]

I guesstimated but everything including the honeymoon probably cost about $25k... I am horrible at keeping excel sheets of stuff though so who really know what it was in the end! I can't say I regret spending that much thought because it was a wonderful day and worth every penny. THE only thing I might change would have been our honeymoon... I really wanted to go to Greece or someplace in Europe but we started planning it right when 9/11 happened and that scrapped all plans of going overseas (which of course now seems silly). For what we spent on our 4-day cruise and then 4 days at the Atlantis in the Bahamas we could have easily done a fabulous trip to Europe. BUT we will have to save that for our 10 year anni or something!! LOL.

[jocelinsmommy]

lets see the first husband and wedding---was around 10 grand MAYBE 12..at most--we got married in alaska--where he was stationed and so were my parents so it was just base people that knew him from working there and my dads co-workers--most of whom couldn't come because they ran the hospital LOL_--dont want the people who get hurt to go wtihout care right? Lets see my wedding dress was *cough* almost 5 grand of the budget...the rest was pretty simple LOL not bad at all right?

The 2nd husband---yea I think I maybe the only one on here since I've not read 3 and 4...Justice of the Peace---we'd just gone through hurricane Katrina and lost everything I was almost 8 months pregnant at the time--we are talking about renewing our vows this summer or next on the beach in Biloix...where Katrina came in....strange i know--but I dont plan on spending bushels of money this time--SOMETHING SIMPLE going for the beach wedding thing...shorts skirts...HUGE BONFIRE for the evening....ya know...lol

[Paula Duncan]

Our was around $7000 and it would have been less if my first dress wasn't a total disaster.

I think it should depend on who is paying? If your parents are willing to pay some and his parents some? Or if you are paying for it all yourselves?

I think that if others are going to share the cost you should sit down with them and determine what they are willing to spend. Then put it all together and you then know what you have to work with.

If you are doing it all yourselves consider if you want to start your married life with a huge debt right off the bat. Or if you do have savings do you want to invest it all into one day that you will barely remember once it's over. Thank god for pictures!!

[Stacey42]

I'm not sure of the specific amount, but I do know, according to my aunt, it was less than the $2500 my SIL spent on her wedding dress a year later.

We were married by a JP in a suite at a local resort, then had a 50 person dinner & reception in one of the halls there. My dad's company had done most of the recent refurbishing & he got a great discount. My wedding dress was a dress they sold for New Year's Eve formals, cost maybe $150. We're adamant that no more than 50 be at the wedding reception & immediate family & really close friends took up about half those numbers. I think most of the reception cost was high end food and open bar. Photographer was a friend of my mom's, so another discount there.

Our honeymoon was probably another $1000. We spent a week in Great Britain. My folks cashed in their airline miles for the flights & went through yet another friend to get some cheap deals on rooms and tours. (and I really wish they had upgraded the rooms. 2 single beds in most rooms. 2 single beds on a honeymoon!!!)

But this was in 1993, so I'm sure it would cost significantly more to do the whole deal, even on the cheap, now.

[kscwgirl]

Thanks girls. I asked because I was trying to figure out if what my aunt was spending was "normal". I think it depends on where you live too..... a $50K wedding on the east coast is probably a $15-$20K wedding here.

Anyway, I really appreciate all the sharing!!! You girls are the bestest.

[LeeAndra]

Oh, you mean you're not volunteering to pay for my and Col's weddings, Sara?!

[kscwgirl]

Originally Posted by LeeAndra

Oh, you mean you're not volunteering to pay for my and Col's weddings, Sara?!

um. No. LOL

[lovely1m]

I spent $15,000, 5 years ago. I wish I had eloped though. lol

[LeeAndra]

LeeAndra's Bridesmaid List

(01) sister
(02) BFF
(03) NOT Sara

[scrappychic]

We eloped. I just couldn't handle the stress and cost.

[kscwgirl]

Originally Posted by LeeAndra

LeeAndra's Bridesmaid List

(01) sister
(02) BFF
(03) NOT Sara

Dude. I said I'd buy my dress.

[Paula]

My wedding from start to finish was $3000.