Keeping A Wedding Affordable.... How Much Did Yours Cost?

Quote from bonkman : If you want to cut costs, the single best thing you can do is not pay for other people's booze. However, the social ramifications of that might not allow it. Ways to cut costs (without looking like it): - have the wedding on an off-day. Either mid-week or Sunday. - get dresses on a discount by looking secondhand, for "demo models," etc. In some places, they have a "running of the brides" where they have designer dresses at huge discounts. My wife got her 5000 dress for 750 at one of those. - make your own invitations, save the dates, etc. It's really easy to do well, actually. Buy a kit and download the templates for MS word. If you have a decent printer, they'll come out great. - make your own centerpieces. fresh flowers are a HUGE cost. If you're creative, you can make simple, cheap decos that look awesome. If you're not creative, look on google - don't have the wedding in a big city. I'll probably come up with a few more later. Congrats and good luck!

sometimes alcohol makes the party. buying cases of wine beforehand (watch out for "corking fee" or something similar) can be more cost-effective. we had a cash bar, but we provided a white and a red that were flowing for free, in addition to the toasting wine. if someone wanted to pay for a beer or a rum & coke, they could, and we got nothing but praise.

disposable cameras on all the tables were nice too, we got some excellent shots.

Quote from bonkman : Spent 20k for a 40k wedding. No regrets. And still talked about and praised to this day. To each their own

It is just a wedding. I don't need some lavish event to show everyone our love. Like you said though, each to their own.

Some people see cars as a means to get from A to B, some other buy luxury cars every 3 years.

I spent the most on Food, Flowers, Bar. Looking back on it, I wished my wife had done some cool homemade flower/design for each table. It would have been much cheaper. The Bar package was actually reasonable, but we paid for 2 hours of drinking for 100 guests. If alcohol is going to be available, I suggest paying for the first hour, or taking care of only beer/wine to reduce costs.

One thing a lot of people don't seem to think about is how the date of their wedding will affect their future plans. If you get married in the travel off season, then all of your future anniversary trips are going to be in the off season. If you get married in the winter, you're going to have to go to a tropical island to see some sun for your anniversary. If you get married during the blackouts, you're a moron like I am!

Ours was roughly $13,000. Majority was venue, food and booze. We got flowers wholesale and the bridesmaids arranged them the day before.

I am engaged now. We are looking for a venue where we can bring our own booze. We will have a pre-wedding party where guests are encouraged to bring a bottle of booze to help supply the wedding.

Quote from tresh : sometimes alcohol makes the party. buying cases of wine beforehand (watch out for "corking fee" or something similar) can be more cost-effective. we had a cash bar, but we provided a white and a red that were flowing for free, in addition to the toasting wine. if someone wanted to pay for a beer or a rum & coke, they could, and we got nothing but praise. disposable cameras on all the tables were nice too, we got some excellent shots.

oh right. We did that too with the disposable cameras (though quite the mix of nice shots and "is that bigfoot?").

As for alcohol, making others pay is always the cheapest, but the savings differs depending on what you're allowed to do at the place. BYOB is usually good. At our place, the cost for the full open bar package only ended up being a few bucks more per person, plus it got extra apps and food, so it was quite a no-brainer. Sometimes the best slickdeals come from paying a little extra to get a lot extra.

My wedding is set for 6/28/14 -

Venue: $750
Reception: $8000-9500 (depends on headcount)
Photographer: $3500
DJ: $750
Cake: $500
Flowers: $250
Printed materials: $100
Dress: $? (She's going to Kleinfeld's, so I'll assume $4,000ish)
Engagement Ring: $3200
Wedding Bands: $300?
Tuxes: $350
My rental car: $200
Her transport: $?
Wine ice cream: $600

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things - but this is a rough idea. We've only just started booking things. We set the budget for $15,000-$20,000.

I'm not wealthy by any means - we're both younger than 25, have good jobs, own a house, etc. We've been together for over 5 years. I want to make her day special. I really don't need anything extravagant for me.

Its really a personal thing. I was at a friend's wedding last year - they spend about $4,000 total. It was a pretty good wedding, but the crowd was what drove it home. If it wasn't great people, it could have been boring. Their ceremony was the most lacking part (they used an ipod dock for music at a lake shore with boats going in and out - and the bridal march played four times while the bride trekked through the mud). But the reception at their aunt's house was excellent.

I also have a friend who spend $50,000 - their wedding was nice, but they put 200 people in a grand ballroom made for 500 - it was a bit too spread out. No real conversation. We didn't really know one another (guests).

Moral: money isn't the driving factor behind how good it is.

Quote from dhc014 : ... The slickest deal of all would be to skip the wedding and elope.

Affordable wedding... jumbo shrimp...military intelligence...


Spend it on the honeymoon.

Quote from Formless : ... I'm sure I'm forgetting some things - but this is a rough idea. We've only just started booking things. We set the budget for $15,000-$20,000. I'm not wealthy by any means - we're both younger than 25, have good jobs, own a house, etc. We've been together for over 5 years. I want to make her day special. I really don't need anything extravagant for me. ...

How about a 7-day cruise, once a year, for 15 years? Every other year for 30 years?



Going ahead with it anyway? Budget in a lawyer for the prenup.

Quote from Dem Bums : This is making me feel so superficial.

People make irrational decisions. Weddings, having a baby, buying a house, etc. Just rationally think things through instead of letting marketing/expectations/etc decide for you.

People pay thousands for a stone that isn't even rare for a day no one will remember.

Quote from sd444 : People make irrational decisions. Weddings, having a baby, buying a house, etc. Just rationally think things through instead of letting marketing/expectations/etc decide for you. People pay thousands for a stone that isn't even rare for a day no one will remember.

and everyone attaches value differently. some people attach immeasurable value to a paper card made by a child, and others attach no significant value to an ingot of rare metal. if someone attaches significant value to something, and you are planning on spending the rest of your life with that person, it makes sense to NOT make that something a crappy memory.

Quote from tresh : and everyone attaches value differently. some people attach immeasurable value to a paper card made by a child, and others attach no significant value to an ingot of rare metal. if someone attaches significant value to something, and you are planning on spending the rest of your life with that person, it makes sense to NOT make that something a crappy memory.

Are you attaching value or is marketing and everyone else that fell for that marketing telling you to attach value to it?

There is a reason for divorce rates being so high.

The most fun wedding reception I ever went to was in a park (couldn't have cost much to reserve the pavilion), cake from the local grocery store, and the food was served in a buffet line, probably catered from the same grocery store.

The least fun wedding reception I ever went to was pretty much the same, but better food and cake because friends prepared it. Unfortunately, it was raining and unseasonably cold and there was very little space under the shelter. It would have been awesome had it not been for the rain. If you want to do something outside, have a backup plan for bad weather.

In my experience, there seems to be an inverse relationship between the amount spent on the wedding and the length of time the marriage lasts.

My wedding was fancier than I would have liked, but it was important to my mother and she was paying, so she got whatever she wanted. By the time we got to the sit-down dinner reception, I was tired and just wanted to leave but I had to pretend to be happy to see distant relatives that I didn't recognize. If I had to do it over again, I would focus on keeping things simple and short.

Quote from sd444 : Are you attaching value or is marketing and everyone else that fell for that marketing telling you to attach value to it? There is a reason for divorce rates being so high.

in the end, it doesn't matter where the value originates, it matters where it resides. if your wife [to-be] has always wanted a fountain punchbowl at her wedding, do you try to get her a fountain punchbowl or do you tell her she's a silly, misguided sheep in the grip of corporate marketing geniuses? keep it within reason, and don't be afraid to indulge a bit. it's supposed to be a special day.

there are almost certainly numerous reasons for the current divorce rate. that is not the current topic.