Comments on: How Much Does an (Average) Wedding Cost? http://www.moneyunder30.com/how-much-average-wedding-cost Personal Finance for the Young and Ambitious Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:23:03 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Colorado2010 http://www.moneyunder30.com/how-much-average-wedding-cost/comment-page-1#comment-3555 Colorado2010 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:00:52 +0000 http://www.moneyunder30.com/?p=2061#comment-3555 My fiance and I are getting married in October 2010. We are inviting 120 guests, but imagine that about 80 will come. I was hoping to keep our budget around $15,000 but it's slowly crept up to $22,000. We're trying to keep costs down, but the fact is that 98% of our guests will be flying in from out of town, and although they're really coming for us, I think they deserve more than a backyard bbq and plastic flatware for the trip. Some of our cost-savings have been to hold the wedding and reception at a beautiful restaurant that doesn't charge site-fees, try to buy used when we can (dresses, etc), use a photography student who is just starting their business, and my best secret has been telling vendors up front what the budget is, and asking what they can do to meet it (before I did that, they were quoting me 2x what I wanted to spend). Unfortunately, even when trying to keep costs down, it is not cheap, no matter how you do it, to feed and entertain 100 people. Even though it's a ton of money, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share a beautiful few days with everyone you love. These chances don't come around that often, and they're worth the price. My feeling is that as long as we're still meeting our savings goals, and not financing the wedding (rather, paying in hard-saved cash), it's fine to spend on this sort of occasion. My fiance and I are getting married in October 2010. We are inviting 120 guests, but imagine that about 80 will come. I was hoping to keep our budget around $15,000 but it’s slowly crept up to $22,000. We’re trying to keep costs down, but the fact is that 98% of our guests will be flying in from out of town, and although they’re really coming for us, I think they deserve more than a backyard bbq and plastic flatware for the trip. Some of our cost-savings have been to hold the wedding and reception at a beautiful restaurant that doesn’t charge site-fees, try to buy used when we can (dresses, etc), use a photography student who is just starting their business, and my best secret has been telling vendors up front what the budget is, and asking what they can do to meet it (before I did that, they were quoting me 2x what I wanted to spend). Unfortunately, even when trying to keep costs down, it is not cheap, no matter how you do it, to feed and entertain 100 people.

Even though it’s a ton of money, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share a beautiful few days with everyone you love. These chances don’t come around that often, and they’re worth the price. My feeling is that as long as we’re still meeting our savings goals, and not financing the wedding (rather, paying in hard-saved cash), it’s fine to spend on this sort of occasion.

]]> By: Holly Bryant~Pinson http://www.moneyunder30.com/how-much-average-wedding-cost/comment-page-1#comment-3486 Holly Bryant~Pinson Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:43:56 +0000 http://www.moneyunder30.com/?p=2061#comment-3486 My fiance' and I are getting married in March 2010, we have budgeted about $1000- $1500.00 for our wedding, my mom got my dress, it was a bridesmaid dress that we ordered in white, my flowers are only going to cost about $250.00 and that includes all flowers! We are only having 1 bridesmaid and 1 bestman, no other wedding parties, and the best part is, the location is free, and its by a beautiful river. Its a locally owned pavillion that can be rented, and as long as you turn the key back in its free! We are using my mothers ring's from her first marriage, they'll just have to be sized which cost about $50.00 each to size, and the cake were getting from Ingles, they make beautiful, delicious wedding cakes that feed over 100 people for about $100.00. So you can have a wedding on a budget, you dont have to spend $20,000.00 or $30,000.00 to have a beautiful wedding. my fiance's sister got married in june, his parents paid for it, and it costed around $20,000.00 and it wasnt that pretty at all. The location was pretty a nice mountian setting, but the decor wasnt at all what i pictured a $20,000.00 wedding looking like. So just keep that in mind girls! Also, you can talk to a beach front hotel to see how much they will charge you to have a wedding, most places like that dont charge much, sometimes even free, and you can have the reception right there. Kinda neat, were thinking about doing it. Also, the lady who said alcohol was a major factor in weddings, its rediculas, your friends shouldnt just come to your wedding just to drink your alcohol, they should come to celebrate with you. My bestfriend had a wedding for under $300.00 and that included food, flowers, location, and minister! NO BOOZE!!! You dont have to pay a fortune to have alcohol, just buy some store bought bottles of wine, and have your caterer pass it out. You can get store bought good wine for about $8.00 a bottle. Anyway, good luck everyone!!! Best wishes and God Bless! My fiance’ and I are getting married in March 2010, we have budgeted about $1000- $1500.00 for our wedding, my mom got my dress, it was a bridesmaid dress that we ordered in white, my flowers are only going to cost about $250.00 and that includes all flowers! We are only having 1 bridesmaid and 1 bestman, no other wedding parties, and the best part is, the location is free, and its by a beautiful river. Its a locally owned pavillion that can be rented, and as long as you turn the key back in its free! We are using my mothers ring’s from her first marriage, they’ll just have to be sized which cost about $50.00 each to size, and the cake were getting from Ingles, they make beautiful, delicious wedding cakes that feed over 100 people for about $100.00. So you can have a wedding on a budget, you dont have to spend $20,000.00 or $30,000.00 to have a beautiful wedding. my fiance’s sister got married in june, his parents paid for it, and it costed around $20,000.00 and it wasnt that pretty at all. The location was pretty a nice mountian setting, but the decor wasnt at all what i pictured a $20,000.00 wedding looking like. So just keep that in mind girls! Also, you can talk to a beach front hotel to see how much they will charge you to have a wedding, most places like that dont charge much, sometimes even free, and you can have the reception right there. Kinda neat, were thinking about doing it. Also, the lady who said alcohol was a major factor in weddings, its rediculas, your friends shouldnt just come to your wedding just to drink your alcohol, they should come to celebrate with you. My bestfriend had a wedding for under $300.00 and that included food, flowers, location, and minister! NO BOOZE!!! You dont have to pay a fortune to have alcohol, just buy some store bought bottles of wine, and have your caterer pass it out. You can get store bought good wine for about $8.00 a bottle. Anyway, good luck everyone!!! Best wishes and God Bless!

]]> By: BrooklynEscapades http://www.moneyunder30.com/how-much-average-wedding-cost/comment-page-1#comment-2558 BrooklynEscapades Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:40:52 +0000 http://www.moneyunder30.com/?p=2061#comment-2558 We are getting married in exactly two weeks in Miami Florida. We have 115 confirmed guests. Everything is going to come out to 20k, give or take a thousand. This includes our attire, the rings, the venue, the food, open bar, the cake, the gifts for our attendants/folks, favors, flowers etc. It doesn't include the honeymoon, which is a 7 day cruise that we got for super cheap. We are very lucky that we were able to use our church for the actual wedding ceremony for free, because we are members. We only had to pay a small cleanup fee ($150) for the Fellowship Hall that we are using the day before for our rehearsal dinner. We also got a professional dj for free, because he's my fiance's cousin. My florist is an employee who is doing the flowers as a gift- we just have to pay for the materials and flowers. At the last minute another couple canceled with our photographer and he applied their deposit to our account when we booked, saving us over $500. A church member who has beautiful flowing handwriting did our invitations for us for free, which kept us from having to hire a calligrapher. We used theknot.com for great ideas and even more money savers. The biggest place we spent money was at the reception hall. Though I wish it could have been even cheaper, I'm happy that it will be an amazingly beautiful event that culminates my union with my future husband. We are getting married in exactly two weeks in Miami Florida. We have 115 confirmed guests. Everything is going to come out to 20k, give or take a thousand. This includes our attire, the rings, the venue, the food, open bar, the cake, the gifts for our attendants/folks, favors, flowers etc. It doesn’t include the honeymoon, which is a 7 day cruise that we got for super cheap. We are very lucky that we were able to use our church for the actual wedding ceremony for free, because we are members. We only had to pay a small cleanup fee ($150) for the Fellowship Hall that we are using the day before for our rehearsal dinner. We also got a professional dj for free, because he’s my fiance’s cousin. My florist is an employee who is doing the flowers as a gift- we just have to pay for the materials and flowers. At the last minute another couple canceled with our photographer and he applied their deposit to our account when we booked, saving us over $500. A church member who has beautiful flowing handwriting did our invitations for us for free, which kept us from having to hire a calligrapher. We used theknot.com for great ideas and even more money savers. The biggest place we spent money was at the reception hall. Though I wish it could have been even cheaper, I’m happy that it will be an amazingly beautiful event that culminates my union with my future husband.

]]> By: allison http://www.moneyunder30.com/how-much-average-wedding-cost/comment-page-1#comment-2547 allison Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:08:00 +0000 http://www.moneyunder30.com/?p=2061#comment-2547 We are getting married on a Sunday in Asheville, NC, which is a great way to save money on venue fees. We are having the ceremony at a beautiful site in a national forest (no charge) - we only have to pay for chair rentals and set up/breakdown. The reception is at a restaurant in town and since it is on a Sunday, they aren't charging a venue fee (~110 guests). Food is $27/person, we are buying cases of beer/wine/liquor ahead of time which saves some $ b/c it isn't full mark-up and we know what we want to serve (total food/drink cost is just under $4k), we're getting flowers from a local grower ($200), a friend is making our cake for just the cost of the supplies (~$100), a friend of a friend is an interior designer and she is going to help us decorate the restaurant (we buy decorations ~$200), favors are two hand made chocolates from a friend who makes THE BEST chocolates in town, we are choosing our own song list and a friend who DJ's is manning our iPod in lieu of actually having a DJ, we're creating a slideshow from photos of us and our family/friends with music and captions, having a trivia contest so guests can guess where we're moving next and who ever wins will get a prize (we're planning to move soon), I'm borrowing a friend's beautiful wedding dress that only needs a few alterations (which can be let out after the wedding), my fiance' is buying his suit from Men's Warehouse during their summer sale for about $199, and we're looking for rings right now, which we will likely get online. I've heard there are a few pawn shops that actaully specialize in estate/vintage jewelry so we may check that out also. We are getting married on a Sunday in Asheville, NC, which is a great way to save money on venue fees. We are having the ceremony at a beautiful site in a national forest (no charge) – we only have to pay for chair rentals and set up/breakdown. The reception is at a restaurant in town and since it is on a Sunday, they aren’t charging a venue fee (~110 guests). Food is $27/person, we are buying cases of beer/wine/liquor ahead of time which saves some $ b/c it isn’t full mark-up and we know what we want to serve (total food/drink cost is just under $4k), we’re getting flowers from a local grower ($200), a friend is making our cake for just the cost of the supplies (~$100), a friend of a friend is an interior designer and she is going to help us decorate the restaurant (we buy decorations ~$200), favors are two hand made chocolates from a friend who makes THE BEST chocolates in town, we are choosing our own song list and a friend who DJ’s is manning our iPod in lieu of actually having a DJ, we’re creating a slideshow from photos of us and our family/friends with music and captions, having a trivia contest so guests can guess where we’re moving next and who ever wins will get a prize (we’re planning to move soon), I’m borrowing a friend’s beautiful wedding dress that only needs a few alterations (which can be let out after the wedding), my fiance’ is buying his suit from Men’s Warehouse during their summer sale for about $199, and we’re looking for rings right now, which we will likely get online. I’ve heard there are a few pawn shops that actaully specialize in estate/vintage jewelry so we may check that out also.

]]> By: Erin http://www.moneyunder30.com/how-much-average-wedding-cost/comment-page-1#comment-2560 Erin Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:14:57 +0000 http://www.moneyunder30.com/?p=2061#comment-2560 And, we are getting married on a Sunday--cheaper than Saturday, in March--cheaper than June. And, we are getting married on a Sunday–cheaper than Saturday, in March–cheaper than June.

]]> By: Erin http://www.moneyunder30.com/how-much-average-wedding-cost/comment-page-1#comment-2559 Erin Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:10:44 +0000 http://www.moneyunder30.com/?p=2061#comment-2559 We are in the middle of planning our March 2010 wedding now. My original "dream" budget was $10k; until we started looking at venues (we live in San Francisco), cake prices and photographers and the price tags they come with, our budget quickly doubled! We are spending money on the things that really matter to us: a beautiful venue that has indoor and outdoor space, loads of character, with an in-house caterer, and an artistic photographer. We are “saving” on things that are less important to us: our favorite music on an I-pod instead of a band, the venue is quaint and has tons of character so our flower budget is tiny, I bought my dress at a big chain for less than $300 (I’m “borrowing” a veil because they cost almost as much as my dress!), and he will buy a suit he can wear again. We recently decided to cut our guest list from 100 to 80 in order to “save” even more. We are in the middle of planning our March 2010 wedding now. My original “dream” budget was $10k; until we started looking at venues (we live in San Francisco), cake prices and photographers and the price tags they come with, our budget quickly doubled! We are spending money on the things that really matter to us: a beautiful venue that has indoor and outdoor space, loads of character, with an in-house caterer, and an artistic photographer. We are “saving” on things that are less important to us: our favorite music on an I-pod instead of a band, the venue is quaint and has tons of character so our flower budget is tiny, I bought my dress at a big chain for less than $300 (I’m “borrowing” a veil because they cost almost as much as my dress!), and he will buy a suit he can wear again. We recently decided to cut our guest list from 100 to 80 in order to “save” even more.

]]> By: Andrea http://www.moneyunder30.com/how-much-average-wedding-cost/comment-page-1#comment-2554 Andrea Sun, 14 Jun 2009 03:22:15 +0000 http://www.moneyunder30.com/?p=2061#comment-2554 My husband and I eloped last August to Lake Tahoe. It was amazing and it was all about us, no mothers or in-laws to take over and put their two cents in. We figured that we spent about $1700 for everything: officiant (550) dress (30), husband clothes (150), flowers (120), rings (30 on etsy), cabin at Lake Tahoe for 4 nights (300), gas to travel from Utah (150), food for several days (200), announcements, which we sent our from Lake Tahoe (100). Our wedding was perfect in every way and I am so glad we did it the way we did. Our families were sad they hadn't been involved (no one knew), but they understood that they didn't have to pay for a wedding so we got some really awesome monetary gifts from our parents that are currently earning interest in an ING account. My husband and I eloped last August to Lake Tahoe. It was amazing and it was all about us, no mothers or in-laws to take over and put their two cents in. We figured that we spent about $1700 for everything: officiant (550) dress (30), husband clothes (150), flowers (120), rings (30 on etsy), cabin at Lake Tahoe for 4 nights (300), gas to travel from Utah (150), food for several days (200), announcements, which we sent our from Lake Tahoe (100). Our wedding was perfect in every way and I am so glad we did it the way we did. Our families were sad they hadn’t been involved (no one knew), but they understood that they didn’t have to pay for a wedding so we got some really awesome monetary gifts from our parents that are currently earning interest in an ING account.

]]> By: Natasha http://www.moneyunder30.com/how-much-average-wedding-cost/comment-page-1#comment-2548 Natasha Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:21:18 +0000 http://www.moneyunder30.com/?p=2061#comment-2548 I recently got married in March and my wedding with honeymoon total was $8000 total!! We saved money by having a beach wedding. Since it was at the beach your attire doesn't need to be so formal. I wore a dress from Nordstrom that everyone raved about it cost $175 and my husband wore a white linen suit. The officant was only $70. Your local justice of the peace will do it for you wherever you want. You have the best natural scenery at the beach. Photographer was free (lucked out new uncle is one). We had a lunch reception since the ceremony was early in the morning and booked a private dining room at our fave restaurant, the same one where he proposed. Lunch is cheaper and everyone loved the food. Instead of a tierd cake we had a top tier with jumbo cupcakes that were decorated beautifully. It's a new trend that is a lot cheaper and you don't have to deal with a cake cutting fee. Yes, be careful because some venues will charge you $1-$3 a slice to cut your cake!! We also saved a lot of money by using a honeymoon registry. We used honeymoonwishes.com. Since dishes and sheets were the last thing we needed it just made sense. Our guest actually ended up paying for our honeymoon and then some. It's only one day, save your money so you can enjoy your marriage. Honestly everyone loved our wedding because they love us and it was a perfect day. If there is anyone on your guest list you think you need to impress, don't invite them! Best wishes to you and your fiance :o) I recently got married in March and my wedding with honeymoon total was $8000 total!!
We saved money by having a beach wedding. Since it was at the beach your attire doesn’t need to be so formal. I wore a dress
from Nordstrom that everyone raved about it cost $175 and my husband wore a white linen suit. The officant was only $70. Your local justice of the peace will do it for you wherever you want. You have the best natural scenery at the beach. Photographer was free (lucked out new uncle is one).
We had a lunch reception since the ceremony was early in the morning and booked a private dining room at our fave restaurant, the same
one where he proposed. Lunch is cheaper and everyone loved the food. Instead of a tierd cake we had a top tier with jumbo
cupcakes that were decorated beautifully. It’s a new trend that is a lot cheaper and you don’t have to deal with a cake cutting fee.
Yes, be careful because some venues will charge you $1-$3 a slice to cut your cake!! We also saved a lot of money by using a
honeymoon registry. We used honeymoonwishes.com. Since dishes and sheets were the last thing we needed it just made sense. Our guest actually
ended up paying for our honeymoon and then some. It’s only one day, save your money so you can enjoy your marriage. Honestly everyone loved
our wedding because they love us and it was a perfect day. If there is anyone on your guest list you think you need to impress,
don’t invite them! Best wishes to you and your fiance :o )

]]> By: Matt http://www.moneyunder30.com/how-much-average-wedding-cost/comment-page-1#comment-2551 Matt Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:47:51 +0000 http://www.moneyunder30.com/?p=2061#comment-2551 My bride-to-be and I are getting married next May. We are in NC and found a local B&B where we will have the ceremony, reception, a couple of nights lodging, dj, food, and a few more things for a package deal of $15k. We have to find a photographer and are astonished at how much they cost. One even costs, if averaged out, $700/hour! I can't think of any profession that should be paid that much! My bride-to-be and I are getting married next May. We are in NC and found a local B&B where we will have the ceremony, reception, a couple of nights lodging, dj, food, and a few more things for a package deal of $15k. We have to find a photographer and are astonished at how much they cost. One even costs, if averaged out, $700/hour! I can’t think of any profession that should be paid that much!

]]> By: Amy http://www.moneyunder30.com/how-much-average-wedding-cost/comment-page-1#comment-2542 Amy Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:37:36 +0000 http://www.moneyunder30.com/?p=2061#comment-2542 My husband and I had a large wedding, mainly because we both have very large families. About 300 came to our wedding. We were, however, able to keep within our budget of $8000. Catering was the most expensive part with the total coming to $3500. We did a buffet and used plastic silverware. We rented out the local community center and bought our liquor at a duty free shop. We found a local woman to make the cake for $350, with many sheet cakes in the back to make sure there was enough for everyone. My sister was in charge of all the decorations which we bought over several months using 50% off coupons at Micheal's which came each week. A friend of mine's uncle owns a limo business so we were able to get a great deal on that. One of my husband's uncles did the photography for free as a gift to us (he owns his own photography business). I hired a classmate from high school to be the DJ and emcee which he discounted for us. Really we got most of our good deals because we knew someone or we were related to someone who could do part of it. I also bought my dress of the rack instead ordering for a 20% discount. My husband and I had a large wedding, mainly because we both have very large families. About 300 came to our wedding. We were, however, able to keep within our budget of $8000. Catering was the most expensive part with the total coming to $3500. We did a buffet and used plastic silverware. We rented out the local community center and bought our liquor at a duty free shop. We found a local woman to make the cake for $350, with many sheet cakes in the back to make sure there was enough for everyone. My sister was in charge of all the decorations which we bought over several months using 50% off coupons at Micheal’s which came each week. A friend of mine’s uncle owns a limo business so we were able to get a great deal on that. One of my husband’s uncles did the photography for free as a gift to us (he owns his own photography business). I hired a classmate from high school to be the DJ and emcee which he discounted for us. Really we got most of our good deals because we knew someone or we were related to someone who could do part of it. I also bought my dress of the rack instead ordering for a 20% discount.

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