For future brides - Married ladies sharing gift info.

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Posted by Meaghan729

im sorry, Have I stepped outside of the United States of America, in which there is something called freedom of speech?? Is this not an open forum to which we can give opinons, or am I wrong?

I am entitled to my own opinion - and I wasnt involved in the prior post, so thats why i responded here.

Who gives a doo doo about who got back what % of the $ they spent unless they want to see how much everyone else made??

why ask in the first place??

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ok, get off our high horse. if you have such a problem with this question, don't answer. you have the right to do that as well.

as far as we go, its hard to say. my fh is thinking we will get what we spend on the hall. i have an open mind and am not expecting anything. just to have fun.

We were fortunate that our parents paid for the wedding especially since we had a 500 person guest list!

But I will say that had we paid for the wedding, we would have received back what the reception cost us. Which does not include, band, florist, photog, etc....

not to cause a world war , but Im sure there are plenty of bride's to be , who may be well curious too as to how past brides made out , so to speak. I for one am one of them.

I am not looking to make money off the poeple I invite, by no means, but sure Id love to know how past brides have made out.

if this type of question has be posted before , soooo what . Im sure there has been plenty of brides who have been married since the last time it was asked.

if you dont like the question, dont respond. fee speach or not , I mean this is a wedding website, not a political forum..

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Posted by ChrissynRicky

I'm with Christina...we probably received about 98% - 100% of what we put into the wedding, and maybe a little more (thanks to our parents.)

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BTW LOVE your avatar pic

I will agree that the reasoning behind this thread is harmless. One should take the time to read the original poster's review in the review section. You would see, through her experiences in planning, that her wedding day was not about what people could give her and her DH, but more about their love for each other and sharing that special day with their friends and family. That being said, lets not get all in a huff about it. She meant no harm.

That being said, I never post what I/we/our families paid for certain vendors frankly because it is nobody's business. Sure it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out what the smaller costs are (invitations, calligraphy, favors) But for big vendors? No way. When people find out what is spent, judgements are passed ('I can't believe she spent BLAH BLAH BLAH on that') and people make suppositions about your financial status thus putting yourself at risk for behavioral wack-a-dos to do their thing.

So.....I will answer the question. (Didn't think I would did ya?) Our monetary gifts gave back about half what the wedding cost to put together including MAJOR vendors only (Catering, Flowers, Band, Photo/Video and dress). Everything else did add up but we did not keep wonderful records. Keep in mind that certain vendors will cost the same no matter how many guests you have. Dollar for dollar, even though the caterer received the largest sums of money, they were pretty much the least expensive part of the wedding venture for us.

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Posted by HearzBellz

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Posted by ChrissynRicky

I'm with Christina...we probably received about 98% - 100% of what we put into the wedding, and maybe a little more (thanks to our parents.)

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BTW LOVE your avatar pic

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Thanks love!

It seems that these threads are better suited for the newlywed board. No drama over all of this over there.

We were extremely fortunate that our parents paid for a lot of the wedding. Had we paid for it ourselves, our gifts total the cost of the hall. We're grateful for what we received.

I think this is a good post, it will help future brides in this myth that you 'make back' your wedding expenses.....

We made back 50% of our wedding.

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Posted by Goldi1021

I will agree that the reasoning behind this thread is harmless. One should take the time to read the original poster's review in the review section. You would see, through her experiences in planning, that her wedding day was not about what people could give her and her DH, but more about their love for each other and sharing that special day with their friends and family. That being said, lets not get all in a huff about it. She meant no harm.

That being said, I never post what I/we/our families paid for certain vendors frankly because it is nobody's business. Sure it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out what the smaller costs are (invitations, calligraphy, favors) But for big vendors? No way. When people find out what is spent, judgements are passed ('I can't believe she spent BLAH BLAH BLAH on that') and people make suppositions about your financial status thus putting yourself at risk for behavioral wack-a-dos to do their thing.

So.....I will answer the question. (Didn't think I would did ya?) Our monetary gifts gave back about half what the wedding cost to put together including MAJOR vendors only (Catering, Flowers, Band, Photo/Video and dress). Everything else did add up but we did not keep wonderful records. Keep in mind that certain vendors will cost the same no matter how many guests you have. Dollar for dollar, even though the caterer received the largest sums of money, they were pretty much the least expensive part of the wedding venture for us.

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Oh Leslie, you're always the calm voice of reason.

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Posted by Goldi1021

I will agree that the reasoning behind this thread is harmless. One should take the time to read the original poster's review in the review section. You would see, through her experiences in planning, that her wedding day was not about what people could give her and her DH, but more about their love for each other and sharing that special day with their friends and family. That being said, lets not get all in a huff about it. She meant no harm.

That being said, I never post what I/we/our families paid for certain vendors frankly because it is nobody's business. Sure it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out what the smaller costs are (invitations, calligraphy, favors) But for big vendors? No way. When people find out what is spent, judgements are passed ('I can't believe she spent BLAH BLAH BLAH on that') and people make suppositions about your financial status thus putting yourself at risk for behavioral wack-a-dos to do their thing.

So.....I will answer the question. (Didn't think I would did ya?) Our monetary gifts gave back about half what the wedding cost to put together including MAJOR vendors only (Catering, Flowers, Band, Photo/Video and dress). Everything else did add up but we did not keep wonderful records. Keep in mind that certain vendors will cost the same no matter how many guests you have. Dollar for dollar, even though the caterer received the largest sums of money, they were pretty much the least expensive part of the wedding venture for us.

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Really well said

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Posted by LaurenluvsTJ

Oh Leslie, you're always the calm voice of reason.

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Aww shucks. But I ain't that calm!

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Posted by Goldi1021

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Posted by LaurenluvsTJ

Oh Leslie, you're always the calm voice of reason.

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Aww shucks. But I ain't that calm!

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Well you certainly play the part very well!

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Posted by Goldi1021

I will also say that it is a good post especially for people who might be counting on 'gifts' to either pay off wedding expenses or to finance a home. I would hate to see people misinformed and further into debt than before their weddings. Many young people (and even old farts like me) can get themselves into a poop load of trouble with poor planing. Perhaps this was what the intent of the original post was. Thats what I am thinking.

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Good Call. I find it to be very informtive and gives brides a reality check... as to what to expect.

I not have had my wedding yet... cannot post what I got back. hehehhe

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Posted by Goldi1021

I will agree that the reasoning behind this thread is harmless. One should take the time to read the original poster's review in the review section. You would see, through her experiences in planning, that her wedding day was not about what people could give her and her DH, but more about their love for each other and sharing that special day with their friends and family. That being said, lets not get all in a huff about it. She meant no harm.

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Thanks Leslie. Who knew that bumping a helpful thread would cause drama

This was posted a while back and updated today. I also posted on the newlywed board. It was in response to all the unrealistic threads about couples 'making money' on the wedding. I am really hoping that future couples get a 'reality check' from the past brides responses if they were expecting to 'make money' on their weddings.