Wedding Costs

I was budgeting for 10k but knew it wouldn't be more than 15k. That includes everything- vendors, gifts, undies, glue- EVERYTHING!
So far i'm almost done and have only gotten to 13K.

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Posted by JeanineP2B

Reading this is so interesting to me!

I was on a crowded train the other day, chatting with Mom about wedding costs and our budget (since she'll be contributing most of it). I told her quietly that I'd spend around 30K, which I figured was average. Well...this woman sitting besides me poked her head over and said 'THAT IS JUST RIDICULOUS! I just don't understand how people can spend all that money on one day when all you're gonna end up with is some dried flowers and photos!' Wow, she went on to say that 'People need to remember that the wedding is about the marraige...the union of a couple...not all the unnecessary extras!' Shocked by her input I said, yes you have a point that is true...and continued talking to my mother.

A couple of minutes later she says, 'Spend that money on a down payment for a home...do something better with it! That's too much money for a wedding!'

I guess the whole incident was sorta funny, and I know our wedding day will be valued and full of treasured memories but, I sometimes think about this and wonder if FH and I should really go through with the whold ShaBang!

We could really use the extra $$...we've got college loans to pay off and could use this $$ to start our lives...ya know?

Do you all feel the same way at times?

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I have felt that way plenty of times. It's easy to get caught up in the 'wedding hype' because it's beautiful and alluring, and what bride doesn't want their wedding day to be just perfect. But if you are on a budget, you can definitely have a beautiful wedding w/o accruing a whole lot of debt. You have to prioritze what is important to you. For some brides it's having gorgeous high centerpieces that include orchids and other exotic flowers. For another it could be getting a Reem Acra gown no matter what the cost - it's all relative to what your vision is.

Just remember that if only 5 people show up at the ceremony, if your bok isn't perfect, or if the DJ forgets to play a couple of songs from your must play list .................. you are still marrying the man of your dreams and that should be the focal point. But you can still have a 'dream wedding' without emptying your bank account.

Good luck.

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Posted by JeanineP2B

Reading this is so interesting to me!

I was on a crowded train the other day, chatting with Mom about wedding costs and our budget (since she'll be contributing most of it). I told her quietly that I'd spend around 30K, which I figured was average. Well...this woman sitting besides me poked her head over and said 'THAT IS JUST RIDICULOUS! I just don't understand how people can spend all that money on one day when all you're gonna end up with is some dried flowers and photos!' Wow, she went on to say that 'People need to remember that the wedding is about the marraige...the union of a couple...not all the unnecessary extras!' Shocked by her input I said, yes you have a point that is true...and continued talking to my mother.

A couple of minutes later she says, 'Spend that money on a down payment for a home...do something better with it! That's too much money for a wedding!'

I guess the whole incident was sorta funny, and I know our wedding day will be valued and full of treasured memories but, I sometimes think about this and wonder if FH and I should really go through with the whold ShaBang!

We could really use the extra $$...we've got college loans to pay off and could use this $$ to start our lives...ya know?

Do you all feel the same way at times?

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First of all ... I would have poked the nosey woman in her eye and told her to butt out. WHAT NERVE!

Personally - I get sick to my stomach when I think of all the money we are spending - and it isn't a FRACTION of what some are spending!

I made a conscious decision to have a celebration and I am going to have a damn good one. I want to enjoy this day and share it with people I love.

To keep my costs low I also made a conscious decision to invite only people that I absolutely feel close to. I don't need my aunt's sister's 2nd cousin twice removed to be invited because it is polite. I don't need to invite the girls from Finance because I want to show off how GREAT my day will be and how much i can afford to spend. I chose this list of people VERY carefully and with lots of forethought. The low number of people is why I think my budget will stay managable.

I hope.

while i know that the wedding is about me marrying FH and that is what is important

i have planned this day since i was a zygote ( i remember it i swear) and i want it to be about us getting married BUT i also want all those people around us to celebrate in style and have a great time! this is the only wedding i am going to have and i want to make it absolutely stunning

while some girls can do that on a smaller budget - so far i need a little bit more. . and i dont think that 45-50K is that bad. . . since i am having my wedding in New York!

i know what is important and what is trivial - but sometimes its the stupid stuff the make the day extra special!!

i dont want to NOT get my dream dress bc it is too much money or NOT get my hall bc it is too much money - i am in love with every single vendor and honestly they are all in the lower price range. . . i am having a winter wedding to cut costs so after that i feel like i can splurge a bit!

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Posted by princessofci

well over $100k, I wanna say closer to $200k....but thats including hm

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how many guests is that for? Where are you going on your HM? That is gonna be some wedding, good for you

We're at around 45-50k... RH alone is going to run around 30k, and vendors S*CK and charge us too much!

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Posted by ant n tilde
while i know that the wedding is about me marrying FH and that is what is important

i have planned this day since i was a zygote ( i remember it i swear) and i want it to be about us getting married BUT i also want all those people around us to celebrate in style and have a great time! this is the only wedding i am going to have and i want to make it absolutely stunning

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Well said! I agree - I splurged on some things and cut back on others. I think our biggest splurge was our rings, but that's all we really have after all is said and done. I would probably feel a lot more guilt but we already have a house so I am OK with spending the money. Actually it's very cool of my family - a lot of things we cut out they 'gave' us as gifts so if I coun't what we spent ourselves, it's less than most, but if we count that stuff we're probably average

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Posted by woobie113007

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Posted by tuti0907

$17k (lots of research and negotiating is really paying off). I am determined to stay on budget - so far so good.

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I should have you come with me to book vendors...me and FH cant negotiate for the life of us!!!!

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us too! We get them down a LITTLE, but we really cant negotiate for anything! Buying a car is going to be such a pathetic time for us!

Tuti0907 Very well stated! I really do hope that we can have our dream wedding without putting ourselves in any more debt than we're already in Thanks for the advice

rojerono , good point that only those who you're absolutely close to should take part in your special day. That's something I'm having trouble with since my family alone (I'm talking first cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and CLOSE friends) adds up to about 180 people. THANK GOD my fiance's family isn't nearly as big! Unfortunately, a large wedding would be tough to avoid in my case.

Lmao ant n tilde @ 'I have planned this day since I was a zygote!' I totally understand what you're saying! I hope that these small splurges do make the day 'extra' special for you...I'm sure it will since these things are what you want, and there isn't anything wrong with that.

Good luck to each of you!

When we first started I thought we were somewhere in the 27-30K range.

After all was said and done, and I put the numbers together, we were closer to 22-23K and that was INCLUDING the HM!!

Not bad considering we didn't do much negotiating!!

ours was around 18K - and that included EVERYTHING! the hall, all the vendors, the HM, the rings, everything I wore, everything DH wore, all the details I created (DIY), the invites, the postage stamps, the thank you cards... everything!