Average cost of wedding?

[littlelysser]

Date: 7/23/2008 1:41:28 PM
Author: goldenstar

You can definitely have a wedding for less than 30k. It depends how many guests you have and what your tastes are.

Yup. I agree completely.

The place isn''t the issue, so much as the style of wedding.

Mind you, a wedding that costs 50K in Cincinnati, might cost 80K in NYC. But that doesn''t mean that it would be impossible do something really nice for much less money in either city.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I''m going to have to go back to my spreadsheet for this one...the grand total was $14,159 for 36 people (including ourselves). We did pay for all lodging for 4 nights, all attire for bridesmaid and groomsmen, etc., though. The total doesn''t include the honeymoon. Our budget was $20,000.

 

[Cleopatra]

Getting married next weekend in a small town in South Louisiana. Grand total is $23,000 - not including rings, rehearsal and honeymoon.

Including rings, rehearsal and honeymoon, it would be $36,000 - I''m think i''m going to be sick

 

[somethingshiny]

We got married 9 years ago in IL (rural area). We had a church wedding, big white dress, tuxes, flowers, formal invitations and a semi-formal reception at a hall with a semi-open bar and a DJ and lighter foods (it was August). Our total, for everything but the rings was somewhere around $2000.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 7/23/2008 1:42:37 PM
Author: HollyS

Date: 7/23/2008 1:36:52 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
We got married on a Thursday at the Bellagio - including airfare, our room at the Bellagio, our ceremony, my dress, our wedding bands, and our reception dinner for 20 people, we spent ~$4k.

HOW ???? Tell us how, please!! That''s just incredible!

OK, the breakdown is this . . .

Bellagio weekday wedding, including reverend, one hour of photography, 2 bouquets and 3 bouts, and video - $2,100.
Room was at a discount at $120 a night because we were guests of The Bellagio wedding coordinators, and airfare was $450 total.
My dress was an Ebay find - $500 for dress, alterations and another $100 for shoes and veil
Rings - Mine was a $160 platinum band, hubby''s was a $700 6mm platinum band.
Reception was at a family friend''s house, and the cake was a small one tier - $400 for 20 people.
Invitations were $20 - hubby designed them and he printed them at work.

That''s it, so it was closer to $5k, but we also had a 4 day, 3 night vacation BEFORE we went on our free honeymoon to the Four Seasons Nevis (husband''s "Club" trip).

 

[poshpepper]

My wedding (on the beach in Santa Barbara for about 30 people) will end up costing about 8k. This is a lot IMO and I wanted to keep it under 5k but it didn't happen

My ceremony package includes photography, video, flowers (bride + 2 brides maids and 3 boutonnieres), site set up (public beach) with flowers on the isles and a nice arch to get married under. Plus umbrellas for the guests. It was a little under 3k.
The dinner is ending up to be $56 pp (not including alcohol which is no-host), so total for the meal and tip and any "extras" will probably end up around $2500.
My dress was cheap at $200
My FIs suit was around $500
My wedding jewelry was $500 (I will wear it again... and it was my wedding pressy from my mommy)
Hotel for the wedding night is $280
Invitations (and STDs) were around $200
Limo for the day is around $600

At least I kept it under 10k... I really didnt want to break into double digits.. haa haa!

ETA, if I include the wedding rings it would come to about $9300... so I guess its not that bad.. still under the magic 2 digit mark

 

[kcoursolle]

I don''t know about average for pricescope, but I believe the average in the US is somewhere in the 20k''s. In CA I think it''s much more expensive, although it doesn''t have to be. Although I live in LA, we decided to have the wedding near our hometown in the midwest to keep things less expensive. It was only 16k for us.

 

[NovemberBride]

We got married in Fall of 2007 in Washington DC. It was a very formal Saturday evening wedding with 250+ guests at a historic hoel in downtown DC. I do not know the exact cost of the wedding as it was paid for entirely by my parents, but here are the estimates based on what I know:

Dress: $7000
Bridal Shoes, jewelry, etc: $1000
Band: $10,000
Flowers and linens: $35,000
Photographer: $10,000
Videographer: $5000
Limos: $3000
Reception Costs: $75,000???

I am sure I am missing a bunch of other minor stuff, but these are all that I can think of right now. So I would say $150,000 to $175,000 for the whole day. DH and I paid for our wedding rings and bridal party and parent gifts ourselves (approx. $9000) and my MIL paid for our honeymoon. It was my dream wedding and I would not change a thing. To me, it was worth it to spend that much for one day because I will remember it forever. My parents did not go into debt for the wedding. On several occassions I stated that we should cut back costs because it was so expensive, but they would not hear of it. They wanted to do this for DH and me. Also, DH and I already owned a home and have significant savings.

 

[Bia]

Date: 7/23/2008 2:55:11 PM
Author: NovemberBride
We got married in Fall of 2007 in Washington DC. It was a very formal Saturday evening wedding with 250+ guests at a historic hoel in downtown DC. I do not know the exact cost of the wedding as it was paid for entirely by my parents, but here are the estimates based on what I know:

Dress: $7000
Bridal Shoes, jewelry, etc: $1000
Band: $10,000
Flowers and linens: $35,000
Photographer: $10,000
Videographer: $5000
Limos: $3000
Reception Costs: $75,000???

I am sure I am missing a bunch of other minor stuff, but these are all that I can think of right now. So I would say $150,000 to $175,000 for the whole day. DH and I paid for our wedding rings and bridal party and parent gifts ourselves (approx. $9000) and my MIL paid for our honeymoon. It was my dream wedding and I would not change a thing. To me, it was worth it to spend that much for one day because I will remember it forever. My parents did not go into debt for the wedding. On several occassions I stated that we should cut back costs because it was so expensive, but they would not hear of it. They wanted to do this for DH and me. Also, DH and I already owned a home and have significant savings.

WOWZA!

That was probably one heck of a wedding!!! I love fall weddings...it must have been stunning!

 

[zhuzhu]

My "ceremony" will drive down the average cost a bit..... It was a price tag of $150...
We will later have recpetions with family and friends at different parts of the country(s), but the beautiful and private ceremony we had at the bay was simply priceless (plus 150).

 

[Dreamgirl]

Once again (because we were talking about this in LIW area a couple weeks ago) I am EXTREMELY happy to see that its possible to have a wedding under $10,000. Because I didn''t think it was possible at first. Heck, now that I know its possible for $4,000 even makes me happier!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 7/23/2008 3:21:42 PM
Author: Dreamgirl
Once again (because we were talking about this in LIW area a couple weeks ago) I am EXTREMELY happy to see that its possible to have a wedding under $10,000. Because I didn''t think it was possible at first. Heck, now that I know its possible for $4,000 even makes me happier!

It''s definitely possible, and although we did the "Vegas" wedding, it was still incredibly elegant, but there wasn''t much to it - no party favors for guests, no STDs. no more than 4 weeks'' notice

.

I did buy some thank you gifts for our familes and everyone helping us with the wedding that I didn''t include in the cost because truthfully, I went way, way overboard on them, and it''s not really attributable to the total cost of a wedding, IMO.

 

[Tuckins1]

Holy crap... 80K?!? My wedding cost us about 13,000. But, my dad belongs to the yacht club so we didn''t have to pay for rental, my husband''s aunt has a flower shop, so we only paid "cost" for the flowers, and his other aunt took our wedding photos. So, we saved a BUNCH of money. We also didn''t do anything over the top, just nice and elegant.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

I just got married June 15 on Long Island.

wedding and reception for 110 guests...$9500
dress, shoes, yadda yadda...$1000
Pics, flowers, music...$2600
extras(invites, favors, mementos)...$500

we worked really hard to keep our costs down...
had the wedding Sunday morning, on father''s day, we had a buffet with a limited bar instead of a full bar, no limos since our wedding and reception were at the same venue...these simple choices, especially the day of the wedding, saved us over $5000 as opposed to doing a Saturday. It''s amazing what early booking and haggling can get you, lol!

 

[Elmorton]

DH and I started out with a budget of 10k, and I figured we''d go over budget and spend 12k. By the time everything was over, it was about 24-6k, including honeymoon, hotel rooms for families, etc. We didn''t really think of all the minor costs that would come up and it seemed like everything was $100 more than I thought it would be. Parents paid for the whole thing, and no one went into debt, and it was a beautiful wedding where everything seemed easy and nothing was over-the-top. I''d do it again in the heartbeat.
Oh, and this was for a wedding and a blessing (separate day) in central IL.

 

[mystiqkal]

wow...theres just a big price difference between everyone....i''ve never even heard of a wedding that was below 10K!!!!

 

[violet02]

I live in the bay area. I went to 3 weddings last year.

Napa Wedding with fancy food and wine for 125 people - 80k (venue was free too, minus rings)
Healdsburg wedding for 50 people at a restaurant with a back area - 15k (very conservative on alcohol, no flowers, no wedding cake etc)
San Rafael wedding/SF reception at the Verdi Club for 200+ people - 40k (food was beer and pizza, no wedding cake, AWESOME police cover band called ''Stung''!, entertainement was pricey)

My wedding in Carmel for 80 people including rings will clock in around 60k... if we''re lucky. (this is not including the week long house rental we had to get to secure the venue)

Yes its a ton of money, yes I wish we were spending a lot less, yes we''ve made some cuts to get to that number.

 

[vespergirl]

My first wedding was in NY in 1999, and that was a huge, fancy event for 150 - it cost $30,000 back then. When I got married last time to my husband in 2006, we had a VERY small destination wedding in Bermuda (12 people), and that cost about $10,000 including our hotel (5 nights) and airfare.

 

[blondie23]

My smallish wedding in Dallas, TX in May of this year for 65 people was $15k with the works (flowers, DJ, food, open bar, linens, etc). If you plan properly, are willing to do some of the work DIY (programs, invites, place cards, etc), and do research you can find great deals and have a beautiful wedding for $10K!!

ETA: The $15K did not include rehearsal, honeymoon, or rings, or my dress (present from my father).

 

[violet02]

Date: 7/24/2008 11:57:12 AM
Author: blondie23
My smallish wedding in Dallas, TX in May of this year for 65 people was $15k with the works (flowers, DJ, food, open bar, linens, etc). If you plan properly, are willing to do some of the work DIY (programs, invites, place cards, etc), and do research you can find great deals and have a beautiful wedding for $10K!!

ETA: The $15K did not include rehearsal, honeymoon, or rings, or my dress (present from my father).

I''m doing some really coold DIY favors, programs and menus... overall wedding, still costly! My total does include my dress, rehearsal dinner and the rings... not the honeymoon though.

 

[purrfectpear]

Thank you God for giving me a son instead of a daughter

 

[Anna0499]

Date: 7/24/2008 1:55:14 PM
Author: purrfectpear
Thank you God for giving me a son instead of a daughter

***threadjack***

Hahaha - and thank Him for placing you in a Western society. My parents told us a long time ago that they will be splitting the bill with our FI''s family for any wedding because in their culture the groom''s family pays for ALL of it.

We all agreed it was a nice compromise...I think the tradition of the bride''s family paying is outdated anyway...

 

[Clio]

My wedding was at a small town in Mississippi, and it was $5,000. Granted, this was 13 years ago.

In the past year, I attended my SIL''s wedding in Boston, which was $50,000+, and my cousin''s wedding in the same small Mississippi town, which was about $8,000.

Both were lovely, but honestly my cousin''s was just nicer all the way around.