How much did/will your wedding cost?

[emeraldlover1]

I''ll do my best to summarize the places where the majority of our money is being spent. We, like most people, decided how much money we could and were willing to spend and then divided it amoungst the various buckets. All in our total will be somewhere around 100k in NYC area for 150 - 175 guests

Venue Site Fee: $15,000
Venue Meals and drinks including gratuity: $30,000
Rehersal Dinner: $5,000
Band and DJ: $6,000
Photographer: $6,000 (no albums included)
Brides attire and Alterations: $5,000
Makeup and hair: $400 (just bride)
Florist: $3,700
Honeymoon: $10,000
Transportation for guests: $2,000
Hotels for bride and groom: $1,200
Transportation for bridal party: $1,000
Videographer: $2,500
Invitations and wedding stationary: $1,200
Cake: $400
Favors: $400
Grooms attire: $400 (tie and cufflinks)
Grooms gift: $500
Bridal Party gifts and parents gifts: $3000

I know that I''m missing some little stuff but I think I got the big stuff. I hope this helps. I know it seems extravagant considering these economic times however we planned most of this before the economic downturn. Regardless, we worked really hard for this and are excited to do this for ourselves. Only two more months.

 

[sunnyd]

Seattle, WA, 130 guests and counting...

Dress - 979, not including alterations
Accessories - 385
WB - 595 for mine will be ~100 or so
Reception + food, drinks, tax, grat - 8800
Cake - 365
All decor including centerpieces, favors - 950
Photog - 4500 for the whole shebang
Stationary (DIY) - ~200
DJ - 749

Total so far = $19000+

Yikes!

 

[sba771]

I have no idea what the breakdown is going to be/is at the moment. Most of it is planned but there are still some minor vendors to book. A downtown Philadelphia wedding- aprox. 100k for 250 people. I am really hoping the guest list will get cut to 150 people which will then hopefully cut the budget 10-20k. This is a gift from both our parents and we are also contributing. I am really trying to cut more, but my big splurges have been the dress, the venue and my photographer.

 

[FrekeChild]

Las Vegas, NV, USA
Around 20 guests

What my dad is paying for:
Mandalay Bay Platinum Skies package: $3,055 (for a Saturday; figuring $3,500 after taxes and fees)
Dress: $450 before alterations
Custom bolero for after the wedding: $190 (instead of fur wrap)
Hotel suite (Mandalay Bay): $1000 (estimate)
Airfare: $750 (estimate)
Reception Dinner: $3,000
Invitations: $200
Wedding present for Freke: $450
Total: $9,540


What we're paying for:
Wedding jewelry (rings not included): $537 (part of this is coming from a large piggy bank that my bro that passed away when I was 2 started for me)
Ceremony Shoes: $175ish (Swarovski DIY Stuart Weitzmans)
Reception/walking around Vegas shoes: $115 (Blue suede Cynthia Rowleys)
MOH dress: $35 (before alterations, and I totally lucked out finding the perfect dress in her size on major sale, was originally $160)
Bride hair and makeup: $250
Rings: $400
Dad gift: $250
Total so far: $1,762

I don't think we're going to figure in food and entertainment for the rest of our trip, as well as bachelor/ette parties, because that's just money we'd spend going to Vegas anyway (sort of).

Grand Total: $11,302


Things included in MB's Platinum Skies package:
Bride’s Large Bouquet and Groom’s Boutonniere
Maid of Honor’s Petite Bouquet and Best Man’s Boutonniere
Bridal Dressing Room for Bride and Wedding Party
Grooms Dressing Room for Groom and Wedding Party
One Hour of Photography Which Includes: Complete Coverage of Ceremony, Following Ceremony with Wedding Party and Immediate Family
Twenty-5x7 Color Prints in Deluxe Album
Four-8x10 Color Prints
DVD Recording of Ceremony with Custom Case
Custom Wedding Certificate Holder
Bottle of Champagne
Mandalay Bay Champagne Flutes
Bridal Garter
Champagne Dinner for Two at Shanghai Lilly and
Breakfast in Bed for Two from Room Service
Honeymoon Suite(600SS) for One Night
Pianist will perform 4 songs for the Ceremony and 5 songs as guests are seating 15 minutes prior to the ceremony
Minister Fee
Complimentary Limo Ride To and From Regional Justice Center to Obtain Marriage License

 

[JSM]

If I would have done the big wedding, and I know myself, I would have gone all out. I'm type A and would have needed all the details to be PERFECT. I calculated and it would have been an easy 20k.

Of course, we didn't have that kind of money, and neither of us were excited about something smaller, so we eloped instead!

Location: NYC

Dress $600
Alterations $100
Plane tickets $250
Photographer $800
Flowers $70
Rings $50 (tungsten)
Hotel $750
Baseball tickets $400
License/ceremony $55
Shoes for me $20
Shoes for him $80
Hair/makeup $200

cost = approx $3400. Best day ever = priceless.

 

[DearBuddha]

For a Boston area wedding ceremony and reception-


What we paid:
Reception venue rental fee/menu: $5,300
Ceremony site permit: $17
Dress: $800 (I paid $300; the rest was a wedding gift from a cousin)
Rings: $1,000
Music: $900 (this does not include a tip; I was a little disappointed by our DJ).
Flowers: $100 (my uncle is a florist, so I got an AMAZING deal for roses!)
Limos: $600 (approx.)
Tuxe: $100
Bridal party gifts: $270 in jewelry for the BMs/$300 (approx) for Sox tickets for the GMs.
Makeup and Bridal accessories: $150
The rehearsal dinner was a cookout/pool party, so it was very low-key and low budget; it maybe cost $100 for food and $150/200 for drinks.
Wedding Stationary (invites, thanks you, ect...) $400

Total cost(s) we paid: Approx. $10,500, give or take a few hundred dollars.


What was gifted by family:
Open bar for the reception (I don''t know the exact cost, but I know it was several thousand)
Favors
Centerpieces
Photography
Wedding cake
Alterations to dresses
Hair stylist (my sister-in-law''s very good friend did my hair for free)

If I were to factor in the costs of all things together, our wedding probably would have cost us in the $20,000 range; thank God we have amazing hook-ups!!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I'm so jealous JSM! I totally wanted to elope, but his family is very orthodox catholic and would have been pretty upset.

Just for reference, the average 2008 wedding cost was about 22k according to The Wedding Report. Hehe, my parents googled it to ballpark how much to contribute, and offered us 50k for the wedding (because "average" isn't good enough, haha). But I've kept the budget under 10k, I figure I owe them so much in tuition money as it is, that I should really try to keep the bill for this reasonably low.

I think the median cost is probably closer to 15k though.
"according to the Wedding Report..in 2008, a full 50 percent will spend less than $14,352."

 

[wellinsm]

In Milwaukee, WI

smallish wedding about 501 guests

My parents paid for the reception/dinner and I paid the other parts

Dress- $150.00 (J.Crew actually a bridesmaid dress)
Shoes- $40.00 (DSW- love it there!)
Flowers- my bouquet and my MOH, and bountiners (I know that is spelled wrong) around $100.00 (local store- did a great job)
my mom bought the flowers for the tables and arranged them herself probably $50.00?
Judge- $200.00
Grooms suit- $250.00
Dinner (3 course for 50ish people) inlcuding the room- I think around $5000.00- I think this total includes an open bar..but I''m not sure it could be higher
Rooms at the venue for myself, parents, and a few family members were around $125.00 a night (1 night only)

All in all the total was probably around $6500.00 total with my parents paying the majority of it

Simple and small....but boy do things add up!

 

[JSM]

Date: 7/5/2009 7:29:58 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade
I''m so jealous JSM! I totally wanted to elope, but his family is very orthodox catholic and would have been pretty upset.

Oh, I''m sorry! Our families were certainly peeved, and I can''t blame them. Who doesn''t want to see their child walk down the aisle? But, as they weren''t paying, they had to understand. Plus, you could tell how happy we were in our photos, and they forgave us.

And great job on keeping your wedding costs well below budget! I''m impressed!

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 7/5/2009 5:43:08 AM
Author: cindygenit
Hi arjunajane,


No i don''t mind at all. The venue is Forrest Centre on St George''s Tce.

It''s a family business, the owner is Greg Walker.


Cheers,

Cindy

thankyou!

 

[Gypsy]

Northern CA Bay Area Winery Wedding.

Venue 1500
Alcohol 3500
Food 8500
Dress (only the one I wore) 1000 (Including all alterations)
Shoes 90
Tuxes 300
Flowers 2200 (could have been 2500 not sure anymore)
Stationary 500
DJ 800
Hair and MUA 1000
Photographer 5000
Rentals 550
Favors 400 (includes actual favors, packaging, labeles, ribbon and the fans and the parasol we bought which folks thought were favors)
Cake 550
Bridal Accessories 500
Gifts to parents and attendants: 700
Officiant fee 50
Wedding Bands 1700 (1000 of which was from my PS gift)
Marriage License 80
Day of Coordinator 500
Hotel for wedding night 250
Dress for Shower: 110
Dress for Rehearsal 100
Shoes for Shower 25
Micellanious expenses (candles, frames for the pictures on the memory table, other little things) 250
Persian Cookies-- 200

That's all I remember, though I know I'm forgetting something. I'm trying to forget the costs. It was a little over 30K though. 68 actual guests arrived. Our splurges are highlighted in yellow.

The rehearsal luncheon was 1000 MIL paid for that, of course.

The day we did a total cost break down it was 33.5 and that included everything, like tips and stuff.

I still have to order albums though.

 

[kat6]

Ours is in Sydney next year but it''s unfortunately nowhere near the harbour. My parents have insisted on paying for the reception.

We haven''t decided on everything yet but indicative amounts are:

Ceremony - $650
Celebrant - $600 approx
Reception - just over $11,000
Photographer - $4,295
Dress - $2,000 + alterations
Veil, jewellery, shoes - currently unknown, budget about $500
Hair and makeup - budget about $600-$700 for myself + moh
Bomboniere - $120 approx
Flowers - budget $750 (will probably be less)
Invitations - DIY, budget about $300 but hoping for less
Car - $1500 (limo for 5 hours)
Rings - probably around $3,000
Suits - unknown

Total is looking to be around $25k.

 

[wolftress]

Wow, these responses are great! I especially like Meresal''s, whose shoe budget was around twice as much as your dress budget

I wish I could have had Louboutins on my wedding day too! Those are kickass shoes in your avatar.

Just out of curiosity, the brides that scrimped on certain things, did you regret saving and do you wish you''d spent more money on it? I know my biggest regret is ''cheaping'' out on my photographer because now I don''t have wedding photos with my parents or parents-in-law and I will never get that back.

Do any of the brides or brides-to-be wish they could spend more on a certain part of the wedding, or wish that they had put more money into it?

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 7/5/2009 9:50:42 PM
Author: wellinsm
In Milwaukee, WI

smallish wedding about 501 guests

My parents paid for the reception/dinner and I paid the other parts

Dress- $150.00 (J.Crew actually a bridesmaid dress)
Shoes- $40.00 (DSW- love it there!)
Flowers- my bouquet and my MOH, and bountiners (I know that is spelled wrong) around $100.00 (local store- did a great job)
my mom bought the flowers for the tables and arranged them herself probably $50.00?
Judge- $200.00
Grooms suit- $250.00
Dinner (3 course for 50ish people) inlcuding the room- I think around $5000.00- I think this total includes an open bar..but I''m not sure it could be higher
Rooms at the venue for myself, parents, and a few family members were around $125.00 a night (1 night only)

All in all the total was probably around $6500.00 total with my parents paying the majority of it

Simple and small....but boy do things add up!

LOL, was this a typo?

 

[meresal]

Date: 7/6/2009 7:28:22 AM
Author: wolftress
Wow, these responses are great! I especially like Meresal's, whose shoe budget was around twice as much as your dress budget

I wish I could have had Louboutins on my wedding day too! Those are kickass shoes in your avatar.

Just out of curiosity, the brides that scrimped on certain things, did you regret saving and do you wish you'd spent more money on it? I know my biggest regret is 'cheaping' out on my photographer because now I don't have wedding photos with my parents or parents-in-law and I will never get that back.

Do any of the brides or brides-to-be wish they could spend more on a certain part of the wedding, or wish that they had put more money into it?

Thank you~ I've got my priorities

. I got pretty lucky and found my dress on a clearance rack and then later found out it has been dicontinued. I'm not big on wearing things I have seen before, so finding a unique dress that I fell in love with immediately, for only $500, was insane to me!!

Sunny: I caught that as well. I'm guessing it's supposed to be 50. LOL!

 

[Diva0413]

You know... I was just putting together a ledger because I can''t keep this organized!

NYC wedding in September with ~ 150 guests

Venue (ceremony and reception held there, with cocktail hour, reception, and top shelf open bar): ~28K
Flowers: 3K
Photo/Video: 5K
Music (ceremony, cocktail and reception band and DJ): 6K
Invitations: $600
Dress (including alterations): $1600
Tux (rental): $200
Wedding bands: $2500
Cake (wedding cake including in package, but FI wanted a groom''s cake): $700
Caricature Artist (for reception): $800
Wedding gift (for FI): 1K
Officiant: $450
Bridal jewelry (rental): ~$750
Accesories (veil, shoes (CL shoes!

), etc): 1K
Hotel rooms (day before and after wedding for myself, FI, parents): ~2K

Etc, etc... I''m positive I''m missing stuff, but quite honestly, I don''t have an official budget. Last I checked, we''re sitting at about 50K spent and climbing... Goodness gracious... I picked the wrong field to work in.

 

[Gypsy]

No regrets real regrets Wolftress. I put my money where it counted for me, Flowers, Photography, and my Hair and Makeup. And of course, on the venue and food and drinks. So I skimped other places, but I got exactly what I wanted and more there. We didn't 'skimp' on the appetizers, but our catering manager was really not used to ethnic (ish) weddings so she talked us out of 1/3 of the apps we were going to do because she kept telling us we were ordering WAY too much food. Shouldn't have listened to her. Our families can eat (and as you can tell from the bar tab, drink too. That was for beer and wine only BTW

) and 20 minbutes in to the cocktail hour, all the food was GONE. So that was embarrasing to us.

I would, in retrospect have asked for the plastic zipper in my dress to be replaced with a metal one. And I would have worn the other pair of shoes I had bought (the ones that didn't look like granny shoes). But in the scheme of things, small changes.

 

[Lynnie]

Hi! I got married in April, and I really tried to be as frugal as possible - I tried to save on everything, as DH & I paid for the wedding ourselves (mostly, MIL gave us 1K)... here goes...

Dress + alterations (dress bought at consignment shop): 1100
veil: free (my mom''s)
shoes and accessories: 100
Reception (food, open bar, included cake too): 7500
WB''s: 600
Ceremony site fee: 400
Officient fee: 300
Flowers: 1500 - this was a huge hook up, my mom works at a florist The wholesale bill for all the flowers was 1300, so they practically did the arranging for free. I went to the shop the day before and made my & BM''s bouquets (I worked there too through college)
Harpist: 325
DJ: 400 (an acquaintance we know through several different people)
Photog: 1000 -a friend who just started her own photog business. She used to be a 2nd photog for an established photographer. I think I was her 3rd wedding (on her own). The pics came out great, I can''t wait to show you guys! I should have the disk back in a few weeks!!!
Hotel room for me & BM''s the night before: 200
Hair stylist (another friend) for me & 3BM''s: 200
Limo: free - I wasn''t gonna have one, but my brother insisted, and paid for it.
Videographer: Free MOH''s brother works at a college in the Media/AV dept, and is really into all that stuff. This was her wedding gift to us. FIL was so impressed - he was like "You guys know that that''s, like, a $20000 video camera, right?"
Invites: 300, includes postage. DIY
Favors: 200
Groom''s tux was free with the rental of 4 others (GM''s and my dad also rented tuxes)
License: 85, I think? I actually can''t remember
Gifts for the attendants: 300

All this comes to almost 15K. Sorry I bolded - it made it easier for me to add up! Oh, and this was for 115 guests. Our budget was originally 12K, but stuff adds up quickly!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

W and I got married at The Bellagio in Las Vegas, and had a reception to follow at a family friend''s house. I have to include airfare and lodging, because that was a huge chunk of the whole cost.

Dress + alterations: $550
Groom''s Tux plus Groomsmen: $300
Veil: $100
shoes and accessories: $250
Reception at family friend''s home: $1,000
Wedding Bands: $900
Bellagio Wedding included (photography, video, flowers, limo rides, etc.): $2,200
Hotel Room at the Bellagio - $600 for 4 nights
Airfare: $600 RT
Limo: Parents paid for it, but $200
DIY invites: $50
Gifts for our family and attendants: $900

Grand total was $7,750 spent.

 

[wellinsm]

Date: 7/6/2009 10:53:38 AM
Author: sunnyd

Date: 7/5/2009 9:50:42 PM
Author: wellinsm
In Milwaukee, WI

smallish wedding about 501 guests

My parents paid for the reception/dinner and I paid the other parts

Dress- $150.00 (J.Crew actually a bridesmaid dress)
Shoes- $40.00 (DSW- love it there!)
Flowers- my bouquet and my MOH, and bountiners (I know that is spelled wrong) around $100.00 (local store- did a great job)
my mom bought the flowers for the tables and arranged them herself probably $50.00?
Judge- $200.00
Grooms suit- $250.00
Dinner (3 course for 50ish people) inlcuding the room- I think around $5000.00- I think this total includes an open bar..but I''m not sure it could be higher
Rooms at the venue for myself, parents, and a few family members were around $125.00 a night (1 night only)

All in all the total was probably around $6500.00 total with my parents paying the majority of it

Simple and small....but boy do things add up!

LOL, was this a typo?

Opps! Yes I meant 50 people.

I need to reread before I click post!

 

[Italiahaircolor]

Happy Dreams & House Cat...

Thank you so much! I loved, loved, loved my gown. It is a Justin Alexander Couture, all handmade...and the first time I saw it, in a magazine, I knew it had to be mine. It was extremely heavy, well over 50 pounds...but incredible, and surprisingly comfortable. When the gown arrived (9 months after I ordered it) I had extra crystals added because I wanted it to be totally out of this world. I had my seamtress at my wedding to bustle me post-ceremony.

 

[Haven]

Italia--I''ve never seen your dress before, it''s gorgeous!

I think our wedding cost around $40,000 total, not including our rings and the honeymoon. My parents contributed $30,000, and we paid the difference. The honeymoon was probably about $6,000.

We had a formal daytime wedding with 150 guests at my family''s synagogue on Chicago''s North Shore.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

Date: 7/6/2009 10:11:22 PM
Author: Haven
Italia--I''ve never seen your dress before, it''s gorgeous!

I think our wedding cost around $40,000 total, not including our rings and the honeymoon. My parents contributed $30,000, and we paid the difference. The honeymoon was probably about $6,000.

We had a formal daytime wedding with 150 guests at my family''s synagogue on Chicago''s North Shore.

Awe, thanks! You''re so sweet!

 

[NuggetBrain]

I''m still in the process of doing everything (haven''t even gotten a dress yet) but this is what I have so far. 130-ish guests, Minneapolis MN

Reception (food, site fee, service, taxes, etc) - 7,000
Open Bar for cocktail hour through end of reception (we are able to bring in our own liquor) - 1,000
Ceremony Site Fee - 250
Cake - 350
Stationary (STD Magnets, Invites, RSVP cards, postage) - 250
Groom''s Tux - free
DJ - 350 (he''s a coworker of my FI that has a DJ business on the side)
Photographer (includes 2 photogs, unlimited coverage the day of, engagement session, boudior session, retouching of all images, rights and images on a DVD plus a 100 dollar album credit) - 1,000

Total so far - 10,200. Our budget is about 20k, with my family giving 3k towards the reception and his parents picking up the flowers and rehearsal dinner.

 

[LitigatorChick]

First wedding, about 120 guests, $7,000 (8 years ago).

Second wedding, we will be eloping. Just the two of us on a beach, bikini, sarong, and sandles. I might let him wear a shirt

 

[musincy]

Our wedding for 80 guests will be right around $12,000.

 

[SapphireLover]

My mum is paying for ours and wants to spend about £25 000 ($40 000 USD ish) and we are planning on spending £6000 ($10k) on our honeymoon. TBH, my mum is going overboard and with her ideas she has I am sure it''ll end up going over that. Its far too much money and I feel awful and don''t want her spending so much money but whenever I discuss it she tells me she wants to do it and its what my late father would want.

So far we have spent about £2500 on a photographer, flowers will cost about £1600 and the venue which includes a package of food and booze, based on 80 people is about £7000. We will have an open bar (which isn''t that common in the UK) and will make LOTS of substitutions to the package and we will have about 100 there, so those costs will go up.

 

[happydreams]

42K. that''s what we have budgeted so far. we have a whole spreadsheet but here are the highlights

14k for catering and drinks
6-7k for photographer and album
1k for DJ
3K for dress (haven''t bought it yet but it''ll be 3-4K)
3.5K for flowers
450 cake
300 officient
etc