Wedding Has this recession affected your wedding day?

[tberube]

I was just reading this story on cnn.com this morning. Things are getting tighter and tighter for the American people, and I was thinking "no wonder it's been so hard to save for my wedding!" According to popular opinion and articles like this one, this is probably the worst time, economically, for anyone to get married. Gas over $4.00 a gallon and rising, cost of living going up while the strength of the American dollar goes down, the pay scale stagnant, I wonder if I'll look back on my wedding day in ten years and think "how ever did I do it?"

Anyone else feeling "the pinch?"

 

[Sabine]

Well, I''ve already had 2 of my really good friends (1 bridesmaid even) tell me they can''t make it to the shower because of gas/airline prices, and I have a feeling a few people who would have normally come may not due to travel expenses. I totally understand, but it definitely makes me sad.

 

[dogmama]

Well, I''ve always been practical about everything. BUT I''m a complete hard ass now in terms of money. So suffice to say, the wedding budget has almost zero flexibility and our budget is *gasp* $10K.

LOL...dreamland right?

So instead of thinking, dream dress, dream place, dream etc., I''m thinking decently priced and looks great! Is this the most bang for my buck?

I''m not totally settling mind you, but I definitely am trying my best not to be completely go crazy over this wedding and am being very budget conscious about my purchases.

 

[tberube]

Date: 5/28/2008 5:38:27 PM
Author: lilythespitfire
Well, I''ve always been practical about everything. BUT I''m a complete hard ass now in terms of money. So suffice to say, the wedding budget has almost zero flexibility and our budget is *gasp* $10K.


LOL...dreamland right?


So instead of thinking, dream dress, dream place, dream etc., I''m thinking decently priced and looks great! Is this the most bang for my buck?


I''m not totally settling mind you, but I definitely am trying my best not to be completely go crazy over this wedding and am being very budget conscious about my purchases.

My budget is 10K as well, so I feel ya. I think it''s tougher saving even that much, than it was even a year ago. I would say that I have given up a lot in just about every aspect of the wedding, to keep that budget (I''m a REAL harda$$...considering if I go over it there won''t be money there to cover it!!). The food, the linens, the flowers, the accessories, the invitations, everything. Except the jewelry (but that''s important!! and didn''t come out of the budget). Part of it was my staunch opinion that putting a house down-payment on a wedding is totally unnecessary, but a big part is the whole economy squeeze. It''s a little frightening, to be honest.

 

[dogmama]

Date: 5/28/2008 5:45:00 PM
Author: tberube

Date: 5/28/2008 5:38:27 PM

Author: lilythespitfire

Well, I''ve always been practical about everything. BUT I''m a complete hard ass now in terms of money. So suffice to say, the wedding budget has almost zero flexibility and our budget is *gasp* $10K.

My budget is 10K as well, so I feel ya. I think it''s tougher saving even that much, than it was even a year ago. I would say that I have given up a lot in just about every aspect of the wedding, to keep that budget (I''m a REAL harda$$...considering if I go over it there won''t be money there to cover it!!). The food, the linens, the flowers, the accessories, the invitations, everything. Except the jewelry (but that''s important!! and didn''t come out of the budget). Part of it was my staunch opinion that putting a house down-payment on a wedding is totally unnecessary, but a big part is the whole economy squeeze. It''s a little frightening, to be honest.

I think that I am a little frightened by it too. I mean I have student loans that rack up to $40K. And I''m a special ed teacher, so I''m not making any big bucks here, although my job gives me enjoyment for sure.

I am in the same mindset too. I''m working over the summer to pay off the wedding and then working on the weekends to start preparing for a down payment on some real estate. My opinion is that yes, a wedding is a wonderful thing, but it shouldn''t mean DEBT.

So essentially I''ve negotiated everything, or everything I''ve bought so far is on sale/clearance/astronomically marked down. Yes I''ve compromised a bit, but in the end I feel relieved knowing that I don''t have more debt at the end of the day.

 

[Vote4PedroToo]

My business is down a bit. Nothing terrible, but down nonetheless. And we just got a notice that all of our food prices are going up 10% and there is nothing we can do. Luckily we''re having a small wedding, so 10% isn''t going to break us.

 

[tberube]

Date: 5/28/2008 6:54:36 PM
Author: lilythespitfire

Date: 5/28/2008 5:45:00 PM
Author: tberube

Date: 5/28/2008 5:38:27 PM

Author: lilythespitfire

Well, I''ve always been practical about everything. BUT I''m a complete hard ass now in terms of money. So suffice to say, the wedding budget has almost zero flexibility and our budget is *gasp* $10K.

My budget is 10K as well, so I feel ya. I think it''s tougher saving even that much, than it was even a year ago. I would say that I have given up a lot in just about every aspect of the wedding, to keep that budget (I''m a REAL harda$$...considering if I go over it there won''t be money there to cover it!!). The food, the linens, the flowers, the accessories, the invitations, everything. Except the jewelry (but that''s important!! and didn''t come out of the budget). Part of it was my staunch opinion that putting a house down-payment on a wedding is totally unnecessary, but a big part is the whole economy squeeze. It''s a little frightening, to be honest.

I think that I am a little frightened by it too. I mean I have student loans that rack up to $40K. And I''m a special ed teacher, so I''m not making any big bucks here, although my job gives me enjoyment for sure.

I am in the same mindset too. I''m working over the summer to pay off the wedding and then working on the weekends to start preparing for a down payment on some real estate. My opinion is that yes, a wedding is a wonderful thing, but it shouldn''t mean DEBT.

So essentially I''ve negotiated everything, or everything I''ve bought so far is on sale/clearance/astronomically marked down. Yes I''ve compromised a bit, but in the end I feel relieved knowing that I don''t have more debt at the end of the day.

Smart chick!!

 

[zoebartlett]

The cost of the airline tickets made us decide to change our honeymoon destination and plans a while ago. Now, instead of flying to Portugal, we''re driving 6-7 hours to QC. It will be less expensive but we''ll since we''ll be driving to get there and back, and driving to sightsee, I''m sure we''ll still spend more than we''d like. I''m not sure that anything else is affected though, so that''s good.