NBR: Cost of Wedding?

jessicada76 · October 2008

Ok I went back and read the baby/children at wedding post....my eyes hurt now :-) Anyway, I am reading $1,000 to video tape a wedding and $76 a plate for 200 guest.....OMG! We budgeted $5,000 for our wedding. We didn't go much over if at all. We didn't have an open bar...we offered a nice wine and beer. We did not have a sit down dinner...we did a buffet/serve yourself style. (May be tacky I don't know) but everyone had a good time and it was nice and relaxed. We didn't feel uptight and neither did our guest. Actually everyone was commenting on the beautiful hall where the reception was held (we did get that for free) So I guess my question is........how much did you pay for your wedding? I just think spending your life savings on a wedding is crazy when it can be a down payment on a house! THANKS!

W&J'sMommy · October 2008

Ours was $16,000 in 2004. Half was for the hall and food. We had 250 guests. It wasn't extravagant but it was really nice.

susansev · October 2008

We were very lucky that my parent's paid for our wedding--I didn't want a big wedding b/c of cost but my dad insisted that it was my day and he wanted to give us whatever we wanted...that being said I still looked at all the prices and went with some less expensive stuff--all in all I think my mom said--about twenty six thousand dollars...seems outrageous but it was want my dad wanted to do....

jessicada76 · October 2008

OMG! I so want to see pictures! I thought mine was nice and what I wanted to. I am sorry I just find both those prices CRAZY!

Mrs Manners · October 2008

I never added ours up because I didn't really want to know but my best guess is that it was around $35K for 100 guests. That included the venue and housing for all of our familes on the property for the entire weekend, the rehearsal dinner, catering, cake, band, photographer, etc. We don't have any debt from it and at that time had already purchased our second home together so we were able to spend it.

tmp-336341562506044 · October 2008

Maybe $15,000? And I'm including my wedding dress and tuxes in that cost.

$76 a plate? I thought my $27/person was pricey! This was in 2006.

LoriFalce · October 2008

$5000 in 2005.

We had an open bar, but my FIL owned a bar and supplied all the liquor, wine and beer, so that wasn't part of our budget. And we had very little drinking, other than the champagne and the table wine. We had buffet. It cost the same as table service but I figured I'd rather feed people than watch waiters do synchronized serving.

I just couldn't justify spending more than my house ended up costing on a wedding. And we planned ours in 4m, so we didn't have time to obsess over details that might have ended up costing us more money if we'd spent a year or two planning.

W&J'sMommy · October 2008

ok, how do I pip?

jen_and_tom · October 2008

We spent $60,000. We went into it with 0 debt and had it paid off within the year. It was worth every penny IMO. To each their own.

Brit&Nate · October 2008

We were very lucky that my parents insisted on paying for the wedding. We had a very formal wedding for 150 people. The total for everything (dress, food, music, etc) was $50K. Oh, it was in 2005.?

W&J'sMommy · October 2008

Temp174496125006552 · October 2008

All told, including the honeymoon, we spent somewhere very close to $35,000. We saved like crazy and paid for the majority of it ourselves, with some help from both sets of parents. It was perfect and everything I ever dreamed of (pics in bio). I honestly wouldn't change a thing.

We already own our home, so I was ok with spending this amount of money. If we were renting, there is no way I would have spent that much on one day.

LoriFalce · October 2008

jen_and_tom:
We spent $60,000. We went into it with 0 debt and had it paid off within the year. It was worth every penny IMO. To each their own.

That's great. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself and were able to take care of it easily.

I just know that if I hit the Powerball the day before my husband proposed, I still would probably not be a Platinum Weddings type girl. (Why must I pick on Platinum Weddings this way?) If money wasn't an object, I'd have had all the same people, but I might have taken them all to Disney World for a Cinderella wedding. I used to live there, and that's the only expensive wedding that could make my tongue hang out like a collie in August.

Temp174496125006552 · October 2008

Oh, and you also have to consider that where you live comes into play. I see you're in Indiana. I'm no wedding planner, but would guess that the costs of a lot of these services would be less in your area vs. where I live (Philly suburbs)...just based on the difference in the cost of living.

Temp174496125006552 · October 2008

Oops, I just realized I never said how many guests we had. 150 exactly.

aandaw012707 · October 2008

I think ours ended up at about $5000. A good friend of ours made the food, we just had to buy the ingredients. We had beer and wine, but no liquor. I wanted to pay to have my guests have a few drinks, but not get drunk!

My dress was about $300 including alterations and I absolutely loved it!

Conway714 · October 2008

We had 300 guest, and we spent in the neighborhood of $25,000. My parents paid for most of it, but we both have huge families, and even though we didn't do extravagant with everything, just seemed to add up. My dress was $550, photographer $1200, DJ, $1200, cake $600, chicken and pasta for dinner etc. We did have an open bar, and like I said the sheer numbers drove the bill up.

franciscaz · October 2008

Hmm... well I had 2 weddings to Chris. One in Las Vegas and than a small one in El Paso. The Las Vegas one was probably 12,000 (Barbie high jacked it but paid for it all). It was catered and everything. The El Paso one was much cheaper... like 2,000. Add in the dress etc. it was probably 16,000 (3,000 we paid).

annak23 · October 2008

Ours was under $10,000 in 2005 & included everything. We had a sit down dinner with 3 choices, open bar of beer, 1 glass of wine with dinner, DJ....It was probly cheaper because we rented the hall on a Friday night which got us half off the price vs doing it on a Saturday night.

jodynjames2005 · October 2008

We already owned a home before we got married, but we only spent about $15,000 on our wedding. We had 35 guests so we went all out for the people we had, sit down dinner, open bar, etc., but we had a destination wedding so not that many people came.

I think wedding budgets are all relative, anyway. Spending money you don't have doesn't make sense, but if you can afford it, why not?

TheBrowns · October 2008

Ours was about $20k for 400 guests - my dad has a huge family and invited everyone he ever met. I thought it was pretty reasonable. I read the average cost of a wedding is $26k now. My wedding was in '05.

Brina Bean · October 2008

We paid $30k for a ceremony and reception at a golf club here in Las Vegas. We had 175 guests. It was absolutely everything we wanted...I wouldn't change a thing about it. Like a pp said, the cost is relative to an array of variables. We figured we'd only get one chance to have the wedding of our dreams(ideally Wink ). We already had a home of our own. I guess that, regardless of how little a wedding costs, we all hope for, and usually receive, the same outcome...a memorable event shared with our closest friends and family.

daveshell1 · October 2008

40k for 100 people... but Im in Southern California so prices are a little higher. ?Oh, and that was on a Sunday so it saved us some $

mrs.MC&mr.JC · October 2008

ours was about 35k for 120 guests...our plate was $135 pp, not including gratuities..just to give you an idea but i'm also in NJ where that price is on the lower end for a Sat night wedding.

i also didn't factor in my dress, dh's tux and our HM...i guess all in all we probably where close to the 40K make..but it's all paid for and we're not in debt over it so it was def worth every penny!

aussiebride2 · October 2008

It's insane, mine cost about 25,000-30,000. We were so blessed my parents paided for it and it was soooo beautiful but, looking back now, it was a really important day, but it was only one day......$30,000, thats way to much money for one day.

Kristina052707 · October 2008

$20,000 for everything (food,music,photography,etc.) for about 130 people. Although my dad was the chef at the place we had our reception so my parents got an outrageous deal!

wife1014 · October 2008

I think it really depends on what part of the country you live too. The "norm" here is a formal sit down affair. We had a weekend event because we had a lot of OOT guests. Our wedding weekend was many dollar signs. I will not even say how much I think it ended up costing for faer that you will all flame me! LOL (We did, however, already own a house where we put a down payment on.) My parents paid for our reception and DH's dad paid for our pre-wedding party, and we paid for the brunch the morning after. It was a wonderful weekend and woth every penny.

SuperCuteBenz · October 2008

We recently attended my cousin's wedding in Seattle. They were married at the Seattle Yacht Club. The food was around $100 per person, wine $7 a glass, etc. There were close to 250 guests.

We didn't know the cost until afterwards, but it made me sick to my stomach. DH & I felt horrible about the 3 glasses of wine that I had, and the 6 drinks that he had. Ugh.

My cousin's husband's family has a TON of money, and they made her sign a pre-nup, so I am sure that some of it was for show. I just can't fathom spending that much money on a wedding.

gisellems · October 2008

we spend about in rigns and the dress and tux was like 2000, the rest was like 2000 for the place, cake, invitations and wedding favors.. etc, pretty cheap wedding and we only had about 25 people or maybe 30 tops... most i didnt invite..were dh's friends...

flyingsaucer · October 2008

I live in NY, right outside the city... prob one of the most expensive places in the country... we did not spend much more than 5,000. We only had 50 people, and had it on a Sunday. We did a lot to keep the cost down, but it was gorgeous! We had candles and rose petals instead of flowers, a buffet (we had Caribbean food... my H is from there)... it was SO nice. We had a Mega-open bar. That was a must :-)

May524 · October 2008

I don't know the final total since my parents paid for it all. However, I tried to cut corners where I could. If I had to guess, I'd say in the ball park of 15k. We paid about $50 a head (not incluiding the tax and all).

lvisser · October 2008

5500.00 in 2006

lvisser · October 2008

I would have never gone into debt for our wedding. it was the meaning behind the wedding that meant more then the wedding itself.

lissamichelle · October 2008

we did a DW in mexico. we had about 70 people go with us. the cost of ceremony, travel for dh and i, attire, reception, decor, etc was 3K. we then spent about another 2K on honeymoon. it was worth every penny!!! we the time of our lives.

KonrsBride · October 2008

We spent 15K in 2003 in MN for 220 people. It was beautiful, perfect, and my only regret now is that I have so many friends that have come into my life since my wedding and I wished they could have been there, too. Impossible, I know, but still a wish.

SLH1014 · October 2008

We spent about $30,000, and it was worth every penny. But I think it depends on your financial situation. We were blessed. We both owned homes prior to being married, and were able to sell my husbands before the market turned, using the profit to help with wedding and pay off credit cards, cars, etc.. We paid for the wedding with cash and had some help from my parents, so we had no debt afteward. We also had money in savings, stock and 401K, etc. I think you should have what you can afford, "AFFORD" being the key word here. If our financial situation were different, we would definitely not have spent that much money.

SLH1014 · October 2008

forgot to mention that we had 200 guests, and it's fairly expensive here in Maryland for weddings. So yeah the size and location of the wedding definitely plays a big part in what you will have to pay for various aspects of the wedding.

KUJayhawkBride · October 2008

We spent around $10,000 total for everything I think that included the honeymoon. Both sets of parents paid for the entire thing, which we were extremely thankful for. We did a keg, some wine, a margarita machine and a buffet. Not incredibly classy I suppose, but we had a blast!

byrne15 · October 2008

about $15,000 (not including honeymoon), but we were lucky enough to have family pay for almost all of it.

one of our friend's just look out 2 loans for their wedding in Nov. I would never go into debt for a wedding though...

7/04Bride · October 2008

I think a lot depends on where you live. I'm in Fairfield County in CT, which is way over-priced. We paid between $67-72/plate,depending on what was ordered for 150 people. We really had to search for that price. Most non-super-fancy places were $100-125/plate at the time. For everything, including honeymoon - probably a little over $20,000. We paid for a bunch, but my parents paid for the reception and some other things here and there. If we had to pay for the reception, we probably would've just invited less people. We don't let ourselves get into debt over anything, except our mortgage and car payments.

femmeftle9 · October 2008

My wedding was around $20,000 - $25,000. My parents paid for most of it. We had just under 100 guests. We were married outdoors in a vineyard. To be honest, it probably would have been more if I had the wedding closer to DC, but we had it in the mountains... partly because it was so scenic and partly because the vendors in that area weren't outrageous.

Want a personalized experience?

NBR: Cost of Wedding?

Re: NBR: Cost of Wedding?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards