How much does a normal wedding cost? How much did yours cost?
By Subaru8835
@Subaru8835 (73)
United States
February 5, 2007 4:27pm CST
I am in a relationship that may be progressing very rapidly. I have 2 sisters one got married and wasted around 30,000 USD on a wedding which was very nice, and all they could afford. Now my other sister married rich she wasted over 150,000 USD on the wedding, her dress was 20,000+ and her ring was a Tiffanys 24,500 USD Ring. I can't imagine paying this much money. I would rather go to city hall and get married waste 2-3,000 USD taking close family to a restaurant then putting money towards a house.
Please advise.
4 responses
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
5 Feb 07
I run a wedding shop and yes most people spend about $ 30,000 above for the wedding. You can make your own invitation, get your family to bake the wedding cake, and do your own decoration - it all might save you $ 2,500. If you have standing party, it might also be cheaper than sitting party, but it depends on the food and beverages and amount of guests. Gowns and rings are pretty hard to save money in, because most brides always fall for the expensive ones, but there are gowns at less than $ 3,000 and some jewellers can custom you a pair of rings based on your budget. You can rent centrepieces rather than buy them. I don't recommend artificial flowers after all good florist can work well within budget as low as $ 500 - 1000. Limousines and photographers you need to find reliable ones alhough they may have higher cost. You want the moment to be properly captured and you want to be wherever you need to be on time. Accesories and favors are available in many online stores at affordable prices, you can also come up with your own ideas and save up to $ 500 depending on the qty. Good luck and congrats.
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
5 Feb 07
Oh I forgot to tell you. Mine was about $ 25,000 it was Cinderella theme.
Originally I preferred to elope, cheaper and cost effective because we can do honeymoon right after. That's another idea for you. More than $ 3,000 of course but not too many guests can come anyway so you can save on meals and favors especially if you go to tropical countries where dollar is stronger than local currency.
@Subaru8835 (73)
• United States
6 Feb 07
A cinderella theme seems beautiful, thank you for your response. The pictures to the wedding must have been beautiful!
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
5 Feb 07
Our wedding cost $6,000 for everything - hall,minister, music, rings, gown, etc etc. If we had done it at city hall, $75 (judge & license) + cost of the rings. I suggest if you don't want to spend a lot of money, is to go down to city hall have your close family on both sides & a handful for friends, then go out to dinner or throw a party after the fact.
@ksstormhunter (792)
• United States
5 Feb 07
Wow, that is alot of money. But to them it was probably worth it, since it is a one of those milestone memories. As for us, it was a court house wedding for us then took the family to a nice dinner, then went to the club to celebrate, so all in all we spend aroun 500-700 bucks.
@Subaru8835 (73)
• United States
6 Feb 07
Thanks for the response, that is exactly what i was looking to do. What kind of club exactly were you speaking of, a country club, or a nyc club?
@girl079 (147)
• Malta
6 Feb 07
I say do what you are comfortable with. Do not overspend just to fit in cause you will end up regretting it. After all a wedding lasts a coupld of hours and you never wear the dress again! Weddings are turning into big businesses and do not let yourself be dragged by the current if you do not wish to spend that much.
