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How Much Should a Wedding Cost? (Vanity)
12-11-2009 | BeeFree

Posted on 12/11/2009 10:51:24 AM PST by beefree

I need a reality check from other FReepers about what might be a reasonable amount to spend for a wedding. The cost seems outrageous to me so I would like to hear from parents who have recently paid for one. How much did you spend?


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: wedding
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To: ErnBatavia
Yabba Dabba I do!


41 posted on 12/11/2009 11:23:36 AM PST by Tijeras_Slim (Live jubtabulously!)
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To: beefree
Don-o and I spent $200. (That's right, two hundred.) This was in 1989. The invitations were handmade: we had, oh, about 50 guests. It was right after Christmas, so the church was still beautifully decorated and we didn't buy any flowers; extra over-the-top wonderful friends (hi, Chuck and Mary Drumm!) gave us a festive reception in their home with delicious food and fun, and then we all went to a free ceili dance at the parish!

Woo-woo! I'd do it again!

42 posted on 12/11/2009 11:25:47 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o (Viva sweet love.)
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To: kalee

That would be about right for the rehearsal dinner for a formal wedding. Obviously, if the couple/family is on a budget, you could bring it down to $400 by using the church hall, recruiting the immediate family/friends to do the food preparation, and don’t serve alcohol.

My concern - validated by 2 cases in the past year alone - is that too many young betrotheds think of the wedding as the be-all and end-all, instead of just the beginning of the marriage.


43 posted on 12/11/2009 11:26:01 AM PST by EDINVA
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To: Happyinmygarden
Take a deep breath: 3-day destination wedding for 100 was six figures

I completely understand.

Not out of the norm.

Attended 8 weddings in the last two years and not one was under 6 figures.

This coming year only two are on the calendar so far.

Doesn't matter how much you spend, it's that the bride and groom are happy.

44 posted on 12/11/2009 11:26:23 AM PST by VicVega (Join Jihad, get captured by the US and resettled in the best places in to the world. I love the USA)
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To: beefree

Well, ours cost around $75.00 - what it cost at the time for a license - we appeared before the judge, and went back to work.

The money we didn’t spend on a wedding was a nice leg up in life for couple starting with almost nothing.

So I’d say, if you don’t have to care what a wedding costs, spend what you wish.

But if you have to ask, ask yourself not “what will make me feel good today?”, but “what will make me feel good over the course of the marriage?”.

And in this economy I’d say that - realistically - the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars that many people spend for a wedding would be much better used to pay down debt, or as down payment on a house, or to further their education and increase their future earning potential - that any of these was more likely than a more expensive cake to contribute to a successful marriage.

YMMV


45 posted on 12/11/2009 11:27:26 AM PST by M. Dodge Thomas
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To: beefree

About 43% more than you can afford to spend.


46 posted on 12/11/2009 11:29:06 AM PST by Petronski (In Germany they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist...)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets
I have been to two wedding in the last 18 years. One at the Ritz in Boston $500K another at the Sea Port Hotel $300K, my daughter got married for less than 5K.
47 posted on 12/11/2009 11:29:19 AM PST by Little Bill (Carol Che-Porter is a MOONBAT.)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

My wife and I organized our wedding a year or two earlier for less than a third of that. Our friends are still talking about our wedding, too. Mostly the part at the reception where my mother sat on one of my friends lap, though.


48 posted on 12/11/2009 11:29:51 AM PST by magslinger (Cry MALAISE! and let slip the dogs of incompetence.)
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To: beefree

Kids are idelaistic. They want everything. I explained to my youngest, IT IS ONLY A DAY IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. No you do not need two limo’s. No you do not need to invite 300 guests. No! NO! NO!. Well they got married, are still married and everything is fine.


49 posted on 12/11/2009 11:31:24 AM PST by 70th Division (I love my country but fear my government!)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

2 months before tax salary?

No F’ning says this father of a couple daughters.


50 posted on 12/11/2009 11:31:48 AM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: Just another Joe

Took 25 people out for nice lunch one day outside of Manila. Ordered more food than anyone could eat. Great meal that cost me about 12.00 US.

Was only two years ago when the dollar was caring more weight.


51 posted on 12/11/2009 11:34:26 AM PST by VicVega (Join Jihad, get captured by the US and resettled in the best places in to the world. I love the USA)
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To: VicVega
Well, my wedding was a lot more years ago than two.
More like 26 years ago.

And yes, we had a BIG wedding.

52 posted on 12/11/2009 11:35:50 AM PST by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
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To: vwbug

My Brother was of a like mind only he wanted three acres and a Cow.


53 posted on 12/11/2009 11:39:55 AM PST by Little Bill (Carol Che-Porter is a MOONBAT.)
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To: EDINVA

The wedding will be in VA. Our son’s bride to be is from the Valley. Are you in that area?


54 posted on 12/11/2009 11:42:01 AM PST by kalee (01/20/13 The end of an error.... Obama even worse than Carter.)
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To: beefree

Been to some hideously ostentatious ones in the NYC area. The one where the bride & groom appeared from an elevator in the middle of the reception dance floor was way over the top. That one had a mariachi band at one point and a magician for the kids.

Cocktail hr with steamship roasts, lobster, shrimp and pasta tables seem to be the norm, along with Viennese tables with fireworks & multiple choices of entrees. Hate to imagine what those cost, gotta be 20K+ for recpetion alone; PLUS the photog, flowers, limos and dress!.

Went to my best friends daughter’s wedding this August. Reception was at the town beach club, dancing on the deck with a dj. Boiled lobster or steak were the only choices from the caterer. Baked potato & salad. Simple and very nice. No wedding cake, but dessert was a good humor truck driving up and giving out whatever you wanted. (Their first date was for ice cream!) Most fun and nicest wedding I was at in a long time. Kids paid for it themselves, printed their own invitations, had friends & family do the pictures. Just beautiful.


55 posted on 12/11/2009 11:42:54 AM PST by YankeeGirl
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To: beefree

How old are the bride and groom? Do they have jobs? I don’t think it’s expected that the parents pay for the whole thing these days, unless the kids are in their late teens or very early 20s. JMHO.

Ours cost about $6000, not including the honeymoon. Parents offered to pay for the reception only, about $3000, and we paid for everything else.


56 posted on 12/11/2009 11:43:06 AM PST by Abigail Adams
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To: beefree

The most important part of a wedding bill is that it be paid off while the couple is still married. It’s also good to remember that weddings are incredibly stressful and the human mind tends to blot out stressful events, most folks forget most of their wedding by the next morning.


57 posted on 12/11/2009 11:45:59 AM PST by discostu (The Bluebird of Happiness long absent from his life, Ned is visited by the Chicken of Depression)
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To: beefree
$12.00 for the dress...

Photobucket

58 posted on 12/11/2009 11:48:53 AM PST by Doomonyou (Let them eat Lead. Bonus tag line: FAIL 246, Obama 0)
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To: beefree
Here's the scoop: What kind of food do you like to eat when you go out to eat....McDonalds....a Buffet.....Olive Garden....Ruth's Chris or The Ritz Hotel....OR eating at home in your back yard...well, THAT"S what you should do for the wedding.

DON'T go out of your comfort zone....And DON'T go into debt.

You can have a piano player or a 7 piece band....whatever your COMFORT level is and what you NORMALLY like.

Rent the dress.....the MEN rent their TUXES...what's the diff??

Don;t have a lot of Maids of honor....pick a sister or the VERY BEST, LONGEST friend.

The more people in the party or AT the party (invite less) the more TROUBLE and Snickering they cause.

59 posted on 12/11/2009 11:48:53 AM PST by Ann Archy (Abortion,,,,,,the Human Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: Just another Joe
"And yes, we had a BIG wedding."

Bet it was, everyone shows up at a wedding in the Philippines. LOL. And they love to drink.

Mine was a business lunch, not to be confused with a wedding.

60 posted on 12/11/2009 11:49:42 AM PST by VicVega (Join Jihad, get captured by the US and resettled in the best places in to the world. I love the USA)
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