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?
Woo-woo! I'd do it again!
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.
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.
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
About 43% more than you can afford to spend.
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.
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.
2 months before tax salary?
No F’ning says this father of a couple daughters.
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.
And yes, we had a BIG wedding.
My Brother was of a like mind only he wanted three acres and a Cow.
The wedding will be in VA. Our son’s bride to be is from the Valley. Are you in that area?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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