How much does a Wedding Cost????
The rest of your life.
The prices are outrageous, because people are willing to pay. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t pull off a very nice wedding affordably if you want to.
It is, to me, completely outrageous to spend as much as the median household income of a typical american household for a 1 day party.
Yes, its the bride’s day to shine, but the wedding lasts a day, the Marriage should last a lifetime! Focusing on the Wedding is silliness from the start.
For what is the average amount spent, which is an agredeous 20Kish for a wedding, you are better off promising them that for a downpayment on a house. And a smart young couple would prefer that arrangement as well.
I know when I got married in 1995, my wife and I paid for the whole thing, with the exception of the liquor (bought by my parents in advance) which was probably $300-$500 bucks, and spent just over $3k for the entire thing, including her dress, and we had 125ish guests. That was about 20% of the “average” cost at that time.
Now with that said, I will tell you, because we did everything ourselves, it was basically like general contracting your own home build.. so spending something to have someone else have those headaches, is worth some $$ in my book.
20Kish though for a one day party, unless you are incredibly wealthy, that’s a complete waste.
I love my daughter dearly, and I hope she has a wonderful wedding day whenever that day comes, but if she comes up to me and expects me to pick up a tab that is 1/2 the median household income in the united states for 1 day.. I’ll politely tell her she’s on crack. If I am going to spend that amount of money on my daughter, it would be a downpayment on a nice starter home for her and her husband close to ours.. not so close to step on, but close enough that we can spoil her kids rotten then send them home for her to deal with :)
A wedding should cost no more than you can afford to spend. It will be wonderful anyway because it is a celebration of love and money can not buy that spirit.
we had ours last Feb at a winery near Houston—the ceremony and reception. About 150 guests, pasta bar, beer and win—about $10 grand all told.
It was a blast.
I’ve been to many more expensive weddings (30K or so) that wasn’t even close in terms of unusualness and fun
I have noticed that the amount spent on the ceremony often appears to have an inverse relationship with the amount of time spent in the marriage.
Moral of the story: don’t spend so much it becomes all about the wedding and not much about the marriage.
Marriage license: $50
Justice o’ the Peace: $75
Peace of Mind: priceless
Have the wedding you can afford.
A classy small living room wedding for twentyfive can bring a lifetime of memories.
A simple suit and corsage at the minister’s is very nice with a luncheon afterwards for twenty at the local resturaunt.
A barefoot beach or lake wedding with a catered bbq can be fun and memorable.
These extravaganzas that take place these days are tasteless, and not affordable
the best are the least expensive....really...i been to the $50,000 and the $500 and eloped (no guests...just the two of us and the justice) its certainly shown me that less is more. the $50,000 ones (2) (one was my 2nd,the other one of my sons) were about showing off and flaunting it. the $500 (my first) was very nice, and lasted 20 years...the last one...eloped...the best, just the two of us.
the money is about vanity
weddings are really about marriage and commitment....that’s free.
It isn’t the purchase price, it is the TCO and ROI that matter. Going into debt for the feast is goofy. Making certain the new family has working capital and the ability to draw as they grow is huge.
imho
ymmv
It costs 10,000 dollars, 2 weeks of planning, all of your peace and serenity and joy, most of your future earnings, and a lifetime of slowly simmering resentment and torment.