Getting married in 2.5 months; when I originally heard our wedding budget, I thought it was INSANE, but now I see where it goes:

It's ~ $100/head x 175= $17.5k x 1.18 (gratuity)=$20,650 x 1.0875 (tax)=$22.5k for the hall. Then $6k for the band, $4k for flowers, $4k for a dress, $5k for a photographer, $1.5k for the trolley, $1200 for the church...that's $45k without upgrading anything. So OF COURSE we need to upgrade the chairs, the linens, extend the bar, have a string quarter and/or piano player during the wedding/cocktail hour, hotel rooms for her parents/sister/grandparents...Oh, and invitations/save-the-dates, too, plus other stuff I'm sure I don't know about yet. And this doesn't touch the $3-4k my parents are paying for the rehearsal dinner and $2-3k for a brunch the day after the wedding, to say nothing of four nights at a hotel for them, grandparents, sister, her bf, plus airfare.....


Our original budget was about $50k, I'm betting we wave to $60k as we sail past it. So far, however, MY purchases have been $10k for the engagement ring, $500 for my wedding band, and a couple hundred here and there for random crap. Fortunately, her parents are rich, bitch, so during all the "I want XXX!" "You are spending too much $$$!" fights between my fiancee and her parents, I just kick back, relax, and ignore it.

 

Got mine done for around 15k. Did it on a budget as best as possible. It can be done. Horse drawn cariage, good food, all the bells and whistles. Of course, you have to throw in another 5k for the honeymoon.

Guests had the illusoin of more expense.

 

For tens-of-thousands of dollars, I'd rather have a very small gathering/ceremony, then the new wife and I embark on a 'round-the-world cruise.

p.s.-- I don't believe in diamonds either, so plain rings for both of us. Yeah, I don't plan on making any donations to De Beers to "prove" how much I love my sig other.

 

So?? F*ck em. They're probably trying to justify the outrageous waste of $$$$ their whole shin-dig was.

It's not their ceremony, it's yours.

 

The people closest and most important to you (notwithstanding any cultural expectations) should respect your decision to make your wedding day what you want it to be.

 

my wedding cost me $100 (this was almost 10 years ago):

$20: round trip gas to & from LA to Las Vegas (Civic LX, got like 40MPG)
$30: marriage license (state of NV)
$50: marriage commissioner down the street
$0: dinner, my dad's friend who lived in vegas took us to a buffet

now, i have to say that though the process of getting married didn't cost that much money, the TWO receptions i had did, but since chinese (not sure about other asian culture) give money at the wedding, i made out OK

my parents did say the money belonged to them: "it's payback after years of us going to friends' kids' weddings!"

 

our (cultural) wedding and reception cost around $100K.

but that was 12 years ago, so i'm not really harping on it anymore.

(that included a bunch of loot my wife got - high-end indian clothes, 24K indian jewellery, etc.)

 

My wife and I had a destination wedding in Hawaii last year. (she is from Honolulu)

Destination wedding was very memorable and cut down on costs. We hired a coordinator for $2500, then for another $7500 got minister, photgrapher, top notch siteat remote location, tour bus, and private suite on a dinner cruise ship for the reception. (downside was highs seas that day, a few women got seasick, oops)

Nice wedding for 50 guests was $10k. I still think that is too much but what can you do.

Since 35 people were coming from MN to hawaii for the wedding, a group travel discount bought those folks (on their own dime) round trip airfare, 3 nights in honolulu, 5 on Maui, and a rental car at fairly nice hotels for $1200 each. Air alone from MN is usually $700.

Photo of the ceremony if anybody cares.....

http://home.comcast.net/~chewbacca1/wed/pa...mony_Aisle.html

 

$30K is pretty accurate. We spent about that for our wedding two years ago.

 

Holy crapola.

100k

Be glad you arent mormon.