How much money and time do weddings take?

Question

I'm talking about an average, middle class wedding. How long do they take to plan and how much money (on average) could I expect to spend?

Answer 1

I think it really depends on what direction you are taking it.

I helped my sister plan her wedding, we made mostly everything ourselves (including cake and decorations) and she used her mother's dress. When it was all said and done, we really only spent about 7,000 on the wedding (including rings). But we were being very budget conscious, and had about a year to plan.

My friend got married about last month and did the whole shebang with the wedding planner, pimped out venue, etc, and planned it all in about 3 months, total at about 65 grand.

I have been planning my destination wedding for about 4 months now and I think that we are about up to 35k.

Overall, it is going to depend on what kind of a wedding you are planning. I'm sure you could get a wedding done for just a few thousand. And you could EASILY blow the top off and spend hundreds of thousands. But as far as time is concerned, god help you if you plan on putting it all together in less than two months. =]

Answer 2

Six months to a year

around 25k.

Keep in mind though that a wedding can take as much or as little as you want in both time and money.  You can plan for an hour and spend $200 bucks at the courthouse....or you can plan for years and spend a few million.

Answer 3

The average wedding in the U.S. costs $28,000.  This will get you a lovely venue, the church, flowers, cakes, dress, favors, photographer, videographer, the works.  This will NOT get you a designer gown, and the best of everything else.  For this price you should be able to have an open bar and a sit-down dinner for about 250 people, with a live band or DJ.  You should look up http://www.wedding-needs.com/wedding-bud... which is a worksheet that will help you budget.  I am putting together a wedding-(minus the cost of the rings) for $22,000 here in Missouri for 250 people, and it will be in one of the nicest venues here in town, full bar, $1500 dress, food stations with different foods, standard wedding with few extras.  I am planning a wedding for a friend for $7000 total cost minus rings, for 150 people, and it will be nice, but it will also be obvious it's on a tight budget, and I called in a LOT of BIG favors-(dj, minister, photographer, videographer, flowers) to make it happen that cheap.  Honestly, the more limited your funds are, the more time it will take for you to plan it, because you have to be crafty when it comes to finding deals, you'll have to do a lot of things yourself, and you'll have to be willing to do a lot of leg work to find what you need.  I would suggest having at least 6 months to plan a wedding, and preferably a year.  Of course, you can do what another friend of mine did, and go away for the wedding, and come back for the reception, and go low maintenance, and tell friends who don't like it that too bad, at least they were invited!  Good luck!!!

Answer 4

In Britain the average is £20000, that seems quite a lot and I'm sure you could pull it off for much less. I think they take aabout a year to plan-at least the weddings I went to did.

Answer 5

Lots of time and $20000 to $50000

Answer 6

Well to be very honest it really depends on how many guest you tend to invite.  Because the money really goes to photograpghy, food, honeymoon, rings....

Now

Small weddings 20 to 50 people $5,000 to $10,000

Medium weddings 50 to 100 people $10,000 to 20,000

Large weddings 100 and up $25,000 and up!!!

Answer 7

I'd say about 20,000 and about 6 months to plan.

Answer 8

my daughter just got married three years ago and it coast me fourteen thousand we did have a open bar at the reception she chose to get married in a really nice and wealthy city + there were about one hundred and fifty people total she did all the planing so i would say it depends on how elaborate of a wedding u want starting at about one thousand U.S. dollars

Answer 9

Depends on what you want, and what kind of connections you have.. I just got married less than a month ago and we only spent $2,000. A friend of mine worked for an awesome bakery so i got a $600 cake for a little less then $100, my cousin did my pics, my florist was my Dad's neighbor, my wedding planner is a member of my Church. So you dont have to be over the top expensive, use the resources in front of you first.

Answer 10

Hi.  About 6 months to 1 year to plan, depending on where you live.  The reason some people take longer is (1) they are saving the the wedding, and (2) the venue they want is booked up.  Note:  If you live in or near a large city, some of the "choice" venues book up 1-2 years in advance.

The average price of a wedding in the U.S. is $20,000.  Of course, there are many, many couples that have a beautiful wedding for much less.  Again, it depends on where you live.  If in or near a city, you are going to pay more than if you live in a rural setting.

Answer 11

Most of the weddings I attend average between $5000 and $10,000 for just the wedding and reception (not the honeymoon or the rehearsal dinner or the wedding rings, etc.).  They take about a year to plan partly because venue rentals are often sold out as much as a year in advance.  Attendance of course, changes the numbers and choices as well. You need more money just for food if you invite 200 than if you invite 75.

How much you spend depends on what is important to you as well as what you choose to do yourself.  My wedding and reception maximum budget is $2,800.  That's it. Not a dime more.  I refuse to do this on credit.  I want the reception to be more like a family holiday get-together rather than some formal affair with dancing.

The averages that are typically posted by the wedding industry are padded to encourage brides to spend more.  It works.

If you plan to have fewer than 50 attendees, your options are actually quite large as many restaurants will cater your wedding and reception on premises. The per/meal cost includes decoration, so may be a more economical choice.

If you want to do the food yourself, get some practice now.  Invite family over for say Labor Day and cook for 20.  If you've never cooked for large numbers of people, cooking for your wedding will not go very well at all.  You need the practice.

Answer 12

That depends on what you want. My fiance' and I settled on a year and eleven month engagement for purposes of saving, and getting settled in our chosen careers. We are planning a garden wedding for 200+ people on a $5,000 budget, and thus far we're staying on mark. Our bywords are beautiful, elegant, and unique, something we're accomplishing without breaking the bank =]

Answer 13

I've been planning since November and am still not done.  We will have spent probably 9-10 grand.  It is expensive and a lot of work!  I can't wait for it to get here though!  BtB 10/4/08