How should I prepare to spend?

Question

My boyfriend and I are probably going to get married in the summer of 2010. He and I will be paying for most of it ourselves. I don't need a perfect wedding but I would like it to be nice. How much does an average wedding cost these days?

Answer 1

We are getting married on Sept. 20 and it looks like it will cost us about $10,000 (including a $1500 honeymoon).  

Answer 2

My fiance and I are planning to spend $20,000.  It's more than I even imagined spending on a wedding, but we both have big families so our guest list quickly shot up to 110 people.

Our wedding won't be "extravagant" but very classy.  I'm am really strict about staying on budget.  I would rather not have something than go over budget/overspend.  It's just one day, but for the amount of people we are having and what we are planning it costs $20,000.

We are having a sit-down dinner with open bar (it pretty much wasn't an option to not have one, our families we really insistent, and they are contributing to the $20,000).  We only have one meal option (plus veggie option) and just a sweets table for the evening cake service instead of like a whole buffet or something.

We tried to save money wherever we could, without seeming cheap in anyway.  Our families are big celebrator and people are very judgmental of weddings in general, so we want it to be classy, but not go into debt or anything.  I think we have a good balance of elegant and affordable.

Some ways we saved money is that my mom is an amazing seamstress and is making my wedding gown and bridesmaids dresses (she just made my sister's wedding dress and her new wife's dress too).  And my fiance is a jazz pianist so he called up some friends he's jammed with to put our 5-piece band together for the reception.  They are giving us a great deal so that saved us like $500 from what we budgeted.  That and we are going minimal on decor because our venue is so beautiful, the atmosphere doesn't call for much additional decoration.  We are bringing some table runners (that I will make so that saves major $$) to bring our wedding colours into the room, but that's about it.  No flowers, because they are so expensive and just sit there all night.  I don't really like flowers anyway.  We are having a Christmas theme wedding at the end of November, so we confirmed with our venue when they start decorating for Christmas.  We might not have a Christmas tree in out reception room, because those are live so they don't come in until near the end of the month, but they guaranteed us garlands on the fireplaces and wreaths in the windows, so we don't need to spend any money on decorating really.

Other than that it's just a matter of shopping around.  I've gotten quotes from like 8 different photographers just to see what the best deal will be.  It takes a bit more time, but you can save hundreds of dollars just be making a few extra calls.  And things like favours and candles you can find really cheap online or at dollar stores if you just look and get creative.  I'm making our favours (because I'm pretty crafty) but for the 110 we need it will cost well under $100 because I found some great deals on Christmas ornaments online.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

the knot.com has a calculator but they factor in so many things i would never use. i am spending around 5,000 (honeymoon included). this is a pretty low budget wedding!

Answer 4

http://theknot.com/?MsdVisit=1

Go to the Knot.  Check out their budget calculator.  Plug an amount you can comfortably afford into the calculator.  See what percentage of your budget should be spent on each item.

You may not want or need everything mentioned at the Knot, but it is a good place to start.

Work, save, and good luck with your planning.

Try this to see average cost of weddings in your area:

http://www.costofwedding.com/

See budget tips here:

http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/...