Is it too much? Wedding help please...?

Question

So, my wedding planning is completed, i've accounted for everything I need except a pen for the guest book. (Seriously, I've been planning like crazy) It's a wedding for about 150 people, I have a huge family so there was no avoiding this and it's not something I could compromise on, I really do want a traditional formal-ish wedding, not a vegas wedding or anything, so please don't tell me to go to vegas haha, this is my dream wedding and my fiance and I want to do this, but we're not sure if we're crazy or if we're spending far too much?

including everything, the church, fees, reception hall, decor, dress, rings, everything..

My total cost comes to 8735 dollars....

Is that really ridiculous?

We can try to accumulate the smaller items throughout the next year and we can try to put away money to save for the reception hall and photographer... If we save/set aside like 15 dollars a day for the next year, we'll be able to pay for the photographer and wedding hall in full, as they're the most expensive parts. I wish there was a banquet hall nearby that we could have our dinner catered in but didn't cost 4-5000 dollars,the reception is killing us! We're not rich by any means, but we're not totally broke either. Our families will probably be willing to help us out here and there, his parents are fairly well off but not what I'd call "rich", but I'm afraid this is just too extravagant? I have cut costs as much as I can and we're not doing anything that expensive, it's just that it adds up so quickly!

What were your guys' wedding costs?

Am I insane?

Answer 1

Well our wedding is going to be for around 75 people. Everything, including tux rental and all that we are spending 2500.00. We are paying for everything ourselves and doing it ourselves. Our DJ is the most expensive thing and he gave us a deal for 525.00 for 4 hours. Our wedding is "simple elegance". We started making our favors and centerpieces back in Feb. We would have never been able to afford favors and centerpieces so nice had we not started on them in Feb. Our favors are wine glasses with island blue and ice gems in them, with island blue ribbon with a metal thank you emblem attached to the stem. We are getting catering donated by a hook up from Buffalo Wild Wings which is a HUGE bonus. My guess for 150 people would be about 4000.00 However I am a stay at home mom and we dont make a huge amount of money so I am thinking small I guess compared to you. I just want our wedding day to be awesome and I think we have accomplished that on 2500.00 By the way my dress was 900.00 so I guess the DJ was 2nd most expensive.

Answer 2

I am awed

I got married in 1986 and had 110 people for hors d'oeuvres  and cocktails and cake and it cost about 6 grand

A few months back my BF and I were leafing through a Philly brides magazine and couldn't find a venue for < $75 / person.  A fairly bland place around here is $110 PP and that doesn't include flowers or the ceremony

Last year a friends S-I-L dropped 100,000 on a wedding in Connecticut

Answer 3

I am in the UK and getting married next June, total wedding costs will be in the region of £20,000, scary huh ?

We are buying stuff along the way so that there is no huge payout in one go.

If this wedding is what you want, and I too am having my dream come true, then please dont worry about cost. This is once in a lifetime with the man you truly love and that loves you. How can you put a price on that ?

(Least thats what I keep reminding myself LOL)

Good luck with your wedding and lots of happiness on your day.

Answer 4

It amazing how well you did on the costs!  My daughter is getting married next June and costs are climbing.   Fortunately my daughter is cooperating on simplfying things like table decorations, etc.  Just print out the responses and share them with your sweetie.  He will understand and probably not need a trip to the ER for his heart or panic attack!  Good luck!  

Answer 5

Tell your fiancee that the average cost for a wedding these days is about $15,000 - with that being said - you're better off having a $3000 wedding and saving the rest on a downpayment for a house. The biggest reason for divorce is financial problems - so make sure that regardless of what you spend on the wedding day - that you're using  your money wisely to secure your future rather than blowing it on one day that really won't make a difference in the important things - like whether or not you'll end up divorced. I did my wedding for about $3000 for 150 people but not everyone can do that well. Just talk to your fiancee and cut back if he gets upset. Afterall it's not just you who is important and there are many many many more ways that you could cut back and have just as nice of a wedding. Remember too - that alot of people you could invite - may not really need to be there so cut the numbers back if you need to. Remember too - not everyone that you invite will be able to attend.

Answer 6

Well we had 250 people and our wedding came to 10,000.00 so that is just perfect. Don't worry about the cost of everything. You want to have great memories of your wedding day, and it will be nice to see everything so well put together once you are there.

Answer 7

My daughter just got married and as much as we tried to make it simple, we spend $19,000 . It was crazy

Answer 8

150 people, including reception for under $10,000?  That doesn't sound bad to me at all.  I read somewhere the average wedding is now over $25,000.  

Answer 9

wow you did real good, our buget was 10000 its now 20000 cos my mother over spent on decor but its going to be beautiful and so is yours good luck

Answer 10

For 150 people? HOLY c**p! tell me how you did it. lol. We're looking at about $8000 for 60 people!!! please you are now the master!!! lol

Answer 11

No, I think you've done very well! We set ourselves a budget of $12,000 and we only have a couple of grand left with 8 weeks to go. We have 90 guests attending. nearly everything is paid for though so the rest will be going on the bar! I wanna know how you did it! I hope you have a great wedding. Congrats:)

Answer 12

OMG!!! you are amazing! That is CHEAP for a wedding for 150 people. Gimme your number and you can plan my wedding too!! Great job! I dont think that is unreasonable at all. I watch these wedding shows on tv and people are spending like 100k on one day! Go you!  

Answer 13

Insanely AWESOME! You're planning is great and cheap! I'd kill for my total to come to that.