Who has paid more than $10,000 on a wedding and do you regret it now?

Question

Who has paid more than $10,000 on a wedding and do you regret it now?

Answer 1

I have included some great resources below regarding the average cost of weddings.

I spent under $5,000.  No regrets. We had an outdoor wedding, excellent photographer, amazing food and venue, and about 20 guests (close friends and family). The weather for the ceremony was beautiful and everyone went home with a full belly and with such love and happiness for us!

My husband and I had a rule that our guests had to know both of us personally to attend. We didn't ask for gifts, however, guests could choose to contribute to our future house fund or give us gift certificates to our local grocery store, for gas, or for stores we frequent most (i.e. target for clothes). We didn't encourage a registry because we both already had two households of stuff to combine. Some guests just gave us cash.  We ended up breaking just about even for the wedding, factoring in what friends and family contributed.  How awesome is that!    

I knew a person who spent nearly $80,000 for an extravagant Disney wedding because she wanted to be a princess on her wedding day.  I think it is the person that makes the princess, not where you have or how much you spend on the wedding.  She had nearly 100 guests--some of whom she and her husband didn't know very well (co-workers and their families).  Wedding etiquette is a curse for people without common sense and a need to please.  Her mother, who doesn't earn a lot of money, paid for the wedding from money she got in an injury settlement.

The newlyweds both make minimum wage.  They talk now, seemingly oblivious, about how they want to go on a cruise for their one year anniversary but they don't think her mother can afford to give them the money for it.  Friends that attended told me that they were surprised the ceremony itself was not even fifteen minutes for all she paid.  Disney had to get the next wedding set up and pushed out.  I'm sure their guests were happy to get to the food, drink, and dancing sooner--I'm not sure of the value of the ceremony for the bride and groom.

If I had that sort of disposable money, I would have loved using it towards the honeymoon and actual marriage. If the couple were smart, they would have declined the extravagant wedding, kept it small and elegant, and asked instead for a down payment on a house, a new car, or a monetary gift towards their future together.

They could have even had a fantastic honeymoon, just the two of them, traveling around Europe, Australia, or the UK. The bride favored Ireland so much (her engagement ring was an Irish design). Instead they did a one week Caribbean cruise (they already live in sunny Florida).

In the end, it wasn't the money, flowers, food, cake, music, invitations, or the table settings that made the wedding.  Etiquette should go out the door if you are missing the real point--a wedding is simply a celebration of the bride and groom, a celebration of the start of their future together. You want to give them the best start possible.  The genuine love and support of the true friends and family that attend make the day special and worth it.

To anyone else, it's just a party with free food and drinks. It will be just a minor footnote in their lives. Those people, today, really wouldn't care to help if the newlyweds couldn't pay the bills, buy a house, or afford to properly raise a child.

I actually don't think they outwardly regret it either. Many people who attended, who are their friends, seemed more angry and upset at the newlyweds for making the choices they did.

Hope this helps adds an interesting answer. Have a great day!

Answer 2

Our wedding cost about 30,000 and we only did it because my husband wanted a wedding...I wanted to elope. He now agrees that it was a waste of money and we should have gone off on our own. You pay all that money to make sure everyone else is having a good time at the party and then its done.  

Answer 3

We spent a great deal more than that but we were older, financially secure and already owned a house. iI we hadn't been in that position I would have prioritised a house rather than have an expensive wedding.

Answer 4

We will end up spending about $17,0000

Answer 5

Ours is approaching the $15,000 mark.  I don't regret it.  Sure, I'd like to have the money back but I think the memories will be worth $15k.  

Answer 6

We will pay $20,000-$25,000. I won't regret it. It is my wedding.

Edit: I love how people assume if you are spending alot, you must be in debt. I am 33, My FI is 31. We own two homes, and are well educated. We are staying within our budget.

Answer 7

i paid a lot more than that. with no regrets :)

Answer 8

well, my cousin spent around $60,000 and she would not take back one second.  She LOVED it. I don't think she will ever regret it.  

Answer 9

Ours was 25k, traditional wedding for around 200 guests. No honeymoon.

Absolutely NO regrets - it was a wonderful celebration and the two of us paid for it, so we had exactly what we wanted to make it a special day for our families and friends, as well as us!

Answer 10

My marriage to my first husband was a little over 10K and it only lasted 3 years. The part I regret most was marrying the man but if it was him I wouldnt be who I am today. I dont regret the amount I paid because I had the wedding of my dreams.

Answer 11

We did about $20,000 and that included the honeymoon.  We budgeted along time ago, so we aren't in debate or anything, and it was a great day...but to tell you the truth it would have been more fun if we had just gone away...I would have still bought my dress, and had my flowers, and saved money.  I say keep it small and cheep!!

Answer 12

my friend spent 25,0000

she is 43  hubby 50ish

now she has a baby and they are in debt

it was a nice wedding but was it worth it?  

Answer 13

My friend paid $15,000. 3 years later, and they were dividing the debt from the wedding in their divorce settlement.

Know what their main argument/cause of divorce was? Money and debt issues.

Answer 14

My first wedding was back in 1974..my parents payed for it so I can't tell you how much it was..I did buy my dress, tho...it ran 500.00, Kinda pricey back then I admit but it was gorgeous-reminded me of the green & white dress Scarlet O'Hara wore at the Bar-B-Q in the opening scenes of Gone With The Wind, only it was solid white...def a southern antebellum style much to my ex MIL's delight (she was from the south) had the big fancy church wedding with limos & a banquet hall/formal dinner & live band, sure that it was expensive.

No, no regrets. the wedding was beautiful...my ex-inlaws still talk about how wonderful it was...the marriage just didn't work, thanks to my ex's attitude...

My second marriage? We spend a totally of just under 2,000.00 for Everything from license to rings to officiate's fee to outfits to food to flowers and the weekend hotel stay...suited a pair of 50 somethings just fine and the marriage? Wonderful.....good luck.

Answer 15

We spent $13,000 of our own money that we saved specifically for the wedding.  I don't regret a penny of it.  It wasn't an especially extravegant wedding, but we had a great venue and fabulous food.  Our guests are still telling us how much fun they had.

EDIT: This didn't include rings or the honeymoon.  We paid for the wedding completely by ourselves and saved all of it ahead of time; we have no wedding debt.  We didn't spend outside our ability to pay.

Answer 16

I paid over $15,000, no regrets. It was BEAUTIFUL.

That is not including the rings, or the honeymoon.

♥

Congrats!

Edit: I don't know why I am getting thumbs down. I'm not in any debt. We saved for a while, and had help from both of our parents.

Answer 17

Our wedding/reception/honeymoon was around $18,000. We don't regret anything except instead of going to Punta Cana in the Dominican, I wish we would have went to Cancun instead. We were married this past June on the 28th.  

Answer 18

We're spending 40 grand including our honeymoon to Fiji. We had a little bit of help from the parents but we're paying majority of the cost. We're both engineers so we didn't have any problem paying for it. We do not regret about spending the money for our dream wedding.

Answer 19

Wedding cost about $25,000.  No regrets as far as the amount of money spent.

Answer 20

Frankly, I regret spending any money on it. I should have eloped and kept the money rather than feeding my MIL's siblings. They are not bad people at all, but I barely knew them and there were 7 of them+ spouses just on her side. Having lots of my husband's family members whom I barely knew didn't add anything to the wedding

Answer 21

Don't be silly that's just a myth!

Answer 22

we spent more than that on just the rings- and ELOPED.

our rings are future heirlooms, and we had our dream wedding just the two of us; it was very simple...

i just couldn't stand putting all that money into a PARTY... i like my money on my hand where i can see it!!! ;) just kidding. it really did mean a lot to us to invest in heirlooms than blow it all on one day.