I recently read that the average cost of a modern wedding is $25000-$30000. How many feel that this is rather high or is this number rather low? How many brides are planning to spend this much or more?
Are couples trying to find ways to reduce that amount or how many do not care what they spend?
that is rediculous … I would rather have a courthouse wedding and use that money to put a down payment on a house.
34 Responses
lemonloveless
2010 May 11 1that is rediculous … I would rather have a courthouse wedding and use that money to put a down payment on a house.
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Mykael
2010 May 11 2thats a bit over average but its about right
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Kathleen
2010 May 11 3That’s a crazy amount of money to spend for one day. Why not use the money as a great downpayment on a house?
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GibsonEssGee
2010 May 11 4Depends on your budget. Most couples would prefer to reduce the budget and save the rest for a house deposit.
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girl
2010 May 11 5I think that’s excessive, my wedding will cost much less than that.
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LOST GUY
2010 May 11 6that cost much .. i gave you suggestion Plan your Marriage at Rawal Kot Pakistan " Really a Heaven " that would not let you to have more then 10000$
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Jeffrey
2010 May 11 7No one should spend that kind of money on a wedding unless they can comfortably afford it.
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laloosh_2011
2010 May 11 8me i wouldn’t care because it would be a Special day and it’s a one time thing…
its not like your birthday….you only get it once in a lifetime.
unless you get divorced and get married again.
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Laura-belle
2010 May 11 9we spent less than 10 on ours. i feel that the 25-30 number is excessive. there are ways to have a beautiful wedding without spending that much. i think a lot of the cost varies based on what kind of wedding you really want.
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eddood52
2010 May 11 10It can be excessive to those who do not earn sufficient income annually to defray costs like that or those who have rich parents to pay for expenses for them. Too many kids these days try to have an expensive wedding totally on credit and end up suffering for it for a long time afterwards, denying themselves some of the better necessities really needed in a marriage they can’t afford becaus eof what they spent getting married.
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Mr. Taco
2010 May 12 11Excessive and NUTS.
We paid $5,000, and it was only nine years ago. I’d say friends and family contributed another $5,000 in services and gifts that helped out. Now, I have been to a LOT of weddings, and guess what? Not a single one of them was smoother, more fun, and as nice as mine was. It was a church wedding with a reception, flowers, entertainment, and everything. People are overpaying… especially considering that most people can’t afford to pay their credit cards and mortgage. $25,000 or more is ridiculous if you are an "average" person.
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Glynn
2010 May 12 12Yes. That is totally out of control. It seems some people are more concerned about a wedding than a marriage. Just think of the things that money could do for the couple. Down payment on a house, etc. What ever happened to couples getting married for love, a small ceremony with friends and family, a nice small reception (come on, do we really need to eat rubbery chicken or dry fish?), and a feeling of love all around? I think those who spend like that just need to have people look at them, they have no confidence in themselves OR their marriage.
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latinomale64
2010 May 12 13That number is actually decieving. What makes that number so large are those individuals who spend in excess of 100,000 dollars for their wedding. The number is high, and in Hawaii where I live at, that number is very realistic.
Wedding costs are based on the couple’s ability to pay for them. Obviously they are not spending without knowing who is going to pay for it, cause ultimately, they are responsible for it.
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Marianne M
2010 May 12 14As excessive as it may be, it is pretty accurate. My husband & I moved up our wedding from June to February. February is a wedding hall’s off season & they cut the price in half per person for us (at least $150 minimum per person in the summer months as opposed to $75 per person in February). Other vendors also had reduced prices for that time of the year. Our wedding was just as nice & we were able to have a bigger wedding just by moving up the date.
It was worth it! We saved up for a couple of years. My husband & I had very hard lives growing up & we wanted something nice & extravagant, even for one day. It was worth it!
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?Bride~2~B ? 09~12~09?
2010 May 12 15thats is a lot of money! i getting married in a month and our budget is $8,000, i could never spend that much on a wedding. i’d rather buy a new car or put that kind of money down on a house.
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CourtneyJo
2010 May 12 16It is excessive. Now you have to remember that they can’t take everything into account when it comes to averages. I would imagine that an upper class wedding with at least 200 guests would average this amount.
However, if you know how to cut corners and get good deals you can have the same exact wedding for under $10,000.
I had a very modern, intimate wedding and I went all out with a full service dinner, incredible dress, orchestra, full bar and only spend $7,000 for the entire thing. I even had individual mini-wedding cakes for each guest and the take home gift was inscribed bottles of champagne.
Some people love to throw money around on labels and will pay $12 million for a dress adorned in 150 carats of diamonds when they can get a dress for under $2,000 that looks exactly the same with crystal instead.
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rhoda
2010 May 12 17for most its too high, practical folks could use that for a down payment on a house and have the wedding ceremony there.
If you realize that the wedding is paid for by the brides family most girls get too carried away with the bling a wedding should not cost any more than 20% od the income from the people paying for it.
I love my daughter and I make decent money but I can’t see spending it on a bash that is soon forgotten ( usually about three good fights later) and serves no purpose to help the new family get a better grip on their new life. Nope keep it sweet and simple and invest the rest
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" What Budget? On this Pay?"
been there got the t-shirt
2010 May 12 18While it is the truth that this is the average cost, it registers a little high for my pocket book anyway.
My boyfriend’s brother just got married in NY last month. Their wedding cost something like $37K. I’m willing to bet that – when our time comes – that we can have a wedding of equal nice-ness to theirs for $20K or under where we live in CT.
I think it’s where you spend your money. I think you need to prioritize with wedding planning/budgeting. For example, I’m willing to fork over more dough for a good, reputable photographer because they will be creating one of the only keepsakes of this day that we will have forever. Don’t want to cheap out on the DJ or food either. On the other hand, I don’t care for a limo or to rent some fancy car… so there saves nearly a grand. I also happen to actually like the simpler, non-designer dresses that are much cheaper. My FMIL is in the flower business – she can get flowers at wholesale cost and make any flower stuff that needs to be made. And, three words: Do It Yourself. We don’t want a hotel room for the wedding night… we think there’s something special about having our first night in the house that bought and lived in as a couple.
Also, I think it depends on not only the finances of the couple, but also whether or not parents/family are contributing as well.
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That Girl
2010 May 12 19of course that’s too high, even if one is comfortably off. Only the truly well-to-do should be looking to pay that kind of money.
I spent about 10K less on my wedding so far–that is 15K total.
I definitely looked for ways to reduce the expenditure. I doubt there are many people who just don’t care what they spend. But spending money doesn’t make your wedding special and I think some people know that.
Google Jenna Bush’s wedding and see just how simple and beautiful it is. For someone with access to a lot of cash, you don’t see things going over the top. Perhaps they were expensive, but they are simple.
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ladybass34
2010 May 12 20I only know of one couple in my 34 years that had an extravagant wedding that are still married, and their parents paid for theirs. If the couple or the couple’s family has the money and the desire to pay it’s fine. Frequently though people put their wedding on the credit card and it starts them off on bad footing. Keeping up with the Jones’s leads to a lot of divorces! You can have a beautiful wedding that fits with your budget.
My uncle is a marriage and premarital counselor and he discourages any wedding that isn’t paid in full when the vows are exchanged.
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nova_queen_28
2010 May 12 21This is because prices vary from area to area. And in some areas of the country, you really can’t have a ‘typical’ wedding for less than that amount of money — or at least not a whole lot less.
Consider the "typical" or "traditional wedding – – church ceremony and dinner reception at a catering hall – not a DIY type situation or one where your uncle owns a restaurant and you can get the food at cost or something, but one where you are paying for all the stuff you need – – Where I live in PA, you can’t get a dinner for your guests for under $40 per plate. Where I’m from in Northern New Jersey, you can’t touch dinner for under $75 per plate and being not far from New York City i can assure you that minimum is at least $100 to $125 per plate.
A 100 guest wedding is not exceptionally uncommon – – where I live food would be $4k in New York that would be $10k – – before tax or gratuity. So if you have a 100 guest wedding in New York – – you’ve just spent $10 grand and you’ve only ensured your guests can eat, you still need a church, attire, jewelry, limos, dj, photographer, flowers, etc. Its real easy to rack up $25k or more in a high priced area.
There are people on here that have said they spent $15 per plate for their dinners for guests – – that might get you appetizers where I live, not a full meal. So there are certainly drastic price differences from area to area.
I invited 210 people to my wedding – – and I factored my budget assuming they would all attend. My budget is $20k but I am tracking at $19k and when the no RSVP’s come in I know I will come in farther below budget. As scary as it sounds, I’ve done alot of work myself and cut some things altogether from my budget in order to keep it in line. Yes, it is alot of money but my fiance & I are established (both owned homes when we met), so we had savings and planned a 2-year engagement so we could afford the budget we set.
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It's Me the BTB 10-1-10!!
2010 May 12 22I personally think that is WAY to much to spend on one day of your life when most bride & grooms don’t recall too much of the day when it’s all said and done. This is triple my budget!
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Katz
2010 May 12 23You don’t have to spend a lot on a dress. Shop around there are nice dresses out there don’t cost so much money. Keep your wedding party small.
Also you could have reception in the dinning hall at the church, open gifts there and mingle with the guests. You could cut costs a lot by doing it that way. Receptions with dinner, bands and dancing are very expensive and you don’t have to go that route. It is up to you. The money you save will help with a down payment for a house or to buy things that you need.
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JB
2010 May 12 24I think it depends where you are getting married (ie what state or city). I am getting married in central CA and my budget is $15000. I have been going a little over budget because the food and photography and pricey but you can have a nice wedding on a small budget. If you are getting married in New York City, your budget might be bigger. I am trying to cut back on many things to stay in my budget! I got my dress off the rack for $250 (designer gown that was originally $2500).
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bird
2010 May 12 25that is absolutely atrochious
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4REEE
2010 May 12 26There isn’t anything wrong with having an expensive wedding as long as people do it *without* incurring debt.
I think, though, with this sucky economy, people are trying to cut back as much as they can.
A lot of people poo poo the idea of expensive weddings. But hey! In this sucky economy, people need jobs too!
Think about who gets to work because of people who can afford expensive weddings:
Pastor, wedding hall, florist, DJ, band, jewelry store, bridal shop, tux store, photographer, videographer, bus boy, waiters and waitresses, restaurant, valet parking attendant, limo driver, make up artist, hair stylist, barber, travel agent, dance instructor, shoe store, chef, cake shop, clothing store, gift shops, …
If all the people in this country who can afford these things all decided, "I’m not going to have an expensive wedding," when in reality they can afford it, then a lot of the people mentioned above would have to be laid off from their jobs.
Don’t be so quick to poo poo people who have and can afford expensive weddings!
For many who are hired at these events, it means being able to pay the bills!!
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Sandy Ego
2010 May 12 27For me personally, it would be excessive. I don’t know about anyone else.
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brwneyes
2010 May 12 28We spent $30,000 for 100 people. My engagement ring and wedding ring were another 10k. The honeymoon cost about 5k.
Is it excessive? Possibly. It was our money, however, and we could spend it how we wanted. We own two homes and together make about $200,000 a year.
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ryca3300
2010 May 12 29To me, $30,000 is alot of money. Some people don’t even make that much in a year. However in some cities like NYC, it’s the norm.
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Bud Light
2010 May 12 30Thats very high I think.We are only spending $3500/50 guest wedding.
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hmyeahwhatever
2010 May 12 31Yeeeeeaaaaahhhh…..
You can save half of it just by do it yourself some stuff and having fun and close time with your family and friends. Or shop around and get better ideas and decor then those at fancy wedding stores for half price if not more. You don’t have to give up your dreams or go cheap on decor…trust me I’ve seen it I di it and I’m doing it now for my wedding…and your original ideas are better and more dear because it’s unique. I work very hard for my money so and my fiancee….so yeah we do care what we spend or where we spend it….I just want to pay right price for what it worth and if I’ll have some of best memories while I’m having best time of my life doing it…hell yeah that worth much more to me then pay 30.000 for someone to do it for me.
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EVENT PLANNER
2010 May 12 32Sorry to break it to you and everyone else on here but that is just about right.
We spent $40,000 on 250 guest. Averaged out $110 alone for food and drink.
Dress $7200
Hilton $22,000
Limos $2500
CAKE $3000…..just a few necessities
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MrsG-2B-6/19/10
2010 May 12 33It all depends on where you live and when you lock your prices in BUT I STILL agree that is WAY too much
When the average wedding dress costs $1,505 (according the Bridal Association of America), photographers average at 5K, average cost of a wedding planner is $3,262, (according to The Association of Bridal Consultants), The average cost for a pastor or priest to officiate at a wedding is $263, (according to The Bridal Association of America) that’s already over $10,000 for the AVERAGE wedding costs and we haven’t factored in grooms attire, centerpieces, band, transportation etc etc.
That being said, it also depends on where you get married, what your expections are and etc.
Example: I got my wedding dress for 200 dollars, orginally from David’s Bridal for $650, the SAME style was selling at Alfred Angelo and Maggie Sottero for MUCH more (i think alfred was over 1000)
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http://www.costofwedding.com/
http://www.costhelper.com/cost/wedding/wedding-dress.html
Heather
2010 May 12 34I think that’s a ridiculous amount of money to spend on one day of your life. Most people are in debt and should not be spending that money on a party.
That’s a nice down payment for a house!
I think most couples try to have their wedding on a budget…my wedding cost about $12,000 and my brother-in-law and his wife spent about $5,000.
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