Wedding Cost

16 Responses

1. Green Eyes

   2010 Feb 16 1

   I think that if you were to cut corners and find a cheap hall & caterer you could have this wedding for $5000-7000. Go to theknot.com and use their budgeting tool to figure out how much you can spend on each aspect with a budget that size. This will give you a good idea of where to start.

   ***EDIT***
   Remember, that this money is paid over a few months. If you have a 12 month engagement, then paying $5000 just means you’d pay an average of just over $400/ month. You should figure out how much you can spare in a month, and set that aside. Then determine your wedding plans and engagement length accordingly.
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2. Girl

   2010 Feb 16 2

   2,000 – 3,000 with the help of the family.

   Good luck!
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3. FTG!

   2010 Feb 16 3

   You should be able to have a nice wedding for about $20,000………..
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4. chik7896

   2010 Feb 16 4

   My husband and I had to pay for our wedding. We spent about 5,000 dollars. This included, 250 wedding invitations, hall, caterer, flowers, dress, decorations, beer, hair, tux, limo, nails, photographer. I cut corners everywhere I could. I saved alot of money by making alot of my own stuff. I borrowed things from friends who were already married, made my own flowers, found a good but cheap photographer, made alot of my own decorations.
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5. nova_queen_28

   2010 Feb 16 5

   Food & booze will be your largest expenses. Shop around. A buffet dinner may cost less than sit-down. Friday and Sunday dinners may also be less than a Saturday.
   It also depends upon your area. Where I am, a cheap dinner is $50 per plate for a buffet and open bar (before tax/gratuity).
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6. April 316

   2010 Feb 16 6

   A lot of it is going to depend on where you live. If you want to get an average on what people spend in your city on a wedding, then you can check out this website. It will give you some interesting information.
   http://www.costofwedding.com/
   But, with 50 guests, I think that you can definitely do it on a small budget. Go to your cities webpage and check out the park and recreations section. Look for the facilities that they rent in your city. They usually are rented out fairly cheap. After that, see where your budget is at, then find a caterer to work with that budget.
   Best of luck!
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7. Sahara

   2010 Feb 16 7

   Start shopping around and reading magazines (especially local ones). Talk to people in your area. I would estimate about $5000 to $10000. But you can spend a lot more. You might be able to get away with a little less. You need to set a budget and stick with it.

   For our wedding, we had the ceremony and reception at a nice hotel (Doubletree), we had an open bar during cocktail hour ($900), dinner, a dj, a photographer, cash bar during reception, water, and coffee/tea served with dessert (wedding cake). We had just over 100 guests. It cost about $15,000. It may have been closer to $18,000 now that I really think about it. We had flowers too. I made the centerpieces and put candy on everyone’s table. Dinner was about $30 a plate. (3 course meal, appetizer, salad, and entree) During cocktail hour, we had cheese/crackers, and hot/cold hors d’oeuvres passed around. I would have loved done an open bar throughout the entire affair but I couldn’t afford it. I think drinks were anywhere from $5 to $12 each.

   edit: Eloping is always cheaper but you won’t have the memories of having your family there. Decide what is really important. The day flies by fast. Hire a great photographer if you do it. That’s not the place to skimp in because those will be what you look at years from that day.

   Shop around. It costs nothing to get out there and talk to people. Look for a trade show (bridal expo) because then you can speak with people all at one place and bargain. You can get all kinds of information and even talk to other couples, share experiences, information, etc. It’s completely worth going. There are lots of them all over the U.S.
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8. Baby_Girl

   2010 Feb 16 8

   If its in the summer locate a graden somewhere near where u live. Most the time they are free and they come with space for eating afterwards.
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9. :( about 30

   2010 Feb 16 9

   I spend $3500 total.. and that is including the dress.. I didn’t waste money on a photographer.. I had plenty of camera happy family members at the wedding that caught more than a photographer would have.. I see my wedding pics compared to my sister’s and friends who were proffessionally done and I love mine so much more! I bought my dress from David’s bridal.. but there are lots of dresses you can buy used to save a little. Our church was $500 and I put the most into our reception.. that was $1500 and that was open bar for 4 hours, a buffet style dinner for 125 people, our cake, set up and clean up and tip. I make my own flowers, centerpieces and "thank you" gifts. I also bought disposable cameras and put them on all the tables in the hall which I got some of the greatest pictures from !

   You really need to set your budget before you start planning.. and just take your time and shop around.. I started planning my wedding about a year in advance to give me time. Our hall also let us go in and put a deposit down and make montlhy payments to them which was a huge help that way we didn’t have to come up with it all at once.

   You can have a beautiful wedding that isn’t going to break the bank.. ours was a traditional catholic wedding so the church itself was decoration and an awesome reception. . our DJ was a gift.. he was a friend of ours that gifted his services to us. .. shop around and have fun with it.
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10. mariebear

    2010 Feb 16 10

    My wedding was very small. The booze will cost you. My total was around 3000. I had a small wedding with 45 guests, a reception with full dinner, then about a month later, we had another reception for anyone who could not attend the first one due to the fact we got married 2 hours away from home. I would be prepared for a budget of atleast 4000 or so. good luck– the stress is terrible, but it will be worth it in the end.
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11. Ozcar

    2010 Feb 16 11

    Hi, I got married 5 months ago, we spend 6,000. We had 300 people, and the wedding was fun. My sister in law planned my wedding, we had a small budget but thanks to her creativity we saved a lot of money. All the details of my wedding were just fantastic. She used this site that already has a lot of tips to help you save a lot of money. Check the link:
    http://www.keepandshare.com/htm/wedding_planning/fairytale/free_wedding_planning_articles.php
    Good luck!!
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12. SS

    2010 Feb 16 12

    Probably about $5K
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13. Jason M

    2010 Feb 16 13

    just dont get into too much debt or you may regret paying so much!
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14. Green_eyes 69

    2010 Feb 16 14

    Depends on the dinner to be honest w/ you I’m having a small wedding w/ 100 gusts and it will be about 10,000.00. But you do have your photographer so that helps alot. The web site that I used that helped alot was Toronto wedding guide. Depends what area you are in I guess. the Heinzman house is reasonable. If you do it on a Friday it is alot cheaper.
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15. adsnell2004

    2010 Feb 16 15

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    shnoinx

16. Kim

    2010 Feb 16 16

    We are seriously trying to take care of our wedding for about $2500 and that includes honeymoon. This is my second marriage and my fiancee’s first, and we wanna take care of it ourselves because we are older.
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