How Much Was Your Wedding? | Personal Finance & Lifestyle | Yakezie Forums

I'll have to reply back to you after next May when I get married, but we are budgeting for $10,000 and even that doesn't sound like a big budget. It's so crazy to spend that much but I've looked around and to rent a nice place with food and liquor, that'll cost on average $5,000 for 80 people. Fingers crossed I can think of some frugal ways to make all our decorations!

Ours was under $200 too. We just went to the courthouse with a couple of friends. 

The Mrs. was too stressed out about planning and we decided to just go ahead and do it. 

We'll have big 20th anniversary party though. ;)

MoneyIsTheRoot said:

Im embarrassed to answer this one lol…especially considering finance is my day job, and obviously my hobby…but I want my fiance to be happy since we are only doing this once.  Im getting married in July, 2012 and having small heart attacks on a regular basis when I think about the cost…

 

Her parents are contributing $20,000

My parents most likely $5,000

We are contributing about another $20,000

Total Cost = $45,000…which does not include the honeymoon.

wow! how did the big day go then? Well i hope! Otherwise there is just no pleasing her :) haha

MoneyIsTheRoot said:

Im embarrassed to answer this one lol..

Total Cost = $45,000…which does not include the honeymoon.

As long as you can afford the cost and paid for it without going into debt, there's nothing to be ashamed of. 

I don't read Ramit's blog but assuming he's Indian, the Indian culture regarding wedding cost outpace many other cultures.  Last year, one of my Indian clients spent $200K on his daughter's wedding.  I thought it was insane to waste that much but he was happy.  Apparently, it was in line with how much others in his community spent.  If he had spent less, he would have "lost face".

I gave up on controlling the wedding other than one point (guest list).  I'm Vietnamese and the man is supposed to pay for the wedding.  My husband is American and couldn't get his head around it.  I paid for it & kept quiet as to who footed the bill.   Instead of the normal 1000 guests at one of our weddings, I put my foot down on 250 for a "small wedding".  It was not what my in laws thought of as small. 

The truth is that weddings are for the emotional needs of either the bride and/or the mothers of the bride.  This is what you have to balance when looking at the costs.

My mother in law was ecstatic with the details and dined out for months on gossip about our wedding.  My parents were extremely unhappy and still haven't forgiven us as many relatives (younger generations) didn't get invited.  Weddings for us are really a family affairs.  We had friends and relatives flying in from 16 different countries including Australia & New Zealand. 

Looking back, I'm still not sure what was right. There were people who I didn't invite and they have passed away. 

PS: going multicultural is very expensive.  We had 6 cakes because the Asians won't eat the American cakes. 

CBC said:

MoneyIsTheRoot said:

Im embarrassed to answer this one lol…especially considering finance is my day job, and obviously my hobby…but I want my fiance to be happy since we are only doing this once.  Im getting married in July, 2012 and having small heart attacks on a regular basis when I think about the cost…

 

Her parents are contributing $20,000

My parents most likely $5,000

We are contributing about another $20,000

Total Cost = $45,000…which does not include the honeymoon.

wow! how did the big day go then? Well i hope! Otherwise there is just no pleasing her :) haha

Sorry for the late reply here…the wedding went great! we made most of our own contribution back so im not complaining… but let me say that the wedding was probably closer to 50K when all was said and done…

MoneyIsTheRoot said:

CBC said:

MoneyIsTheRoot said:

Im embarrassed to answer this one lol…especially considering finance is my day job, and obviously my hobby…but I want my fiance to be happy since we are only doing this once.  Im getting married in July, 2012 and having small heart attacks on a regular basis when I think about the cost…

 

Her parents are contributing $20,000

My parents most likely $5,000

We are contributing about another $20,000

Total Cost = $45,000…which does not include the honeymoon.

wow! how did the big day go then? Well i hope! Otherwise there is just no pleasing her :) haha

Sorry for the late reply here…the wedding went great! we made most of our own contribution back so im not complaining… but let me say that the wedding was probably closer to 50K when all was said and done…

Excellant to hear it buddy

Ah ha! All good then, best of luck for the future!

Good question, I just finished an article on this:  –> http://debtadviceresource.com/…..ding-debt/

I was amazed at what some people were spending. Just by asking I got some costs reduced by up to 40% in a trial I ran. A friend got married and spent £30,000 (C. $50,000) and they were divorced within a year… If I was the father of the bride I'd be one grumpy man! 

Mine was about $7,000 10 years ago.  Paid for most of it myself.  We invited a lot of guests (about 300), but only 150 showed up because there was a blizzard (we got married in January).  I could have spent about half if I didn't want a sit-down dinner.  If I could do it over again, I'd do a buffet, have it outside in the springtime, and have friends and family make the food.  The food and venue was the biggest cost by far.

synamerrie makes an interesting point. You are 'investing' in a wedding. Granted there will be no financial return for the money spent. But the memories and details of the day can help a marriage. Perhaps the money spent is invested socially. 

My underlying thought is that a wedding shouldn't cost the earth. It should be within budget and affordable. I hate hearing stories about people starting off life in debt because of a wedding. Of all arguments with couples, a staggering 86% are because of money so why get into this situation in the first place.

We live and learn.