How much did your wedding cost?

[LuluLovesDisney]

Please post how much your wedding cost. I am just trying to get an idea of various budgets. If you'd like, including where you're from might be helpful, too.

 

[barkley]

it was 16 years ago last month-but totaly about 3,000.00. that included catering for 125 people, hall/church rental, officient gratuity, photos, tux rentals, flowers and my dress.

we saved allot by shopping around-got my dress at the twice a year sale at the high priced area bridal shop (they clear out the winter dresses in july, the summer in january) for 299.00 vs around 1500.00 they were charging and did charge the following spring, had a friend make silk flower arrangements, approached a local restaurant with great food but not known to do catering-THEY DID and at much less than the going rate, bought attendant gifts at the mikasa outlet, borrowed a friends humongous slip from her wedding (she only wore it once and was'nt planning on using it again ), got shoes off the clearance rack (white is white is white).
only thing we splurged on was getting the best photographer and videographer in town (but we also saved by not buying a package deal, paid an hourly fee and going rate for photos, did an album on our own. a few years later we contacted the photographer and he sold us the proofs at about 25% of the price had we purchased them when we married ).

oh-i was married in 'the beautiful napa valley' where planning a wedding translates into 'empty your wallet, your savings account and plan on not having any money for a looooooooooooooooooooong time'.

 

[olena]

I live in GA and I got serious sticker shock when I started checking out places. We were going to Las Vegas for a conference and decided to just get hitched out there. We got a GREAT package for $750.

 

[mitushib]

Spent aboout 9090$ which in my country gets u a fantabulistic wedding for over 1200 guests and a lavish buffet and then another party of about 500 guests and another lavish buffet. Then a whole treasure trove of jewellery and a lot more stuff.

 

[lulubelle]

We were married in our home (second marrigage) and it was very low key. Everything totalled about $2K. But for a first time wedding I would count on $10K minimum. That's what we think it will cost for DD anyway.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

We got married in "off season" (February) in Wisconsin, and here's about what we spent for a smaller ceremony & reception (each had two attendants, and we also had 2 flower girls, and we had about 200 people who attended). I should add that I did everything I could in most areas to keep costs down so we could splurge on a couple things.

Church (ceremony & reception): $600 (I was a member)
Invitations, postage, programs, and bookmarks (our wedding favors): $600
Cake: $700
Punch, coffee, tea, mints, nuts, paper napkins, paper plates, paper cups, and plastic utensils: $150
Flowers: $800
Misc. decorations for reception & ceremony (vase, candles, etc.): $75
My dress: $350 plus $100 for alterations
Fixing my mom's veil, buying my stockings, shoes, etc: $75
Jewelry for myself, bridesmaids, and flowergirls: $200
Bridesmaids dresses (we paid for them): $450
Hair & Make up for myself & my bridesmaids (we paid for them as well): $200
Flowergirl dresses (we paid for them): $100
Flowergirl baskets and silk flower petals: $30
Groom's vest & tie and groomsmen's vests & ties (rentals): $250
Groom's suit (bought - not a tux): $450
Wedding Rings (not including my engagement ring which was DMIL's):$500
Photographer (including photo albums & reprints afterwards):$4,000 (one of our splurges)
String Quartet (our other splurge): $3,000
Officiants' fees: $150
Pianist's fees: $100
Wedding coordinator fees: $150
Gifts for wedding participants: $400
Rehearsal Dinner: I don't remember! Dh's dad paid for this, and booked us at a very nice place where they catered an amazing meal in a beautiful setting.
B&B for our wedding night: $125

I think that's about it. The part we paid for was about $14,000, not including our honeymoon (which was very low-key and less than $1000 total).

 

[S. C.]

Under a $1000. We were married 35 yrs ago in a small church just us and both sets of parents. We wanted a very small wedding, we were both shy in our young days.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

We were married in our home (second marrigage) and it was very low key. Everything totalled about $2K. But for a first time wedding I would count on $10K minimum. That's what we think it will cost for DD anyway.

OT: my mom calls me Lulubelle!

Thanks for the info! (It would be a first wedding )

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

We got married in "off season" (February) in Wisconsin, and here's about what we spent for a smaller ceremony & reception (each had two attendants, and we also had 2 flower girls, and we had about 200 people who attended). I should add that I did everything I could in most areas to keep costs down so we could splurge on a couple things.

Church (ceremony & reception): $600 (I was a member)
Invitations, postage, programs, and bookmarks (our wedding favors): $600
Cake: $700
Punch, coffee, tea, mints, nuts, paper napkins, paper plates, paper cups, and plastic utensils: $150
Flowers: $800
Misc. decorations for reception & ceremony (vase, candles, etc.): $75
My dress: $350 plus $100 for alterations
Fixing my mom's veil, buying my stockings, shoes, etc: $75
Jewelry for myself, bridesmaids, and flowergirls: $200
Bridesmaids dresses (we paid for them): $450
Hair & Make up for myself & my bridesmaids (we paid for them as well): $200
Flowergirl dresses (we paid for them): $100
Flowergirl baskets and silk flower petals: $30
Groom's vest & tie and groomsmen's vests & ties (rentals): $250
Groom's suit (bought - not a tux): $450
Wedding Rings (not including my engagement ring which was DMIL's):$500
Photographer (including photo albums & reprints afterwards):$4,000 (one of our splurges)
String Quartet (our other splurge): $3,000
Officiants' fees: $150
Pianist's fees: $100
Wedding coordinator fees: $150
Gifts for wedding participants: $400
Rehearsal Dinner: I don't remember! Dh's dad paid for this, and booked us at a very nice place where they catered an amazing meal in a beautiful setting.
B&B for our wedding night: $125

I think that's about it. The part we paid for was about $14,000, not including our honeymoon (which was very low-key and less than $1000 total).

So helpful! You're the best!

I am confused by the large number of under $1000 responses. Did that many people elope?

 

[slk537]

We had a beautiful wedding and even today I wouldn't change a detail of it...everything was perfect. But if I had to do it all over again, we'd have a small wedding for just immediate family and put the rest of the money towards a down payment on a house. My dad remarried this past October and it was a second wedding for both (both widowed). It was a small wedding followed by a small dinner and it was absolutely elegant and simply perfect.

BUT: I say this, since I do have the memories of the true Cinderella/Princess wedding that I dreamed of as a little girl. If we'd have gone the way of an intimate wedding and practical down payment, I'd probably be sitting here lamenting missing out on a big wedding.

Our Disneymoon, however, I wouldn't change at all

 

[ANTSS2001]

$65 dollars to get married.. and a $100 for prozac

 

[Poohnatic]

It will be 10 years in August.

We had a reception at a local restaurant that normally did not do catering, on a Sunday afternoon of a holiday weekend. It was non traditional, and that fit us just fine. The restaurant manager was willing to do it under certain conditions (they normally closed on Sundays). We agreed and what we had was as follows:

A carving station and buffet for a 2 1/2 hour reception. May I say that they did an incredible prime rib!
Open bar
At least 10 hotel rooms had to be booked at the hotel it was located in (Hampton Inn).

I am so glad that my DH and I were swayed by the location so much that we had the reception there. At the back of this Hampton Inn was a building that resembled one of the lighthouses on the Chesapeake Bay. It normally was a bar, but it suit our reception of 40 people perfectly.

Total cost for the meal, alcohol, and most awesome wedding cake was about 900 dollars, not including the gratuity. I later found out that my family (all restaurant types) and my inlaws (all around good people) were tipping the staff left and right. We were treated like royalty and when we compared notes, it was no surprise that they adored us!

*Dress was $250 and is so me it's scary. DH never saw it prior to the wedding day and it's great to see his reaction on the video a friend took.
*Bridesmaid's dresses $120 for both-I found what I liked and sent them to each of them. Best part is that both of them were able to wear them again since they were off the rack dresses.
*Flowers were three summer bouquets picked up from the local supermarket's floral department. 30 bucks and so pretty.
*Favors were these pretty candle pots that I purchased at work at 40% off, so something like $80 for those.
*I printed our invitations myself because graphic design is a hobby. Good quality paper for the invite, response card, reception cards and envelopes was about $50. I also do calligraphy, so I didn't have to pay for that.
*Our pastor's fee was $50, but we paid $100. Being part of a small congregation was awesome, our ceremony was customized by the three of us and he did a very nice homily that we probably wouldn't have heard in a bigger church.

The only regret is that we did not have any professional photographs of the day. We have a video that the best man set up his camcorder on a tripod and got other video that is top notch. However, I would love to have a good picture of DH and I in our wedding finery. I do have a picture of me with my mom that I adore and one of DH with the rest of the wedding party and a few candids.

I'm probably forgetting something, but that's what I remember 10 years later.

This was done in Maryland. A month before, my sister and her DH were married and they spent a year planning their wedding. It was a beautiful day, but $25,000 more than I'd be willing to spend on one day. Then again, we keep talking vow renewal and a Disney cruise afterwards. I thought it'd be for our tenth, but it looks like the 15th now.

Suzanne

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

Our wedding was about $12,000 , and it will be 17 years we've been married in June.

We had over 300 guests at an awesome hall with a lavish buffet, huge tiered cake, band, limos, open bar, the whole works.

I wouldn't change it for anything. I loved our wedding.

But I always kid my DH and tell him when I marry my 2nd husband I'm eloping and getting married on a beach in Jamaica.

 

[JKanownik]

We were married at a historic mansion in Akron, Ohio in May of 2002. Our entire wedding including ceremony, reception, attire, photography and miscellaneous (favors, programs, invitations, etc.) cost a little over 12K. This did not include our 10 day honeymoon to WDW and Cocoa Beach. We paid for the entire thing ourselves.

 

[Tantor]

14 years ago this July. Cost us 11,000.00 for everything. 85 guests. We got married in a gazebo in our local park and had a horse and carraige take us to the reception complete with champagne!

 

[barkley]

So helpful! You're the best!

I am confused by the large number of under $1000 responses. Did that many people elope?

there are lots of ways to make weddings much less expensive than people realize. sometimes you can save a huge amount by booking the wedding/reception at a more expensive location because while they charge more they don't have an exclusivity contract with certain vendors (dj's, photographers, florists, caterers...) so you can the same services/items from other vendors at a much better price (i used to plan weddings and the place i worked for got a kick back from the overpriced vendors we only allowed our clients to use). with the advent of high quality lazer printers beautiful invitations can be purchased for much less at a kinkos or copy store than at the local wedding place. supermarket florists can do just as nice a job at floral arrangements (and you can often get a big price break by talking to the manager). liquor and punch supplies can be way less expensive at wherehouse stores or when on sale (we bought our champagne 3 months early because of the big discounts offered around new years eve). grocery store wedding cakes can cost a fraction of what a bakery will charge (and taste just as good).

in most cases you can get whatever service or item on your own for less vs. having someone else get it for you. i freaked when i saw how much the bridal store wanted to press my gown-i called my local drycleaners who did the pressing for the store and found i could save about 40 percent of the cost by just bringing it in myself (and they would drop it off when done). just figure out what you want and look for it outside the bridal or wedding section of the yellow pages or when you call for a price just don't mention the word 'wedding'

 

[burberryplaid]

We got married almost three years ago in the northeastern US and paid around $10,000 for our 65 person wedding. That was a steal considering where we live is very expensive. The vast majority of our budget went to the reception ($4000) photography ($2000) and my dress ($1000)

 

[Muhlenberg]

DD's wedding was about $23,000. BUT she had a reception at a bed and breakfast, and we went middle-of-the-road with the menu. The reception itself was about $10,000. We splurged on the photographer cause we liked him and he had the best deal. He was about $2200. We paid for some things that ordinarily the bride's family WOULDN'T...so deduct about $600 from that total. There may also be a few other things in that total that the bride doesn't normally pay for. Total number of people at the reception was 85. The BIGGEST expense is the reception location and menu. If your meal is $100 pp, every time you add 10 people, that's $1000. That is where you should start. And the dress is a big chunk too. We went to Davids; I think the dress ended up at about $1000 after alterations (which are expensive, BTW). These costs DO NOT include MOB dress, FOB tux since I wanted to keep those costs separate. Good luck!

 

[aprilgail2]

So helpful! You're the best!

I am confused by the large number of under $1000 responses. Did that many people elope?

I think those must be the wedding where they only give you punch and cake-those are unheard of around here, I never even knew they exsisted until reading about it on here. Even if you have a small wedding here you still always feed the people a meal. We did go to a wedding in Va. once and all they had was appetiziers, we had to drive through a fast food restaurant after leaving that wedding LOL. It so much varies on where you live. The most casual wedding reception I have been to where I live was in their backyard, but they had party tents, a DJ, a dance floor put in, full bar and catered food and it still cost well over 10,000.

 

[NMAmy]

I think those must be the wedding where they only give you punch and cake-those are unheard of around here,

Mine was under $1000 and I fed people.

We got married in the sunroom in our home. The minister is a dear friend of mine and refused payment. Only immediate family was invited to the ceremony. Then we had an open house for all our friends and extended family.

Another friend is a caterer and she did all the food for me. I insisted on paying her full price but it was still only around $250 for a lovely buffet meal and our wedding "cake"--my favorite dessert which is one of her specialties.

My dress was less than $100, DH had a suit, and dd's dress was around $50.

I believe our marriage license was under $100, as well. I used flowers from our garden--peonies were in bloom at that time and they were gorgeous in arrangements around the house.

So--a wonderful small wedding for around $500. It was exactly what I wanted.