Wedding costs

[TanyaK]

I've gotten hooked on "Who's Wedding is it anyway?" on the True Style Network - don't know if anyone watches it. Seems according to the show (and I know it's a TV show so take it with a pinch of salt :-)) the average wedding is anything from $30 000 (considered to be a small budget) to
$80 000+ Does the average person really spend that much money on a wedding or do they just choose people with big budgets ? Or maybe it just seems a lot to me as I convert it to South African currency which isn't really worth a lot

[jkath]

lol, Tanya.

I've seen so many couples that live paycheck to paycheck, but the bride seems to think she needs a 50k wedding. What is that all about? I've never understood it.
Or, the gal on "Deal or no deal" who'd already been married once, who was playing the gameshow to win the million dollars for her "dream princess wedding". Um, I'll take the cash, Howie....

For the record - our wedding was a whopping $99 elopement. And we're still together after 17 years.

[NAchef]

Mine was about $150 a couple years ago in Vegas. No way I would want all that fancy stuff, everyone forgets about it after a month anyway.

[auntdot]

If there is anything that has increased at a rate greater than inflation it is the cost of a wedding.

I gotta couch that because we have been to many weddings that were very modest, and quite classy, that cost very little. The class was in the people, not the cost of the flowers or dinner.

When my sil got married, she held the wedding and reception in her home. It was catered, but nothing extravagant. It was lovely.

If folks want to toss an extravaganza and can afford to pay for it, I have no problems with it.

I feel sorry for the families who go into great debt for one day for reasons I do not understand.

Our thirtieth is coming up soon. How we got married I doubt made any difference in how we are today.

We were far away from family and with almost no money for a few years. We learned to handle whatever came out way and became a unit, himness and herness.

We are still that today.

I think that folks who feel forced to pay money they truly cannot afford for a wedding should not do so.

It is understanding, love, caring, and shared experience, no matter how hard, that make an enduring marriage.

It ain't the walk down the aisle.

Just my two cents.

[ChefJune]

Beautifully put, Aunt Dot. When I was catering, I often watched sadly as families took out loans and scrimped to put on a "really big shew" (as Ed Sullivan used to say). There's far too much emphasis on the ceremony, so much so that I think many couples lose their focus on the marriage.

There is not one woman in the world who NEEDS a TEN THOUSAND dollar dress to wear ONE time. Just think of all the hungry children that could feed? (and yet that is a common price for wedding dresses in 2008 America). Scandalous, I think.

[pdswife]

In our case it was a big wedding or a new beautiful house.

I love our house. I think we paid 75 dollars for a judge to marry us.

[sattie]

$300.... I don't see the point in spending all that money on something that could practically be null and void several years from now if not months. Seems anyone I knew that spent a fortune on their wedding ended up divorced a short time later. I say save the money and spend it on your new home or something that your really gonna need.

My dress cost me less than $50... got it at Ross. Wedding bands were about $75 a piece. J of P... can't remember, but it was next to nothing. I figure a 60K ring is not going to garuntee that my marriage will last. But, I guess it would be a nice parting gift eh???

[designmea]

I agree. If the main reason you are getting married is for the big wedding, dont get married. Its stupid to get yourself in financial trouble for one day!

[expatgirl]

I totally agree with all of you so far! My brother -in- law's first wife's family refinanced their home to thrown one wing-ding of a wedding for her---it was beautiful and it was lavish right down to the champagne flowing out of a fountain and Jeannette was gorgeous. Mine in comparison was a cheap economy fare..I knew that my parents couldn't afford much and luckily I was marrying into a frugal family as well, so no one minded the plastic eating utensils at the reception. But my brother-in-law's marriage was over within a year--actually 6 months and they limped along for about a year and a half. All I could think of was what a waste of $$$$.

[jkath]

I think one of the best ideas for a frugal, small wedding was one I attended almost 20 years ago. The bride and groom asked that instead of wedding gifts, if guests would bring potluck food, paper plates, beverages, etc. (and help with the clean up!) My gift was doing the bride's hair. :) They're still married, now with 7 kids.