Talkin' about weddings! $33,000??? (kinda long)

[Wishin4BSL]

Well, there's no official proposal yet, but we are starting a wedding account and making engagement party plans and talking about bridesmaids and groomsmen, so I think we're on the right track (no money for a ring right this minute, but he promised in 7 months time). But I went on costofwedding.com and the average price for a wedding in my area is $33,000!!! Well, my SO and I are college students, working on our VERY EXPENSIVE master's degrees! Also 2 years ago, he bought a house with his friends and he can't get out of the house deal until November of 2009 without a $15,000 penalty fee (he realizes this was a dumb mistake now that he's ready to settle down, lol). Strangely enough, I've heard people say that they have planned weddings for like $8000 or less and they turned out beautifully. I will be paying for most of it since right now I live with my mom and have no debts whatsoever. I have more money to save. We are penny pinching as I type right now, no eating out, no shopping (for me), etc.

My SO and I want to know...is it better to use all cash? Will some go on credit cards? If so, how much, and are we going into be paying for it for the next 10 years? How do some people plan weddings for $8000 and others for $33,000? We want the cheaper one!

ETA: And I need to learn how to self relax!!! I can't keep spending $75 for a relax and color every 3 months!

 

[BroadstreetBully]

Considering that you two already have some serious financial obligations, i.e. Grad school, I think it would be best to consider really thinking about how important it is to have a "pricey" wedding. There are many ways to have a special day without high costs. You do NOT want to go into a marriage with any extra, unnecessary debt. People who have those beautiful weddings for cheap find ways to cut back and often have "hook-ups".

I say put your head together with family and SO and get creative. Even if it comes down to having a small, non-fancy wedding but a crazy fun reception afterwards for EVERYBODY. Honestly, do you two want to start the marriage off paying off those credit cards and trying to scrape money to finish school?

Oh and CONGRATS!!

 

[MissMeWithThatIsh]

Psh I'd rather have a smalll paid off wedding.

SO will not get married until he cn pay off debt and pay for ANY and EVERYONE who wants to come.

Needless to say, I told him he can plan the wedding himself, and I'll show up.

 

[spelmanlocks]

You can definitely have a nice wedding for much less. I really don't believe that's the true average wedding price although some websites claim that's what it is. Once you start planning you could buy some books on ways to save on your wedding, join the knot.com, and do lots of internet research. There are tons of ways to keep a wedding far below $33,000 you just have to do the research on where to get cheaper (but still nice) stuff.

 

[Farida]

If you want a $5,000-gown, 400 guests and $130/ plate reception - $33K is chump change.

A wedding under 10K
- Don't have more than 150 guests
- You can have a cake and champagne reception only - lots of my married college mates did that. The bulk of the cost tends to be the food at the reception.
- Get married at a church and use their hall, or use a community center or park (rental fees can be between $100-400).
- Buy your flowers at costco or Sam's club - $600 for 40 pieces (and by piece I mean bouquets, centerpieces, boutonnières etc)
- DOn't skimp on the photographer but dont get a 10K package. Some will do as little as $400 - print your own pics and buy your own album.
- Print your own invitations. E-mail save-the-dates.
- Buy your veil on ebay! Mine was $200 at the store, $20 on ebay
- There are several gorgeous gowns under 600 dollars.
- Have your maids pay for their own dresses.
- Get your cake from a grocery store.
- Get married on a weekday or Sunday morning. That shaves off almost 50% of the cost.
- Get married in January or December.

 

[prettypuff1]

Girl head down to the court house and have a nice dinner afterwards!!!!!



Or you can have everything all in one room. I just went to a beautiful wedding where the ceremony and reception were in the same room. It was very elegant. They had a large arch way set up for the ceremony, and they just set up the table for the bride and groom under that for the reception. I think that saved a lot of money. She also had it in the afternoon on a Saturday in Feb, so that saved money as well.. Also think about having a finger foods reception, the food at banquet halls isnt that great to begin with unless u spend over 100/plate and you can cut costs then.

I think sometimes we see the weddings on TV and think that we all must have something like that. It is unrealistic to expect everyone to have a $90,000 wedding but it isn't reality. You don't have that kind of money and there is nothing wrong with that. You are in school and frankly it would be nuts to go into long term debt over one day. I mean anything that you and your SO plan will be great because u planned it in love. You can always have a small ceremony now and have the blow out one when u celebrate your 10 yr anniversary.

If anyone has an issue with what you planned, tell the they are more than welcome to pitch in

 

[ThickHair]

I say destination wedding.

 

[deltagyrl]

I don't think $33k is bad. erplexed

When I got married we paid for everything in cash. No debt after the wedding.

IF I had it to do all over again I'd do a destination wedding and use the $$ as a down payment on a house.

GL to you!

 

[LBoogie]

I say destination wedding.

That's what I'm doing and so far we've only spent about 4k with 2.5 weeks to go until the big day. I still have a few more things to buy for the guests but I estimate we won't end up spending more than 6-7k.

The reception in July, that's another story..we're expecting that to run us about 3k.

Overall ALOT less than 33k.

 

[TracyNicole]

There are tons of ways to do a wedding for less than 30K. I would advise using credit cards because you have some legal protections if someone fails to deliver a service BUT pay it off right away. I can't think of anything worse than entering a new phase of life under the burden of debt. I started planning my wedding 2 weeks ago and thought the cost of things were ridiculous. It is your day and it should be what you want. For me that meant having people who genuinely cared for us, our happiness and our future together present.

All the people who want to come because they're nosy or feel entitled to an invitation will be sadly disappointed. We of course will not turn anyone away from the ceremony. I didn't have to skimp on anything that was important to us and our cost for a Saturday wedding in May is about 9,000. More importantly, I won't feel badly that I used money that could help us get our lives started on the right track feeding people who showed up just to gossip.

Our ceremony is at our local church and we booked out a local restaurant we frequent weekly to handle the reception. It feels more meaningful because we will be doing what we always do on Saturday- going to mass and walking across the street for a nice meal. HTH!

Tee

 

[PassionFruit]

I had a HUGE fancy wedding for a LOT less than that ( didnt hurt that ive been in wedding planning business off & on for years)

both my cousin and I got GREAT deals on the reception hall by booking a date that was already booked for someone else...

my cousin's place was charging $150 per plate... the bride had left a 50% deposit ( non-refundable) ... the guy told her that if she could get married on that date, he would only charge her $35 per plate... she had 3 weeks to plan the wedding at this FABULOUS location but that meant less headaches and no time for drama... it worked out fine


I stole her idea... but instead of doing a cancellation... I looked for a date nobody wanted.... Dates like April Fools ( or even the day before or after) often go unpicked by brides.... I got married on Sunday April 2 but was offered the same price for any day that weekend cuz no one had booked April 1st... Same thing with dates like Halloween or not around big holiday party season ( do Xmas or Hanukkah time... no summer weddings, especially in June and no holiday weekends liek labor Day, July 4th, etc)

 

[Highly Favored8]

Wow mines will be way less than that amount!

 

[Sweet C]

i think you can do a wedding for a lot less than that. My wedding was almost 10k over 3 years ago and that included 250 guests and honeymoon, but I had a lot of hook-ups being that I had a cousin who had married 1 month before I did.

There are many ways to cut costs, you just have to decide what is most important to you. One thing I do suggest you don't skimp on is photography/video and do not go into debt for your wedding (meaning have the money to pay for it, but pay by CC for certain services just in case you need to dispute charges). Also for your FH, consider purchasing a wedding set, since this is typically more cost efficient than buying a ring and then a matching band.

 

[memee1978]

its the commitment that counts!!!

 

[naturalmanenyc]

$33,000 sounds right depending on the number of guests for a wedding in NYC with all the trimmings.

My good friend is paying $175 per person for her wedding this summer in Manhattan (Sunday evening). $175 is just for the catering/liquor (includes tax & tip). The photographer, videographer, dress, hair stylist, make-up, flowers & rings are all additional expenses.......and of course the honeymoon. Average in NYC/Long Island is $100 per person for catering halls. Saturday nights in the summer & fall are usually the most expensive dates.

I highly recommend destination weddings and understand they can be done for $5,000 or less and the guests tend to pay their own expenses.