Wedding Cost Outrageous

[Hoss40]

Good thing I don't ever plan on getting married. I'm thinking of staying single for the rest of my life

[stevensm4]

There is really is no need for such extravagance but, if the couple wants it, it should purely come out their pockets and no one else.

[gtdoss]

Your daughter's wedding sounds like it will be amazing, though! My husband and I got married 24 years ago in Gatlinburg and got the wedding package that one of the chapels offered, but ended up bringing quite a bit with us up there as well. i think the whole shabang ended up costing something like 1000 dollars. We spent much more than that on our honeymoon cruise to the Western Caribbean, which was well worth it! 

[jkhanson]

Our girls have had a wide range of styles of weddings.
Oldest was married in a State Park.  The most expensive thing was the $5/car entrance fee into the park for the guests.  It was a small wedding and I did alterations on a lovely dress that was actually in the prom dress section....this was back in 1978.

Another daughter wrote a PLAY for the wedding.  There was a skit performed at the annual Arts in the Park which was actually a surprise engagement.  A few hours later, those invited attended the PLAY at the local movie theater.  My daughter had altered clothing for the wedding party to fit the style of Mary Poppins.  It was unusual, unique and Fun!  Also low budget.

Third daughter went the traditional route with dresses from a Bridal Store, reception at the town hall with DJ and a dance, limousine bus ...... We helped out but mostly paid for by the couple.

[mrisha]

Sincerely wish the couple a great wedding.  Hopefully they don't divorce in the next year after paying a lot money for a wedding.

[JaniceSW]

I honestly don’t remember what my wedding cost (too many years ago).  My oldest daughter got married 3 years ago.  Her and her husband both have good jobs and had money to pay for a wedding.  We told them we will give you $10,000 towards your wedding to do as you please.  His parents did the same.  What they did was have a nice, not over the top wedding but a beautiful one, her gown was only $1000 if you haven’t priced wedding gowns lately that’s not expensive, and I work with a woman who’s family owns a condo in hawaii and she gave it to them for a week free!  They took our money and his parents money with some of their money and put a down payment on a house, which I think is a smart move.

My daughter got a great deal on her wedding dress also.  She is a small sample size and it turned out that the designer/manufacturer decided to discontinue the dress she both liked and fit into almost perfectly.  They sold her the dress at half price. She got an almost $2000 dress for just under a $1000!

[dsosnowski06]

My daughter is getting married in October. I have no idea what the final cost is going to be, but they are paying for most of it themselves. We are helping where we can, but are not able to give her the traditional wedding paid for by the bride's family.


I don't believe it is a waste of money at all - depending on budgets and staying reasonable. My thinking = if you have it and can afford to spend it, go all out. If you can't afford to splurge on top notch facilities or arrangements, there are ways to cut corners and save.  My wife and I did a budget when we got married. We stayed within it and we did just fine.


Theoretically this only happens once in your life. I know in reality that is often not the case, unfortunately. But if you truly believe and intend that marriage is for a lifetime - why not celebrate to the extent of your means? It's the biggest party you will probably ever have for yourself. I say don't go into debt over it, but don't deny something you would really like (and can afford) just to be frugal.  (That's a very fine line, though!)

We have given then 10K and they used that for their deposits and the groom's father also offer to pay the bar bill which is another 11K so the rest is up to them to pay for.  But I know I will help during the year if my personal finances allow us to.  I don't think it is realistic any more for the bride's family to pay for the wedding but I do have a nephew getting married at the end of the month and the bride's family is paying for the reception but her father is also big shot with Nike.

[kuriisenbo]

Weddings can be categorized as expensive and short pleasures, but with lasting memories. The newlyweds are ready to pay an enormous sum of money to have a pompous celebration and step beautifully in the married life. Personally, I would never pay such amounts of money for one evening. I celebrated my wedding in Denmark with a few, but the closest relatives and friends. We threw a small party where I could pay attention to all guests. The marriage agency Elena and Leif Bossen took the responsibility from our shoulders regarding the organizational part. Everything was organized at the highest level and on affordable prices.

[cathy37]

Weddings can be very costly, but you can plan a nice wedding a reasonable cost.  The same with a funeral.  I have told my daughter to cremate me.  My spirit would no longer be in that body, it is just a shell.

[linderlizzie]

Our girls have had a wide range of styles of weddings.
Oldest was married in a State Park.  The most expensive thing was the $5/car entrance fee into the park for the guests.  It was a small wedding and I did alterations on a lovely dress that was actually in the prom dress section....this was back in 1978.

Another daughter wrote a PLAY for the wedding.  There was a skit performed at the annual Arts in the Park which was actually a surprise engagement.  A few hours later, those invited attended the PLAY at the local movie theater.  My daughter had altered clothing for the wedding party to fit the style of Mary Poppins.  It was unusual, unique and Fun!  Also low budget.

Third daughter went the traditional route with dresses from a Bridal Store, reception at the town hall with DJ and a dance, limousine bus ...... We helped out but mostly paid for by the couple.

Those weddings sound like loads of fun. What creative children you have. Do they take after their mom? 

[janesue]

I so agree with that.

[Mizzkizz7]

I'd rather just keep it simple

[ancmetro]

     Weddings are not what they used to be. Many people prefer simple ceremonies and
save lots of money to do other things that they really want to do...like buying a RV,
a vehicle or some other personal major investment.

[suemgross]

It seems like most young people are now forgoing the traditional big wedding route in favor of a more affordable low key wedding.  A big picnic in the park, a barbeque in someone's large backyard, or even a small intimate affair at a nice venue.  Spending $20,000 - $50,000 on a big upscale wedding is just a waste of money. 

I had a bigger traditional wedding for my first marriage and was divorced within 5 years.  My second wedding took place in Vegas with a small handful of family/friends.  The wedding cost $298 and 10+ years later we are still happily married.  What I learned is that the marriage is so much more important than the actual wedding. 

[countrygirl12]

My daughter got engaged right before Christmas and has been planning her wedding for January 2021.  It is amazing what the end cost will be for approximately 200 people.  Of course she doesn’t want the typical banquet hall or restaurant but instead went with a old warehouse loft.  This means that everything has to be brought in except the tables and chairs.  Many of the vendors that she has been looking at fortunately offer a discount if you get married between January and March which is why the January wedding.  I never thought about this before but she is saving half on her venue. Bar bill and catering both offered a 15% discount. But still have to look at décor, flowers, DJ, photographer etc.  Of course after you add up everything it is wonder that anyone that gets married now days doesn’t have some debt after getting married.  So glad I got married 37 years ago.

You do not need all this to get married.  Have a small wedding at your church or a local park or some place that does not charge to be there.  If you do not have a church you can usually use one of a family member for less than $200 depending on the church.  You do not need an open bar.  Most people are trying to outdo somebody else.  A girl at my church got married a few months ago.  The church was free to use and her reception was on the grounds of the church and a lady in the church catered so she probably just had to pay for the food.  Nothing elaborate.  You can also find photographers for a reasonable price.  I know people who have used family and the pictures turned out great.