What's the average price of decent, pretty nice weddings?

Question

My finacee and I are going to be fully responsible for the funding of our wedding. We have some savings, but are wondering what the average price of a nice wedding is now? How much should we save? We want something nice but nothing over the top.

Answer 1

This mainly depends on the formality of your wedding. You need to first of all decide on a budget and then go from there. If the budget is small, say $5,000 - $10,000, then think about cutting the guest list. And if that is not an option have a less formal wedding with a larger guest list. I believe the average cost of a wedding is around $30,000.

Answer 2

That's too difficult of a question to answer. It depends on:

1. Where the wedding will be. Urban weddings tend to be more expensive, and backyard receptions are inexpensive.
2. What time of year. Sometimes, getting married in winter can save you some money.
3. What day of the week. Saturday weddings are the most expensive.
4. How many guests. This is the biggest factor, since about 50% of your budget will go toward feeding your guests.
5. What kind of reception. A cake and hordourves reception that lasts about 2 hours is much cheaper than a full 6-hour reception where guests eat a full wedding.
6. How big of a bridal party. The more bridesmaids and groomsmen you have, the more gifts you will have to buy.
7. If you want an informal or formal wedding. An informal wedding is much cheaper, from the dresses to the favors to the food.
8. How much you are willing to do yourself. If you're crafty, you can save money by making centerpieces, favors, invitations, programs, and even bouquets.
9. What you absolutely have to have. Do you have to have a horse-drawn carriage, or will a small limo be enough? Do you need a videographer and a photographer, or just one?
10. How creative you in planning. If you're a saavy negotiator, all your costs can come down. If you're planning ideas are off the beaten track, you might save some costs too.

Basically, how much a wedding costs depends on too many things. Don't base how much your wedding will cost on how much the national average is, which I believe is $22,000.

Answer 3

Do you want a house in the next five years? If so, decide what's more important to you. You can have a wedding for as cheap as 5 - 8 grand if you do a morning and even cheaper if a morning weekday wedding. You could also do a non-alc wedding and save a couple grand there. If you don't like that idea for an evening reception, then have a brunch or afternoon reception. You could also always do an hor d'ouvres reception as well. There are so many options. According to several magazines and books I've gone through, you're looking probably around 25k if you go all out on a Saturday night with an open bar, etc, but it can be cheaply done if you are willing to make your own invites, etc. Check out Martha Stewart's Wedding magazine for some nifty ideas. You could even do a potluck deal and throw it in your parent's backyard. I've been looking off and on and it could be done nicely, but not very lavishly for about 13 -15k at certain venues, but that's still a lot out of your own pocket. Just decide what's important to you and what you can afford to pay in bills over the next few years because it will add up.

Answer 4

Look at how much you're going to be spending for a wedding the average wedding is usually around $5000-7000 moderate is $10,000-15,000. How many guests are you having and what kind of food are you serving. You also have to look at the cost of having a cake since that's usually the most expensive part of the deal pertaining to the food since some couples will also include a groom's cake. But sit down with your fiancee and figure out a realistic budget and if you can put a little more than the actual budget itself to cover just in case you run over by a few dollars so you're not stuck scraping up cash to pay for extras. Some engaged couples set up savings accounts to separate their wedding money from their regular finances to save up for the wedding. But make sure you do a lot of research for things that will meet your budget and make your special day a memorable one. Take a look at the website I suggest you see below to get some ideas for planning your special day.

Answer 5

If you are fully responsible for your wedding, then the budget will be what you can afford. You can have a really nice, fun and comfortable wedding from 5000.00 to a more elaborat, posh ceremony reaching into the double didgets. I think to save a lot of money go with an outdoor theme to elimante alot of expense in decorations. Anywhere that has a beautiful scenery I would use to my benefit. As for the meal have a buffet style and save up the booze and music. AND of course your hair and shoes.

Answer 6

We spent 15,000 on a wedding for 250. She got the dress she wanted because it was a close out. We spent the bulk of the money on the reception because we wanted a grand party, so ceremony and reception held in one place that is well known in town for great food (not fancy, we served rosemary pork loin and fried chicken), an open bar because I hate having to pay for drinks at a wedding, and really spectacular set up and clean up. Linen table clothes and china included. We also spent a very good amount of money on the pictures and were not disappointed. We skimped on the invitations, the gifts to guests, didn't rent a limo, and didn't hire a band. We got a DJ that had everyone dancing until they threw us all out. So set a budget you can afford(I paid everything off right away or as I went), pick the things that mean the most to you and spend most of your money there, and don't worry about the little stuff. Its your wedding, what people want to remember is how happy you were, not what kind of designer chocolate they got on their table.

Congrats.

Answer 7

We also had to pay for our wedding. Money was tight. so we were going to just go to the court house. We went for a walk about two months before the wedding and there is a old boat that had been in the town we grew up in for years that gives tours of the local lake. I went to a bridal store and bought a beautiful pale lilac discount dress, he wore a suit with a tie to match my dress, I had my aunts decorate the boat. Bought a wedding cake, got my hair and makeup done at a local beauty shop, decorated water bottles with ribbon to match my dress filled them with Hawian punch, got a minister, had a friend take pictures, my mother played the wedding march on her acoustic guitar. We put together a CD of songs that meant alot to us, went to a restraunt and hired a server for $20.00 toserve the cake and punch to our guest. We got married and then our guest got to take the lake tour as cake and punch were served to them. We then drove to Chicago for the weekend. Total wedding cost everything listed under $600.00. I could not have asked for a better wedding. All of my guest are still telling me that it was the most beautiful ceremony they had ever been to, because it was not about the wedding it was about the love, and it gave them time to remember how much they loved one another. I requested no children on the invite for that purpose. You will have a great wedding as long as you are in love, money will not be an issue!

Answer 8

Ours was about $15K. We did a lot of the decorations ourselves (my mother-in-law is crafty and her and I both shop for bargins) and we didn't have a limo or a band or any of that fru-fru stuff. My dad insisted on something other than buns with meat for the reception, so we found a good Italian place to cater us. That was the main expense, but three years later, people are still raving about how awesome our food was.

Answer 9

You should start out with a reasonable budget say $2000. But you have to factor in who you want to invite. We tried to stick with the immediate families but got guilt tripped into inviting extra people. I think the expensive things are photographer, venue, transportation, cake and dinner. If you can curb costs in those areas by using family and friends to provide services, I think if can be done for $2000. good luck!

Answer 10

I would say about $10,000 for a reasonably nice wedding - but it depends on what you want, and how many people you are inviting. I would say the average wedding costs about $25,000.