What is average cost of a wedding now days and still reasonable???

Question

ok, here goes nothing......i just have to ask......how much is a reasonable abount to spend on a wedding now days????? My fiance and i have been disagreeing over this topic ever since we got engaged.....everyone i talk to says a wedding now days can cost anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 dollars, i say i can get it done with about $10,000 and my fiance says thats WAY too much hes putting in $5,000 and thats it !!!but i cant see getting everything accomplished with that, am i being greedy or is he being unrealistic? whos being more sensible? I NEED ADVICE!!!!

Answer 1

I am spending about $10,000.00 ~ I would have to say I have been fortunate and since my engagement was over a year, I had the time to shop around. I did shop around like crazy and compared prices, I wheeled and dealed, everyone out there wants your business and just walk away or say I can find someone who can do better, and you will be surprised just to see how many will actually meet your needs. I used craigslist.com also.

Good Luck and Congrats the both of you!!

Answer 2

Without knowing WHERE you're getting married, I can't tell you what's reasonable, or normal. In NYC expect to spend a lot more than you would in Corpus Christi.

That said, I had a beautiful wedding, with everything I wanted for less than $10,000, and that included our honeymoon (although not our spending money on that honeymoon, or our resort time as that was a wedding gift). I was able to do this because I got married in the rural area where my family lives and prices are much lower (true even in New England) instead of the rather large city where my fiance and I lived (and still live). I also have a florist, a cake decorator, a seamstress, and a minister either in the family or close enough to be considered family. Plus all the great contacts that come with that - the florist, for example, knew of a great reception hall/caterer I would never have known about otherwise.

Basically, you can pull off a wedding at pretty much any price if you are willing to make the appropriate cuts. You might have to have a brunch instead of a dinner at your reception. You will probably have to have a morning wedding to take advantage of cheaper reception hall prices earlier in the day. Having the wedding during the week is cheaper than Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. A DJ or a friend with a computer and good speakers is a lot cheaper than a band. Skip the open bar - it's a money sink. Flowers can be limited to bouquets, corsages and bouts for the wedding party and parents only. Photography costs can be eliminated by having a talented friend or family member take photos or video, or reduced by hiring a photography student looking for the experience. Cakes from a grocery bakery aren't that expensive - certainly quite a bit cheaper than my smallish cake from a professional cake decorator would have been if it hadn't been a wedding gift. The smaller the wedding party the cheaper your costs will be, and the smaller your guest list the cheaper the costs will be. The latter is BY FAR the easiest way to cut costs.

Todays trend of going into debt to pay for a wedding seems foolish at best. Many marriages are over before the couple has finished paying off the credit card bills. Even without that dismal statistic, it's foolish to pay for your wedding on credit because you end up paying so much more after all the interest is added on.

If you are still sure you can't do it with the budget he's set, you need to sit down with him and some REAL numbers to show him what this stuff costs. It's hard to say who's being unrealistic until you talk about your expectations withe real information in front of you.

Good luck, and remember, the marriage is supposed to last forever - the wedding is just one day. A great wedding is no guarantee to a great marriage.

Answer 3

There are a lot of good answers here - the simple answer is that a wedding can cost as much or as little as you want it to, but you may not have the wedding you envision. (And be careful going by any "average" figures - and average wedding in New York won't cost the same as an average wedding in a small city in Oregon, for instance.)

By the way, you say that like your fiance is putting in $5000 - I'm not sure if you mean he'll be paying for the whole thing, or he thinks that the two of you should only spend $5000 on it?

At any rate, the first step is to sit down with him and figure out what your priorities are - what are the most important things that you want to make sure you have?

Then you'll need to do some price gathering, and try to make up a rough budget. Start with the big things - call a hotel/hall/whatever in the area and find out roughly how much they charge for weddings there (including food, rentals, serving staff, etc.). They may even have a list of packages you could pick up. Do the same for local photographers - they'll vary widely, but at least you'll be able to show him some sort of itemized breakdown. $10,000 sounds like a lot of money if you're talking about it as a lump sum. If he sees how things add up though, he may be a little more understanding of your point of view.

I'm getting married in October, and our total cost (including reception, honeymoon, and everything) will be around $10,000. And we're getting a pretty good deal on the reception - $425 rental for the hall, and $17.50 a plate for food for 125-150 people.

Believe me, once he sees all of the numbers tallied (and sees that you're not planning to spend, say, $15 per invitation and $10 per guest favor or something), he'll come around.

There are some great budget tools online - they list things you may not have even factored in.

Congratulations, and good luck!

Answer 4

Oh those days of excitement, tension, confusion and happiness! What do you want the most? A costly wedding or a healthy marriage? No matter how eleaborate, pricey, chic, or retro the wedding/reception are -- it's only for a day. There are going to be more monumental decisions that will be made -- if you two exchange vows.
What I was counseled over 20 years ago was this. Your wedding is a wise exercise to help the two involved how well they: are able to make decisions; make their own personal statement and establish their marital identity (this is what we envision); trust one another's judgement and; can anticipate handlig money matters.
You do know that the three common areas of marital stress are:Communication, Money and Sex. Ultimatums are usually a no-no, the major area of disagreement is money, and when these areas are whacked -- there's usually no meaningful S--.
Some decisions are worth a wait or a revisit. If this day means something to the two of you, then you need to make it meaningful and come together in agreement with one another. You want to build a marriage and not just have a "wedding." Too many "weddings" don't last as marriages.

Answer 5

Depending on how many guests you have, and with the cost of things nowadays, I say $5000 probably won't get very far. I'm planning a small wedding and trying to keep things simple. I'm not having very many flowers (bouquet for me, single flowers for bridesmaids, bouteniers for the guys, and thats it), our photographer and invitations are free because we have people in the family in the business and thats their gift to us, and we're keeping the guest list fairly small (just over 100 people) and we're still expecting to pay around $10,000. Probably a little bit less. Everything is SO expensive!

I would say average weddings these days go anywhere from $10,000 - $20,000 and sometimes more if they're insanely extravegant.

Answer 6

i would say at least 10,000 or its not going to be looking so good. You could try to see what you can do for less but its all about the deals you can get. Make a pre budget and list aprox price what each thing would be, he will see how things all add up. There are things hes probably not even thinking about such as...some places you need to pay for the priest,as well as the organist, photographer, centre pecies, marriage licence ,gifts for the grooms men and the bride maids, flowers,wedding dress, cake, the food alone will cost you big time depending on if your having a sit down meal or not. Make a list and go over it will him and he will see how things will cost a lot but it will be worth it!

Answer 7

Ours was around $5000, including photographer, gown, reception, dj, rings, etc. We had 150 guests and a really nice ceremony & reception at a golf club. We chose a brunch reception for something different, and saved a lot of money that way. Alcohol is a big concern too... a full bar will cost you, but if you want some alcohol but nothing too crazy, try beer and wine, or maybe make a short menu of a few drinks you & your fiance like for guests to choose from. Less guests will drink at an early wedding, too. Best wishes!

Answer 8

Find a beautiful dress and a beautiful park a few good friends with nice cameras and few family members that can make some yummy picnic food and Have Beautiful Park wedding and the meal right there ... really be creative and you can save alot of money. You should not have to go in debt over your wedding and make yourselves feel bad for the next 20 years trying to pay your wedding off. But it is your day - your life - your love - don't start your marriage off fighting over money... That is a huge problems these days - money - but the two of you should sit down and see if you are on the same page - the things that are important to you are they important to him?

I hope you find your answers. Hope you live happily ever after with many wonderful memories

Answer 9

It really depends on were you get married. Mine Cost around $5,000. But we dont live in a big city and we did alot our selves. I did almost all the flowers and decorations. And we catered it our self. I was lucky that my parents were able to chip in thats not commen for the area that i live in most of my friends paid for their own weddings. If you are going all out the price starts around $10,000. But if you are very careful you can do it for less.

Answer 10

My reception is costing $22,800. Thats without the Church, dress, flowers, dj, photographer, limos, hair and make-up and honey moon. I live in New york so it is very expensive. It will probably cost me $50,000 by the time i am done. So to me $5,000 is unrealistic, unless you are just having dinner in a restaraunt. Good Luck with your planning!! Im getting a second Job LOL.