How much should I expect to spend on a wedding?

Question

Just got engaged & am being a total girl looking at options, etc. =) but this stuff is WAY more expensive than I ever imagined! Can anyone give estimates on *approximate* prices for the following:
cake
food (catered, buffet style -not formal)
photographer
rental of chairs, tables, etc.
I live in Ohio, if location matters.
Thanks so much! I want to do a lot of it myself, to save money, but really don't want to skimp on what I have listed above.

Well, my father is dead and the groom's parents are retired. Seems unfair to shoulder the burden to my mom or people on a fixed income. In addition, we are both college grads & employed full time, so plan on paying for our celebration ourselves

Answer 1

Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing a Fantastic Wedding on a Realistic Budget

Check out this book. It was on Oprah, and I used it to help plan my wedding. It has some helpful hints and is worth the cost of the book. My friend bought it for me as an engagement present.

Another helpful hint is that I always thought it would be cool to have an evening wedding and just do appetizers and cocktails as opposed to a whole meal to save money. Also, doing the centerpieces yourself will help. You could also skip wedding favors as many people see them as useless and leave them on the tables anyways.

I would also agree with the first answer that the place to not skimp on money if the photographer. Having the pictures to remember the day is the most important part :)

Best wishes!

Answer 2

Cake: bakery, about $3 a serving and up depending on how complicated your design is. grocery store, $1.75 a serving

Food: Ours is in NE Ohio and it's going to run about $20 a head for a pretty location. You will pay more inside city limits and less outside. We liked Mapleside Farms and Windows on the River in Cleveland. I've heard good things about Sammy's.

Photographer: That can be tricky. High prices don't make good pics and low prices don't mean bad ones. You can pick up a awesome guy who's just getting started for free or very cheap and you can get suckered by a con artist and pay thousands for horrible. It's all about how you do your homework. Ours is free + cost of supplies b/c I found a guy who is starting and need examples for his portfolio. He's using our pics and I'll write a letter of reccomendation in exchange for him taking the photos. We did a pracitce run with him for engagement photos and at a birthday party so I know he's good.

Chairs, tables, etc: 1500. We found out after rentals it was just as much ans in some cases cheaper to find a hall that included those things than do the backyard reception we had originally planned on.

Answer 3

I just got engaged as well and am equally scared of the cost issue. But we have decided to make it a LONG engagment, two years to be exact, and in the mean time we will have enough money saved to start our life together. What I am doing is buying things little by little. Every week I set aside $20 or so dollars and hit all the clearance isles at walmart, michaels, hobby lobby, target, etc... And also I check e-bay every week for great deals. So far it's coming along great. I am hoping to only spend 2-3 thousand by the time it's all said and done!

Answer 4

I am also engaged and getting married this July 7, 2007. My parent have spent less than $5,000.00 so far and we have EVERYTHING except the cake. The cake will cost only about 200.00 because it will be decorated all fancy. I made my own invitations, programs and favors in order to cut costs. My dress and accesories were $700.00 from david's bridal store. I am not wearing expensive shoes. ADVISE:Do not spend thousands and thousands of dollars on the wedding, either invest in the honeymoon or save as much as your can- The wedding isn't as important as the marriage that takes place after the ceremony. Don't be one of those people who spend 50K on a wedding and then when it all falls apart you wallow in regret! I can't wait to get married 7-7-07!!!!

Answer 5

Location matters hugely in hiring professionals and renting halls.

On the other hand, I firmly believe weddings cost what you're willing to spend on them. It's possible to simply grab your honey, go down to city hall and get a marriage license, and do the whole thing for less than fifty bucks. It's also possible to spend literally hundreds of thousands of dollars one this one day.

Figure out what you can afford to spend without going badly into debt, and go from there. Knowing what you want goes a long way toward stretching your budget, because you can always find less expensive ways of handling the less important (to you) parts. Food, seating, and photographs are great priorities. You're taking care of the comfort of your guests and making sure the memories are well documented.

Best of luck with planning your big day! If you need more advice, you'll find plenty of opinions here!

Answer 6

There is no way for us to give you "estimates". Food may be $25 a head at one location and $300 a head at another.

The cake could be $8 a person or $2 a person, depending on the quality.

A photographer could be $750 or $15000 depending on style, inclusions, experience, etc.

Start calling around and getting estimates. Then, start adding things up. That's really the only way you'll get an accurate number.

Good luck to you.

Answer 7

A wedding can cost as much as you are willing/able to pay!

My bro's came in at under $1500 for 45 people:

Cake - FREE, given by my Aunt as a gift, think she paid $200
Food - $150 total, buffet, catered, ham, mac& cheese, fruit, veggies, bread, etc
Photographer - $200, disposable cameras and a good friend
Dress - $32, made by my mother, fabric bought on sale
Hall - $500, rental of local fire hall, includes tables & chairs
Flowers - $150, purchase wholesale and arranged by us in glass vases from the dollar store, one pre-made bridal boquet
Music - FREE, my bro and his fiancee made mix CDs to cover the time frame. All songs they loved on the hall's PA system, just had to change the CD every now and then and the best man took care of that.


Good luck!!!

Answer 8

I am in NE Ohio, and have done a lot of research on this. The locations around here vary a lot. It would be impossible to give you estimates without knowing your budget and what kind of wedding you want. If you are in the NE Ohio area, send me an e-mail and I will fill you in on what I've found.
Good luck!

Answer 9

It depends on how big of a wedding you want.I am expecting to spend about $50,000 on mine because I am planning a large wedding.The best thing to do is go online and look for bridal shows in your city and surrounding cities near you that you don't mind traveling to.You could win some prizes to save you money and possibly when your wedding all depending on where you live.I live in Fort Lauderdale,Fl and there is a company here that gives away a $20,000 wedding twice a year.

Answer 10

I had it catered for about $100 a person, that included alcohol, cocktail hour with hors d'ouvre, sit down dinner and cake.

Photographer $500 (no album just proofs) Video $2000
DJ $500
Flowers were $75 a center piece, $100 for bridal bouquet, We went with roses.

There were cheaper catering halls, $30 to $200 per person.