Wedding Budget?

[npham]

Just looking to get an idea of what everyone paid to get married. We are looking to have about 150 guests, and most likely within the Calgary area, or Banff/Canmore. Even better if you can break it down into categories like: venue, food(plated or buffet), entertainment, photographer etc.

PM me if you don't want to publicly state up much you spent/will spend.

[ExtraSlow]

There are a few things that can make a big difference to this:

1) photographer. anywhere from $0 for getting your aunt/sister to do it up to $10k for a professional team. Can add in Thousands more for the album in some cases. Mine was $3500 for the photogs, and we bought the album for our 1 year anniversary.
2) booze. If you go straight cash bar, no worries. Loonie or twonie are the middle-ground options. I don't recommend host bar for anyone, since it just means that at lest 25% of the drinks will be wasted or thrown out. In some cultures, it's got to be host bar, which can be the most expensive part of the night at some venues.


I've been to very nice weddings, mine included, that cost under $10k, and I've been to one recently that was without a doubt over $100k. IMO, you are doing this backwards. Figure out your budget, then figure out how to fit within that.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[Unknown303]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
Mine won't be that useful to you... I pretty much said "fuck it", and did it as cheaply as possible so I could take a wicked 5 week honeymoon instead. I don't regret it one bit... weddings are a waste of money and too stressful IMO.

/buzzkill lol

My wife and I went to a restaurant in Bridgeland. had a JP show up and the waiter and bartender were our witnesses. JP was aprox 200, and had a 400-500 dollar bill including a 1XX dollar bottle of champagne and a big tip to the guys for helping out. We we're the only people in the restaurant when we got married then after the JP left a couple other tables showed up. Made for a great personal night.

[eblend]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
Mine won't be that useful to you... I pretty much said "fuck it", and did it as cheaply as possible so I could take a wicked 5 week honeymoon instead. I don't regret it one bit... weddings are a waste of money and too stressful IMO.

/buzzkill lol


Ditto! Spend like $3.5k on mine at the Canmore Nordic center, with food, my photographer buddy as a photographer, for 25 people. I just don't get the whole "my dick is bigger than yours" wedding that the Chinese like to throw, invite 250 people, including the family pets, just to show off how mighty their family is. Mind you most of my friends are Chinese (I am white) so those are mostly the type of weddings I attend. I just don't get why someone would want to blow that much money on a single day. You can make a day special without spending a years income, like going somewhere nice for a change and enjoying your time together. To each their own

[bitteeinbit]

It's just part of Asian culture. Weddings with 500+ guests are common and ceremonies last for 2 days (traditionally it was a whole week). For Asians in the west it's pretty much a showboating thing but here everyone does it so it's no biggie. Everyone looks at you strange if you have a small one. Not sure about the Chinese but it's worth noting that people always bring an envelope with cash as a gift so sometimes the wedding pays fr itself (just think of it as paying for your own meal).

As for me, I also find it's a waist to spend too much but if I end up marrying a local girl I'd probably have to fork out a lot of cash...


Interesting to see the results of the poll, seems there is a very even spread in terms of what people spent.

[Cos]

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[Aleks]

20ish people at Bellagio in Vegas

Wedding ~$5-6k
Dinner at Prime patio ~$10K
Private room at a club in Caesars another $3-4K

Could have done the same thing in Calgary for more people but decided we wanted only family and closest friends. Also they took care of everything so we just showed up and had a great time.

[nzwasp]

Originally posted by bitteeinbit
It's just part of Asian culture. Weddings with 500+ guests are common and ceremonies last for 2 days (traditionally it was a whole week). For Asians in the west it's pretty much a showboating thing but here everyone does it so it's no biggie. Everyone looks at you strange if you have a small one. Not sure about the Chinese but it's worth noting that people always bring an envelope with cash as a gift so sometimes the wedding pays fr itself (just think of it as paying for your own meal).

As for me, I also find it's a waist to spend too much but if I end up marrying a local girl I'd probably have to fork out a lot of cash...


Interesting to see the results of the poll, seems there is a very even spread in terms of what people spent.

I'm not sure I agree about that. I think the only reason that the Chinese/Asian weddings are so large is that the bride and groom let their parents get too involved. Ive been to some of these large weddings and I'm pretty sure the bride and groom didnt know 75% of the people there. My wife is Chinese and we kept our wedding to a modest 120 people.

[Tik-Tok]

<$10g

We also were of the type that didn't go for the big wedding. Immediate family and 2 friends each. Did it right on the beach in Tofino, stayed at the Long Beach Lodge. Honestly, the LBL didn't most of the work for us, lol. Best fucking wedding cake ever too, it was just a chocolate cake, but it was mind blowingly good. (So much so that after the ummm... consumation... I had to go raid the hotels kitchen and we finished the cake that night on the balcony :rofl: )


The ONLY thing we regret is not having a professional photographer, but we couldn't afford it at the time.


Originally posted by nzwasp


Ive been to some of these large weddings and I'm pretty sure the bride and groom didnt know 75% of the people there.

This was a large reason we didn't have a big one. We originally intended on it, but by the time her parents finished INSISTING we invite X amount of people (because they were invited to their kids weddings :rolleyes: ), we just said fuck it, and did the small one. We aren't even asian, lol.

[SOAB]

my wedding cost some in the 30g range. my parents got 3 tables for their friends, and my wifes parents got 2 tables. the rest were family and friends.

i can't remember what the breakdown for costs was but i know that the catering and alcohol was the majority of that cost.

with all the money we collected, we spent maybe 2-3g's in the end. not bad considering i got to party and get drunk with all my friends and family.

[jaylo]

150 guest plus a great venue will be at least 30,000, trust me I have been to a few weddings this year and place your budget and add 30% more

[Khyron]

Prices obviously gone up since I got married but basically local community hall was 500-750, photographer 1000, friend/fam did video. Dinner was buffet around 20-25/person, then booze was 1500 or so (wife's dad paid for it) - agree that a toonie bar would keep the waste down. DJ guy was 300-500.

Dress is a big wild card - we wanted to rent for 200-400 but her mom wanted to buy some 1000+ thing. Justice was few hundred as well.

Well under 8K.

Been to some 50K+ with bar rental/live bands etc and I just don't see the point.

[Cos]

.

[Kloubek]

Ours came in less than 10g. Granted, all the planning and decorating was done by us. We got my brother to MC the reception, got a discount wedding photographer (who now charges about triple what we paid her since she was starting out) and tried to cut costs where we could.

My wife is Filipino and none of her family could attend, so we ended up only having just under 50 people. But when asked for their honest opinions (and my siblings are nothing but honest), we were told it was a gorgeous wedding.

The biggest expense for us was the venue. The reception room was something like 3k-4k by itself, but the supplied a gazebo in Canmore with a great view for the ceremony.

[npham]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
IMO, you are doing this backwards. Figure out your budget, then figure out how to fit within that.

Our budget can be in the +$30,000 range, but we were hoping to see how much it would cost to get a nice wedding and what people were spending. While I agree that it seems wasteful to spend 20 or 30k on a wedding, we want to have a good time with our family and friends and we enjoy good food(which is the highest single cost).

[cet]

We had about 80 people and ours was in the 20-30 range as well. the reception and photographer took up about 2/3 of the budget. All the other things, cake, flowers, dress, tux rentals, church, limo, etc. took up the remaining 1/3.

[eblend]

Originally posted by npham


Our budget can be in the +$30,000 range, but we were hoping to see how much it would cost to get a nice wedding and what people were spending. While I agree that it seems wasteful to spend 20 or 30k on a wedding, we want to have a good time with our family and friends and we enjoy good food(which is the highest single cost).

You can have one hell of a party for 30k with all of your friend and family, without having to pay the "wedding" premium.

[masoncgy]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
Mine won't be that useful to you... I pretty much said &quot;fuck it&quot;, and did it as cheaply as possible so I could take a wicked 5 week honeymoon instead. I don't regret it one bit... weddings are a waste of money and too stressful IMO.

/buzzkill lol

No doubt.

This thread has done well to remind me why I haven't bothered going ahead with an official wedding. Thanks guys!

[98type_r]

The one upside of having a huge Asian wedding is that you can bring your own liquor. Get a one day liquor license and bring all your own booze to the restaurant.

Budget around $5000 for a decent photographer, bonus if they have an assistant/2nd shooter for additional shots/angles.

[bitteeinbit]

Originally posted by nzwasp


I'm not sure I agree about that. I think the only reason that the Chinese/Asian weddings are so large is that the bride and groom let their parents get too involved. Ive been to some of these large weddings and I'm pretty sure the bride and groom didnt know 75% of the people there. My wife is Chinese and we kept our wedding to a modest 120 people.

Well that's how it's traditionally done. A traditional marriage involves not just family, but everyone from the village, as well as people from neighbouring villages etc. Everyone has a great time and gets waisted. You have to invite X, Y and Z because they invited you to their cousins wedding so you HAVE to invite them. I'm not Asian and I agree that it's stupid, but it's just the way things are for them. You'd be hard-pressed to find a local girl (I don't mean a Asian-Canadian chick, who are a completely different breed) who wouldn't want the big bash. And considering that it lasts two days and starts at 5am, it doesn't seem like a very pleasant experience to me. Better to invite a few people and enjoy yourself but tradition stipulates that you have to invite anyone remotely related (and they'll bring along their friends...).

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by masoncgy


No doubt.

This thread has done well to remind me why I haven't bothered going ahead with an official wedding. Thanks guys!

I hear that. Some people are spending nearly a down payment on a house, on a one-day event. Crazy.

[nzwasp]

My wife and I wanted to get married in Banff/Canmore - but after going to a bunch of venues for around 120 - 150 people we eventually decided to get married in Kelowna, BC. The venue was a winery and it came to 10k less than it would of for Banff.

Also since it was semi-destination it meant that only people that really knew us wanted to spend the money to get themselves there.

Also we were allowed to get the one day liquor license and provide beer and spirits for our guests. The venues seem to turn a blind eye to where this booze comes from - in our case it wasn't all from BC liquor.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by BerserkerCatSplat


I hear that. Some people are spending nearly a down payment on a house, on a one-day event. Crazy. 40-50% end up in divorce.

Be happy everyday. No need to go on lock down.

:D

[ercchry]

we do have a $30k+ budget... but im trying to talk her out of using even 1/5th of it on the wedding :rofl:

[sputnik]

Originally posted by ercchry
we do have a $30k+ budget... but im trying to talk her out of using even 1/5th of it on the wedding :rofl:

Not even married and already fighting about money.

Unless she makes 4-5 times more than you do... run.

My wife spent $300 on her wedding dress.

[ercchry]

thats nice. its not a fight about money. its just wasteful, i'd rather get a third house... :dunno:

[bleu]

My BF and I have decided to not have a wedding and to just get married. Afterall it is the marriage that is most important, not the wedding.

We are both quiet and private people and will just be inviting our bestfriends and immediate family. We don't see the need to spend exhorbitant amounts of money for people we will never see again. LOL

[sputnik]

If I had to do it again...

I would have 30-40 people and just have a dinner here.

http://www.crmr.com/theranche/

[blitz]

Originally posted by sputnik


Not even married and already fighting about money.

Unless she makes 4-5 times more than you do... run.

My wife spent $300 on her wedding dress.

My wife was about the same. We did the whole wedding for < $2k for 45 people.

Fresh out of University, we made the food ourselves, free location at a relatives cottage, they made their bouquets from Costco flower bundles, etc.

[300zxfairlday]

Pretty lucky! East indian weddings are like a week long thing full of parties and costs are a lot more then 30k! Guests are ussally in the range of 300-500

[1barA4]

This website says the average Canadian spends 20-30k on their wedding (http://www.mycanadianwedding.com/wedding-articles/expenses/average-cost-of-canadian-wedding/)

I had 110 guests, spent just over 10k including wedding party gifts, photographer, dj, etc. (Chinese wedding). In hindsight, I could have spent more, but it was still perfect for what we wanted. (I think the average is thrown off by baller chinese and indian weddings to be honest)

[dawerks]

400+ people, WAY back in the day. Probably cost a mint but then again things/expectations were different then.

And wife's parents paid for it all. We were dead broke. We repaid them by leaving our kids with them 'once in a while'.

Haha. Actually I used to laugh, but I can't wait till my kids leave their kids with me. Happily will pay for their weddings :)

[Isaiah]

We just got married this past weekend with 120 guests and the bill came in at just under 10k. We were fortunate, however, that my wife's dad is a professional photographer so we got the shoot and album at no charge. Otherwise it would have added $5k to the cost.

The venue we used was Fort Calgary and it was by far the best wedding buffet I've ever had. In fact, of the 120 guests, at least 100 also said that it was the best wedding food by a long shot they've ever tasted. I would very highly recommend Fort Calgary as a venue but I believe they max out at 140 guests in their large hall.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by bleu
My BF and I have decided to not have a wedding and to just get married. Afterall it is the marriage that is most important, not the wedding.

We are both quiet and private people and will just be inviting our bestfriends and immediate family. We don't see the need to spend exhorbitant amounts of money for people we will never see again. LOL :werd: :werd: :werd:

[bigbadboss101]

How about smaller engagement ring, smaller wedding. Bigger honeymoon and big screen TV?

[theken]

I got married at osteria de medici. had about 20 people, cost was around 3k. It was nice, I do regret not having a big wedding and stuff, but thats what 5 years and 10 years are for I guess

[max_boost]

Originally posted by bigbadboss101
How about smaller engagement ring, smaller wedding. Bigger honeymoon and big screen TV? I did not realize that some women have planned their marriage since they were kids and it's a serious deal to them. I wouldn't say that's high maintenance but somethings just mean more to others.

[baygirl]

Originally posted by max_boost
I did not realize that some women have planned their marriage since they were kids and it's a serious deal to them. I wouldn't say that's high maintenance but somethings just mean more to others.
I've known women who have had there weddings planned down to the last detail, all they needed was the groom....they are more concerned about the wedding day than the actual marriage.

[taemo]

my fiance's parents want a big wedding here, however both of us just want a small simple wedding.

at this moment, what we are thinking on doing is eloping in Phi Phi, get married and honeymoon just the 2 of us.
Then have a small simple family/friends banquet in Calgary when we are back.

honestly, we don't want to spend more than $5000 just for a day event and rather use the money on our house or honeymoon

[dodgecaliber]

20/30K crowd: Thanks for taking these women off the market for the time being.

[little_wan]

Getting married next week, roughly 30k budget for 150 people. Cost is being split 4 ways, but I still spend every other minute being bitter about it.The wedding day will work out to $50/minute. I'm gonna be taking some expensive dumps that day. If I had it my way, I'd have a small gathering in my backyard with some bbq and spend the rest of it on a honeymoon... But both sets of parents ain't having it.

[googe]

Originally posted by 98type_r

Budget around $5000 for a decent photographer, bonus if they have an assistant/2nd shooter for additional shots/angles.

:rofl:

[msommers]

Originally posted by little_wan
But both sets of parents ain't having it.

Wait, who's wedding is this?!

[little_wan]

Originally posted by msommers


Wait, who's wedding is this?!

Did I mention I'm Chinese? Hahaha.

[masoncgy]

Originally posted by msommers
Wait, who's wedding is this?!

No doubt. WTF?

If someone had a problem with the way I wanted to do my wedding, I'll tell them to fuck right off and not come. Parents or otherwise.

Give me a break, that's totally ridiculous.

[little_wan]

Is it ridiculous, yes, but 30k probably isn't far off from the average cost of a wedding in Calgary. And my own share of that is under 8k. But while it doesn't really resonate much with me, it makes a lot of people in the family extremely happy. So I can suck it up this one time for my parents who have invested 1000 times that into me. And it makes the lady happy which has its own rewards :D

[JDMsomething]

Got married this year in a nice B.C. venue on the ocean total cost was about $70,000 for 90 people. It adds up quick!

[speedog]

Originally posted by masoncgy
No doubt. WTF?

If someone had a problem with the way I wanted to do my wedding, I'll tell them to fuck right off and not come. Parents or otherwise.

Give me a break, that's totally ridiculous.
Well said but then again, an old white guy like myself will not ever begin to comprehend that intricacies involved with being a young chinese lad like little_wan - I'd expect that they've got culture and untold/unsaid customs/expectations that are expected to be conformed to regardless of one's own personal wants. I would also suspect the same of many other groups of people - even some of the more Italian families I know place very heavy expectations on those in their families that are getting married.

My kids - if and when they get married, if they want to do it in the backyard or do something simple, I'll have no issue with that as it is truly their day and their day alone - the rest of us, we are there only to witness something special happening between two people. But note that this is coming from a guy whose wedding was solely footed by myself and my wife - we wanted no one else's monies to be involved because of the usual expectations that might have come attached with that offered money.

90 some odd people in Kelowna in a wonderful small church, very nice sit down dinner and an open bar for all invited guests - happened some 22 years ago and no, I don't remember the cost anymore as there's just to much white hair creeping in above. Our extravagances - the cake, the hotel room that night and the photographer (can't ever go back and capture the moment because of a shitty photographer).

[msommers]

Originally posted by JDMsomething
Got married this year in a nice B.C. venue on the ocean total cost was about $70,000 for 90 people. It adds up quick!

:nut:

[jaylo]

When your budget allows you to spend ($20-70K), then I would say go for it.

It really depends if you can financially afford it or not. We had a blast on our wedding and I'd do it again.

[sillysod]

I already owned my place when I met my wife and cars etc were all paid for.

She's Turkish and there is no such thing as a $5000 wedding to a Turkish girl. haha

We had 200 people at the Sheraton downtown. All in with food, venue, video/photographer, drinks etc. we were around $40,000 - not including honeymoon. That was 8 years ago though too so probably more now.

I just knew that I did not want a buffet, I wanted plated dinner where everybody gets their food at the same time instead of getting called up to get in line for beef on a bun or something like that. I always hated that about weddings. Some people are finishing desert and you are still sitting there waiting to get called up.

[dodgecaliber]

$40K. that is criminal.

[boarderfatty]

Coming from a big European family my parents want a huge wedding. If whoever I marry is willing to go the traditional big church, big reception, 1000+ guests, open bar, my parents will pay.

If we want something smaller or non traditional We will have to pay.

My cousin go married last year in a big traditional wedding and it is tempting. They had almost 2000 people in 2 big sittings, didn't pay for a thing. The showers furnished a house, the parents put a substancial down payment on the house, the 500+k in envelopes at the reception paid off the rest of the house and bought a couple decent cars.

As much as I do not believe in church, and would much prefer a smaller more intimate venue in a non traditional setting, it is hard to turn down gifts like that imo.