Wedding ideas and costs

[LUDELVR]

To all you married folks out there, I've been looking into prices for weddings and I know that there are some pretty baller weddings but could some of you more frugal spenders out there please elucidate me on the average costs with a break down of what you paid for and what was needed? Also, where would you cut down and where would you splurge if you would do it again.

PM me if you don't want to post it up publicly too.

Cheers folks!

[taemo]

It depends on venue, how many guests, reception, food. some people values all their families to be present, others want a small quiet wedding and some (like us) wants to go somewhere nice for our honeymoon.
I've heard of people spending $2,000 and some that went up to $60,000-80,000

Personally my fiance and I are saving $10,000-15,000 for our wedding next year but we are planning on a destination wedding

[JRSC00LUDE]

As far as the splurge, open bar.

I did that for mine and it was a legendary party. In fact, the marriage is long dead but the memories of the party live to this day!

[ExtraSlow]

Mine was pretty mid-range on most things, but we splurged on photography. It ended up being the single biggest expense, but we were so happy with did that.

You want the food to be good, but IMO, it's not the main attraction, so don't overdo it.

Also, if you are considering destination weddings, be respectful of the limitations of your guests. Not everyone can afford to fly to mexico to attend a wedding, and some people just won't want to spend an entire week "celebrating" your relationship when they feel like laying on the beach. Some people also have very limited vacation time.

I was invited to two different destinations weddins in the same year once, and I simply didn't have the funds to attend both. I felt like a real jerk telling the second guy I wasn't going.

[gretz]

Destination wedding was a must...

People from both of our close friends and families are mostly from Ontario. Instead of flying out to Calgary and paying for food, hotels, etc.. why not just go on vacation with everyone...

5 star resort in Cuba, ~$900 each ticket, 10 days, +$1300 for our wedding package, that's it.

They do all of the setup, which included;
-palm tree lined runway with a gazebo on the beach
-a photographer (really good photographer, nice equipment)
-all of the girls flowers and hair
-a catamaran for pictures
-another gazebo with champagne and fresh fruit for toasts / speeches
-A 6 course fully catered dinner
-2 tier wedding cake
-music, DJ, venue
-Open bar (lol, all inclusive)

Then you get another 8 days or so to party it up with your friends and family.

It wasn't even comparable, in any way, to anything we could have got out here, aside from the price. Oh, and they forgot to charge us for the wedding upon checkout, couldn't have been better lol...

[sillysod]

9 years ago did it at the Sheraton Eau Claire.

2 drink tickets per person then full fare for booze
300 guests and plated service (I hate buffet style at a wedding).

Wedding ceremony was done at the same location with a JP.

Almost 10 years ago I remember it costing just under $50k.

[Disoblige]

Originally posted by gretz
Oh, and they forgot to charge us for the wedding upon checkout, couldn't have been better lol...

Awesome! lol

[eblend]

Think mine was about 5k total, with the cost of wedding rings which were about 2k. We had a small 25 person thing at Canmore Nordic Center. We didn't see the value of spending any more than thatg when money could be better used elsewhere. Lunch time wedding, then some activities, and then just drove out with everyone to a few lakes around banff, took more pictures and that was it, over and done with.

My buddy is a pro photographer so I only had to pay like $400 bucks for 3 wedding albums, one for us, one for my inlaws and one for my parents, so worked out well

[ExtraSlow]

My wedding band was $80 bucks, and I bought it for myself two days before the ceremony. Still like it, although my wife keeps talking about getting a "better" one for me.

[Mitsu3000gt]

1) Get married in front of a judge, or hold some sort of small, private, ceremony.

2) Throw a free-booze & food party for all your friends & family at a community hall, large back yard, or similar place that costs next to nothing.

3) Take the $10,20, 50K+++++ you would have otherwise wasted on a single day and put a down payment on a house, start an education fund for future kids, or take a crazy awesome honeymoon.

I find these days weddings are more about pleasing everyone else instead of the bride & groom, and I personally think it's pointless. I've been to so many weddings where the bride & groom didn't even know half the people at the wedding because they were all people their parents' wanted them to invite, etc. etc.

Destination wedding is another option, but the downside is that some people who may not be able to afford it or get time off work are sort of forced to come, especially immediate family and bridal parties.

Just my opinion of course

[mo_money2supe]

Got married almost 3 years ago and here's a breakdown of our costs then:

- Church: Free-will donation (~$500-$1000)
- Food: ~$60/person, included cost for two bottles of wine per table of 10 ppl (one white, one red); we had about 300 people but between monetary gifts and lucky red envelopes, we broke even on the food
- Photography: $6,000 (used Andras Schram, back when he was reasonably affordable)
- Dresses: #1=$1500 (bought main dress), #2=$500 (rented Chinese dress); Suit (MTM): $500 from HK
- Wedding Bands: Hers: $1,500; His: $300
- Misc. extras (ie. A/V equipment, decorations, guest sign-in books, etc.): $1,000
- All helpers at wedding were volunteers so various gifts and thank-you meals; price: unknown
- Honeymoon: $5,500 all-inclusive to St. Lucia for a week for the both of us, incl. flights, hotels, food, etc. (+$1,100 'cause we mis-read our itinerary, missed our flight there, and had to pay out of pocket for another pair of one-way tickets )

[heavyfuel]

Spending all that money for a pompous party and to officially throw your life away... un fuckin real lol

[sputnik]

If I had the chance to do it again...

I would have a much smaller wedding and rent out a larger room at nice restaurant instead of having 120+ people at a typical banquet hall.

Keeping a guest list to around 50-60 people keeps the night intimate and close. It gives you a chance to really hang out with your guest and not have a bunch of random relatives and acquaintances there.

[cosmok]

Not getting married is free, and you save on the divorce costs.

[gretz]

Originally posted by cosmok
Not getting married is free, and you save on the divorce costs.

Not eating is free, and you save on weight loss supplements...

nice post donkey lol

[sillysod]

I dunno, I don't regret it been a easy last 9 years.

The thing I don't get it people borrowing money for a wedding or spending a bunch of money when they don't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out.

If you plan for it and can comfortably save up spend what you want. I only plan on doing this once and personally I have no problem paying a little more to not have people sitting on plastic lawn chairs, drinking big bear and eating boiled hot dogs.

[ntegra98rs]

Originally posted by sillysod
I dunno, I don't regret it been a easy last 9 years.

The thing I don't get it people borrowing money for a wedding or spending a bunch of money when they don't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out.

If you plan for it and can comfortably save up spend what you want. I only plan on doing this once and personally I have no problem paying a little more to not have people sitting on plastic lawn chairs, drinking big bear and eating boiled hot dogs.

This.

[bignerd]

28 people including ourselves, about 10 grand.
We splurged on open bar-any and all alcohol was included, and we had a seated 3 course meal with multiple options.

My brother is a photographer so we flew him in from Japan, we didn't have to pay him but I guess it was still a "splurge".

Our wedding was also out of town, not destination but guests had to get hotel etc.. so we felt it necessary to have a proper dinner and free booze.


Lamest wedding we went to was a long ceremony, then only appetizers after, a glass of wine and that was it. Was a long night to go without eating...

Even with only 26 guests the night was still busy and rushed, I barely ate dinner, don't even think I had cake? Small is better!!!!!!!

[Sugarphreak]

...

[LUDELVR]

Thanks for the posts and insights guys.

In the end, we are looking at a bigger wedding in Calgary simply because most of our friends and family is here with the exception of a few across Canada and some in the states. Thought about a destination wedding but like many have said, a lot of people wouldn't be able to get the time off from work and I have quite a few people in my life that have seen me blossom (or wilt depending on how you look at it) into the wonderful flower I am today and I would love to have them at this event.

Thinking about 200 guests tops and it's looking like it'll be in February around family day so yeah, a winter's wedding. I reckon this will cut costs down on venue as well. That being said, where would a cool/unique venue be for a winter wedding in Calgary that can accommodate 200 guests.

Looking at buffet meal for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I love variety! I know, pretty ironic considering that it's a wedding! also, people can get as much or as little as they want and of what they want. I was told that this will also save vs. a plated meal. To be honest, I was never satisfied with a plated meal and found myself always picking off other people's plates!!!

Things are still in the works so I'll try and list things as they come along but yeah, any other ideas to cut costs like doing certain things by yourself. Oh yeah, like the cake! I can't believe people are paying what they do for cake! Unbelievable!

The idea is to have a bigger wedding that is still cost effective (cheaper) yet still fun and fancy!