Big day: inside an $80,000 wedding - comments please

#76
LOL I had a friend whose ridiculously wealthy father threw her a wedding which, if memory serves me correctly, was something like $400,000. I'd never seen anything so extravagant. The ten bridesmaids all had custom made Vera Wang gowns which they kept after the ceremony, and the bouquets had swarovski crystals, and she wore a Harry Winston necklace and a real diamond tiara, and had a handmade gown with a 20-foot train. There were five hundred guests-- all of his wealthy friends from all over the country and such. It was obscene! I prefer barefoot on a beach with some tiki torches.
 
#79
I think you all need to take into account where a wedding is taking place. I live in LA and my friends that got married here had to pay twice as much for flowers, music, food etc. than people who live in other parts of the US (and elsewhere). I've been to a dozen+ weddings that cost at least $80k and they were NOT lavish ... just really nice weddings.
 
#81
SPOILEDkiwi said:
It's not fair to bash people for spending a lot of money on their wedding. If they can afford it, then why not have the ceremony of their dreams? Everyone has a different idea of what the perfect wedding is, but it's THEIR wedding and if they're happy with it then that's all that should matter.
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I agree.

Also, there aren't enough details posted to really say if it is "worth it."
 
#82
spitfire said:
I think that a lot of people here wouldn't do a lot of this stuff, but here is what we did:

- I got married in red; my dress came from the "party dress" section of Bloomie's, and my shoes came from a store at the mall. (With alterations, Spanx and all, everything of mine was still less than $300 total). My husband mostly wore his own stuff, and didn't spend a lot for the extras. Our daughter's dress came from a local dressmaker and her shoes came from Target. Our son's little suit came from JC Penney on clearance.
- I did my own hair, makeup, and nails. My MIL did my daughter's hair.
- We had about 50 guests, but no wedding party as such, other than ourselves, the minister, and his partner, who was my assistant (and who didn't dress up).
- Our friend (who is ordained) performed the ceremony. We wrote our own vows.
- We held it at a public park in front of a gorgeous waterfall.
- Our reception was a potluck picnic; all of our friends brought fabulous food. We ate at the pavilion at the park, and our friends put up decorations.
- Our friends all brought cameras, did their own photography and sent the pictures on to us.
- My sister-in-law is a baker by trade, and she made the cake.

Oh, and we got matching tattoo rings. :smile:

It wasn't the way everybody does it, but it was exactly what we wanted and it was just perfect for us.

2117888329_5f2d4ebce5.jpg
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Wow, that is a great pic, you all look so happy, and an AMAZING dress! Thanks so much for sharing!

:tup::yes:
 
#83
my mom always tell me that having a wedding is not only about the 2. it isalso about the guests and everybody else that is at the wedding. so i do think it is not much, and of course, they have to be rich.
 
#84
spitfire said:
I think that a lot of people here wouldn't do a lot of this stuff, but here is what we did:

- I got married in red; my dress came from the "party dress" section of Bloomie's, and my shoes came from a store at the mall. (With alterations, Spanx and all, everything of mine was still less than $300 total). My husband mostly wore his own stuff, and didn't spend a lot for the extras. Our daughter's dress came from a local dressmaker and her shoes came from Target. Our son's little suit came from JC Penney on clearance.
- I did my own hair, makeup, and nails. My MIL did my daughter's hair.
- We had about 50 guests, but no wedding party as such, other than ourselves, the minister, and his partner, who was my assistant (and who didn't dress up).
- Our friend (who is ordained) performed the ceremony. We wrote our own vows.
- We held it at a public park in front of a gorgeous waterfall.
- Our reception was a potluck picnic; all of our friends brought fabulous food. We ate at the pavilion at the park, and our friends put up decorations.
- Our friends all brought cameras, did their own photography and sent the pictures on to us.
- My sister-in-law is a baker by trade, and she made the cake.

Oh, and we got matching tattoo rings. :smile:

It wasn't the way everybody does it, but it was exactly what we wanted and it was just perfect for us.

2117888329_5f2d4ebce5.jpg
Click to expand...
What a wonderful wedding. All of you look so happpy.
 
#86
I guess I was lucky (I can say this NOW, in retrospect). My husband propsed to me on Valentine's Day 2003 and I was soooo excited and immediately began planning a big wedding for the following year. Within 3 weeks of our engagement, my husband got "the call" and was activated for the war. He had 72 hours to report to Bethesda Naval Hospital in DC. I was distraught, crushed, you name it. We decided immediately to get married before he left. We quickly got our marriage liscense and had our minister come over and marry us in our living room. I wore a little black dress from my closet, and my husband wore his Navy "blues". My mother picked up a cake from a local bakery and a bouquet of flowers at the grocery store. We only had about 5 family members there, because the rest of our family lives out of state and had no time to get here. My minister did it at no charge. Cost was about $30! Happiest, yet saddest day of my life. He left the next morning to go to DC.

...He was stationed at Bethesda Hospital, taking care of the wounded soldiers returning home. He came back home to me after only 5 months. We are so blessed that he did not have to go overseas.

Point is: when you get married, you are married regardless of how expensive the ceremony is. I never planned that my wedding would be like it was, but the final outcome is the same: we are happily married and just had out 5th wedding anniversary....and we had alot more money in our pockets which helped with the down payment of our home.
 
#87
I had my wedding at a hotel in Waikiki for 100 guests. We did lunch and I pulled the whole thing together in less than 3 months and it cost $6000. We also paid for all of the grooms tuxes and the bridesmaids dresses.
 
#88
I am not that much of a wedding person, but I am planning my own wedding right now! I can understand how a wedding can balloon so quickly! I do agree with the rest of you that it was not outlined as well as it could have been!!

There is also many woman in this world that dream about their wedding day so it can get pretty extravagant
 
#89
i know i already said my piece, but i just want to point out to a few of you that have claim that it is absurd to spend so much money on a wedding when that money could be used for ur future, how its wasteful to go into debt because of a wedding blah blah blah

well i just want to point out that you dont know their financial situations, so I personally think it is unfair to accuse them of being stupid for not planning for their future or going to debt because of a stupid wedding.... like i said before, my ENGAGEMENT party cost 35,000 and it was ALL paid in cash UP FRONT.... plus thousands of dollars in thank you tips/gifts for all of the servers and people that helped organize the event

so just because i had a lavish engagement party, doesnt meant that i went into debt or do no plan for my future....AND I AM CERTAIN THAT I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE OUT THERE THAT DOES THIS/THINKS LIKE THIS!!! (so i doubt that i am exception!)

let's just be sensitive guys...it's great if it's not your style to have lavish weddings or spend what you think is a lot of money on them... but there are those here that HAVE or are planning to have a wedding as such! (like me!)

i didn't criticize your decisions, and i don't think its fair to criticize people like me.
 
#90
Even if I could afford it, would I do it? Probably not. It just seems so wasteful for just one night - and what's to guarantee it's going to last? It's not really my style. I'd rather save for the future... like a nice house.

I'm dreaming of my wedding dress... I can see it now. J.Crew! The beach! Sensible bridesmaid dresses!
 
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