DH and just got married this past Oct, and when it come down to it all your guest are going to remember is if they have a good time or not...not all thos little details.
Big day: inside an $80,000 wedding - comments please
- Thread starter jane_2007
- Start date
I can see how wedding spin out of control easily. you start off simple and then you go shopping and planning and easily think. .. "i'm only gonna do this once and i deserve everything!" hehehe
one of my girlfriends recently got married and she was a control freak about everything! She had a chocolate fountain surrounded by godiva chocolates, little crystal cinderalla, prince, coach and horse figurines, tons of roses everyhwere...it was insane how much money they spent. I just didn't get it. They ended up going to Oahu for 5 days for their honeymoon..
Me, i'd go to city hall and then depart on a month long honeymoon to Greece. But to each his/her own.
one of my girlfriends recently got married and she was a control freak about everything! She had a chocolate fountain surrounded by godiva chocolates, little crystal cinderalla, prince, coach and horse figurines, tons of roses everyhwere...it was insane how much money they spent. I just didn't get it. They ended up going to Oahu for 5 days for their honeymoon..
Me, i'd go to city hall and then depart on a month long honeymoon to Greece. But to each his/her own.
OMG...tell me your secrets to be able to do that! I always dreamed about eloping, but my mom wants me to have a church wedding and some kind of reception. BF on the other hand thinks that anything TOO elab would be a waste of money, so...I want a super-budget wedding!
i think it all depends on your style and the amount of family and friends you have! I had my ENGAGEMENT party at the ritz carlton and we kept it on a TIGHT very crazy crazy crazy low budget since it was just the engagement party -- and got REALLY REALLY good deals cuz of my connections...and it still cost more than $35,000 for about 300 guests
now we are planning my wedding and the guest list is about triple that so the price will be well over anyones expectations! But then again I am the only daughter and i loveeeeee fancy balls and events! to me i adore pampering my family and friends and feeling like a princess...it shouldnt matter to others if i spend 50 bucks on my wedding or 300,000 ... it's MY day, not anyone elses!...yeah im a bridezilla, deal with it LOL
now we are planning my wedding and the guest list is about triple that so the price will be well over anyones expectations! But then again I am the only daughter and i loveeeeee fancy balls and events! to me i adore pampering my family and friends and feeling like a princess...it shouldnt matter to others if i spend 50 bucks on my wedding or 300,000 ... it's MY day, not anyone elses!...yeah im a bridezilla, deal with it LOL
Wow, why is people being mean about it?? I dont understand. Is like when people tell us why would you spend so much money on a PURSE? is your money you can do whatever the heck you want with it. There is people in this forum that have invested more than this on their bag collection.
I noticed that too.
ITA
I would buy 5 leather skin birkins and a couple of exotics 
I had a 'destination' wedding down in Lake Tahoe, 50-60 people showed up, and out of pocket was less than 10k - 800 for a dress, 1500 for food @ reception, 200 for cake, 1500 for our lodging for the week, 500 for favors, invitations and etc, 800 for the ceremony package; 150 for my hair and makeup, I am sure I am leaving something out...the photography was free as was the music.... and if you go to my myspace and look at my photos, I didn't NEED to spend 80k. Lake Tahoe, and my DH and I, were the centerpieces, not the other BS. But honestly, we are laid back and that is what we wanted - that's why we had it on the lake/beach, not somewhere fancy.
I don't begrudge anybody for spending their money however they want. That's the beauty of earning it...you get to spend it!
I had a 'destination' wedding down in Lake Tahoe, 50-60 people showed up, and out of pocket was less than 10k - 800 for a dress, 1500 for food @ reception, 200 for cake, 1500 for our lodging for the week, 500 for favors, invitations and etc, 800 for the ceremony package; 150 for my hair and makeup, I am sure I am leaving something out...the photography was free as was the music.... and if you go to my myspace and look at my photos, I didn't NEED to spend 80k. Lake Tahoe, and my DH and I, were the centerpieces, not the other BS. But honestly, we are laid back and that is what we wanted - that's why we had it on the lake/beach, not somewhere fancy.
I don't begrudge anybody for spending their money however they want. That's the beauty of earning it...you get to spend it!
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.
It wasn't the way everybody does it, but it was exactly what we wanted and it was just perfect for us.
Blah blah...
Our's was $1200, too. I guess if I had the money, yeah, I'd probably had done it big too, but I don't, and our wedding was FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some of my secrets...
1. I RENTED my wedding dress. It ended up being a new dress for the season and had never been worn before! Who knew!
2. We rented tux's...and bridesmaid dresses!!!
3. We got married in a small town (less that 1000) so all costs were small. Church? $50. Food? Great aunt and uncle gave the meat as their gift! Cooked it and served it...family made salads and the rest...NO COST! I think the most expensive thing was the DJ, now that I think about it...that was $300!
4. I wore (PLEASE DON'T LAUGH!!!) cow slippers! It was AWESOME!!! DH's dad is a rancher (I am a TOTAL city girl!) and NO ONE knew I was wearing them, until his dad showed up at the church, and one peeked out from under my dress! I have the coolest pic of my flower girls and ring bearer's sitting at the alter around me, with my lil' cow slippers (like the BIG stuffed animal slippers, not print) peeking out from under the dress! And my feet didn't hurt like they would have had they been in heels all day!!!!
It was a blast...
Our's was $1200, too. I guess if I had the money, yeah, I'd probably had done it big too, but I don't, and our wedding was FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some of my secrets...
1. I RENTED my wedding dress. It ended up being a new dress for the season and had never been worn before! Who knew!
2. We rented tux's...and bridesmaid dresses!!!
3. We got married in a small town (less that 1000) so all costs were small. Church? $50. Food? Great aunt and uncle gave the meat as their gift! Cooked it and served it...family made salads and the rest...NO COST! I think the most expensive thing was the DJ, now that I think about it...that was $300!
4. I wore (PLEASE DON'T LAUGH!!!) cow slippers! It was AWESOME!!! DH's dad is a rancher (I am a TOTAL city girl!) and NO ONE knew I was wearing them, until his dad showed up at the church, and one peeked out from under my dress! I have the coolest pic of my flower girls and ring bearer's sitting at the alter around me, with my lil' cow slippers (like the BIG stuffed animal slippers, not print) peeking out from under the dress! And my feet didn't hurt like they would have had they been in heels all day!!!!
It was a blast...
Oh, and we got matching tattoo rings.
Oh wow, I have never heard of that. Do you wear wedding rings over it?
Wow, I'd spend maybe 1/10th of that on my wedding, if that. Just think of all the other great things $80k would get you... a killer honeymoon, a downpayment on a house, freedom from student loans, nice new cars for hubby & wife...
It seems so wasteful and materialistic to spend it all on one day... Just my two cents!
It seems so wasteful and materialistic to spend it all on one day... Just my two cents!
You can, but the people I know with tattoo rings leave them out for everyone to see!
I wanted to do that too
But oh well.
it sounds a little tacky, but hey, it's their wedding... whatever floats their boat. i would say it's sort of wasteful unless it's just a tiny percentage of your income.
i can see how the cost would go up quickly though... DH and i eloped and then had a party at my in-laws house... only 30 people or so, catered dinner, drinks, flowers, small cake... and it was much more expensive than i'd originally thought.
i can see how the cost would go up quickly though... DH and i eloped and then had a party at my in-laws house... only 30 people or so, catered dinner, drinks, flowers, small cake... and it was much more expensive than i'd originally thought.