Wedding costs

big_white_dog84

big_white_dog84

big_white_dog84

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8 Jan 2004
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1,188
I got engaged last week, and we're starting to look at venues etc for the wedding. I knew things would be expensive, but I had no idea just how much!
Has anyone got married recently, and if so can you give me an idea of final costs?

I'm thinking:

Wedding venue: £500 (whether church or at same location as reception)
Reception: £50 per day guest, plus ~£15 per evening guest - already looked at this so I know this is accurate, and also by far the single biggest spend. Bedroom for the night is 'free'.
Her dress: £1000
Bridesmaid dress: £250
Flower Girls, Ushers: £250
Band hire: £400
Wedding rings: £Dunno yet
Car hire: £500
My outfit + best man: £200 hire
Cake: £100 (hoping friend in the business will do it and I'll slip him this to cover costs)
Photos: £0 (being done by relative)
Seat Covers (:confused:): £3 per chair
Flowers: £who knows
Other guff like invitations etc: £100

Does this seem at all reasonable? I'm not really all that fussed about the cost (you only do it once!) but if I can sell my body for £100 a time I at least need to know how sore I'm going to be by next April.
 
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I got married in September and my original out line looked like yours. The reality is very different.
 
I speak from no experience but I would expect a lot of those things to be much more expensive - depending on the quality you want.
 
Wow loads of wedding based threads at the moment!

The average wedding costs about £11,000.

You're missing off the list at the moment:
Hotel for wedding night
Honeymoon (!)
Wedding insurance

One thing to consider is instead of hiring your outfit instead of hiring a morning suit have a think about buying a normal suit. It may not fit with the style you want to go for, which in that case forget it, but if it's not imperative that it's a morning suit you can use it as a good excuse to buy yourself a really nice suit that you'll be able to wear again and again. Obviously that would mean changing the budget for your suit, but it would be something you could then wear again instead of money going on hire for a day.

Good luck!
 
fini said:
You're missing off the list at the moment:
Hotel for wedding night
Honeymoon (!)
Wedding insurance
Click to expand...

Sorry, forgot to add to OP - room for wedding night is included with the venue.
I've got the cash for the honeymoon put aside (deferring a holiday I had planned for this year into next), earning a massive 2% interest.
I had forgotten about the insurance - thanks for the reminder!
 
our wedding cost about £1k - including everything, even down to 2 white gold bands.
the monetary gifts we got from our few guests actually put us in profit!
the most awesome day of my life so far :cool:
 
romperstomper said:
what a waste of cash ,get married in barbados ,guests pay for themselves ,cheap dress etc.
Use the saved cash on your house or new car .
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Personally I think it would be more than a bit rude turning around to your parents (for example) and saying 'Yeh I'm getting married next year in <insert tropical island>. If you want to be there it'll cost you £xxx, your choice'.

It's also hopefully the only time that they do this - why should the bride have to feel like she's just walked out of TK Maxx with a £12 wedding dress?
 
We had a reception for 100 people followed by a banquet for 250 people which was bout 25k all in. We got back 14k from the guests so it was about 11k. It can add up, photographer was 1500 and he was at an excellent price for what we got.
 
Fatboy said:
I got married in September and my original out line looked like yours. The reality is very different.
Click to expand...

You did it in Vegas in the end didn't you?

2 returns Flight from Heathrow to Vegas £1,500
1 night in the local hotel £100
Taxis £30
See Elvis alive again ......... Priceless. :D
 
fini said:
Personally I think it would be more than a bit rude turning around to your parents (for example) and saying 'Yeh I'm getting married next year in <insert tropical island>. If you want to be there it'll cost you £xxx, your choice'.?
Click to expand...

lots of people do it now , I don't think its rude at all and is better than starting your marriage with a huge debt .


fini said:
It's also hopefully the only time that they do this - why should the bride have to feel like she's just walked out of TK Maxx with a £12 wedding dress?
Click to expand...

1k plus for a wedding dress for one day is plain daft ,unless of course you're loaded .
 
fini said:
Personally I think it would be more than a bit rude turning around to your parents (for example) and saying 'Yeh I'm getting married next year in <insert tropical island>. If you want to be there it'll cost you £xxx, your choice'.

It's also hopefully the only time that they do this - why should the bride have to feel like she's just walked out of TK Maxx with a £12 wedding dress?
Click to expand...

It depends what is important to you I suppose and how materialistic you are. I've always said I'm quite happy to clear off on holiday, get married in private and then come home and have a party.

This is for two reasons...

I hate being the centre of attention and I'm getting married for me, not for my family/friends so I need to be comfortable with it

and

I don't see the point in blowing £X,000 pounds on one day when we could put it towards paying off our mortgage or something else equally as useful.
 
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