Any regrets on spending too much at your wedding?!

I’m on the same page. It’s kind of insane.

Im just here to let you know that you are not alone. I sit back and think about this everyday.

The whole process of planning is easy especially if you know what you want. The financial aspect of planning is what gets me too.
My strategy is if you have funds available to pay for certain things do it right away. Luckily for us we have 17 months to save up.

Kind of. I have justified the expense though. So often, I save and save and save my money. Only to have a tire blow out, a vet visit, an extra expense. So for once, I am saying the heck with it. This is a day I have wanted for years. My fiance and I deserve a special day without any regrets. Money will continue to come in and we can set new financial goals for housing, land, children and more. But right now, it is time to have fun and enjoy our loved ones.

I also have this in the back of my mind every time i make a purchase for the wedding lol

Yup. We are date twins and I am feeling the financial pressure big time recently.

My wedding was 11/15 and there is definitely the feeling that you are just hemorrhaging money throughout the planning process but I can confidently say that I do not regret any expense. The things we splurged on (videographer, flowers, paying to get to the venue early) were so worth it to me.

I always had this pang of panic aha because I felt like ugh omg this is a lot of money. But in the end everything worked out. Thats why setting a budget you're comfortable with spending is important

I would have gone with beer and wine over full bar, hired cheaper buffet catering, cheaper venue and invited less people.

I did an elopement wedding, just the two of us, for my first wedding years ago, at a Sandals resort. It was perfect! We got a free wedding by staying 5 nights. We bought the pictures and video and cane back and had a small reception with wedding cake and all. Our expense was minor compared to many weddings and the pictures were amazing! I’d do it again if I didn’t have children I wanted to include this time. Weddings are tempting to spend on. You should enjoy it but cost is important and if you are footing some of the bill, it is definitely worth considering how much this really means to you. Good luck!

We went about $5,000 over budget, and looking back on our day, I don’t regret it at all. We had our dream wedding and you (hopefully) only have one. Money can be replaced, your dream wedding can’t. I wouldn’t change anything about what we did.

I know the feeling after signing a contract for the florist. That’s the one thing I’m struggling with. My my florist price is more than my honeymoon or band and has thus far been our largest expense besides the venue.

I think we spent about $10K over budget but no regrets! But that said, our initial budget was what my hubby & I could easily save every month for 15 months + a cash gift from my mom. Yes, it’s a stupid amount to spend on one day but we own a house, don’t have kids or debt, and planned a wedding we could fairly easily afford. Even with the overages (which I cried over several times), in the grand scheme of life it really only impacted us for the year of our wedding.


I think as long as you can afford the wedding you have, it’s all good. Still stressful, no doubt. But you only live once so throw yourself (and your guests) a great party. 🎉

We originally budgeted to spend about $10,000 (our 2019 tax returns) on the wedding. We decided to put that money to better use, and we're doing a much smaller wedding that will cost $4,000 max (although probably closer to $3,000). We changed our venue from a $4,000 city owned mansion to the nearby National Park ($250 permit fee for ceremony and $25/hour shelter rental for reception), we're going smaller for catering, since we can do just about whatever we want. So we'll save a few thousand there. We also aren't allowed to have any decorations except MAYBE an arch if we get one specific location within the park, so we're going to save a TON on decorations. We both realized that we're just not at a place in our lives where it makes sense to spend that kind of money on one day.

When we're in a better place financially (i.e. our 2 year old is in school and not costing us an arm and a leg in daycare bills) we plan on doing a vow renewal to do the wedding that we really wanted. (although I'm really looking forward to the wedding we're having now.)

View Quoted Comment Agreed! I love that saying that says,

Travel.
Your money will return.Your time won't!
I live by that lol and I think it fits perfectly for a wedding, we get this one moment.

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We have chosen to go with beer and wine only! Our venue has a food and beverage minimum but I’d rather put the money we have to spend towards better food options than liquor.

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I go back and forth on my feelings on spending money for our wedding. The budget we originally set has been blown out the water. We are fortunate that we have the means available to pay for this wedding but it’s a struggle when big checks are written. I literally cringe and think so many other ways to use the money. Ahhhh.

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The florist is what I’m struggling with too. I love flowers and have a big want list but the price is eye rolling. We are wanting an arch installation at the entrance of the church and that’s about $1,500-2,000 itself. I’m second guessing how important that is to me, just to be trashed, because it can’t be reused... but it will make for beautiful photos.

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I’m trying to justify the expenses. it’s all the details and little things that add up... linens if you don’t want just plain white or black, uplighting, florals - how big do you want centerpieces, etc., the band, ceremony music, .... I’m like you though, I love to save. FH is in the mindset that money will continue to come in as you say, so let’s enjoy the day and get our wants. I want the day to be fun too, so if we are going to spend it, it will be awesome!

I got married 11/3/18 and can admit that I spent a large amount of money on my wedding. With that being said, I wouldn't change a thing. It was exactly what I wanted and it was worth every penny.