Does anyone regret spending so much money?

I am inviting 300 guests and I can say I have talked to or met 270-280 of them including FH's family. If you guys are close then yes it adds up fast. I do agree with the coworkers though. I am not inviting any of mine

Def don't think we'll "make it back". We aren't registering because we've already combined two households full of stuff and have a kid and one on the way, so it's not much we really need. If people give cash gifts, then great. But if not, that's OK too. We have really amazing friends and we host a lot of get togethers and always have a good time and the best part is you can feel the love in the room when we're celebrating. I really want that same feeling for our wedding day.

Everyone can cut their list. It doesn't sound like that's your priority, so just enjoy it!

Our day is still quite a ways away, so I don't have any regret yet- but I don't think I will. I'm researching everything to death, and I personally feel like we're making out like bandits. Just ordered our STD's and I'm so glad I shopped around. We found ones we loved for $96 before shipping, ended up getting almost exactly the same thing with a different shade of gold for the lettering- 100 for $16! We could easily have afforded to spend $100+, but why bother! Plenty of ways to save money, without actually taking away from the big day

As two other pps said- you cannot take the money with you and you have the rest of your life to make more! There were countless other things we could do with what DH and I spent but then we wouldn't have the wonderful moments and memories we have of that day. At the end of our lives, those memories will be what mean the most to us.

We did at first when we realized that our initial budget wasn't realistic for an upscale wedding in NY/NJ area.

But now that it's less than a month away, I'm so glad we spent the money because I'm looking forward to a beautiful wedding that I never dared to dream I could have. And we didn't go into debt over it. Just paid as we went.

Totally worth it

I have nearly 200 guests and I am close to every single one except maybe 10 from FH's side. It was important to us and we can afford it so that is what we are doing. I understand what you mean by just because you can doesn't mean you should. We chose a nice venue, not the fanciest one but far from the cheapest. We are choosing upgraded food options, but not the most expensive. We have an open bar but it isn't upgraded to all premium. There are decisions to be made that can make it more reasonable or comfortable, if that's what you want.

I'm def bargain shopping and have been researching lots of money saving tips! I think the biggest thing was that we underestimated the cost of catering, which we still have time to look at other companies but it seems like the cost right now is pretty average for what we're wanting. We have a little time until we send out invites, so if we don't cut the list then we'll just be writing a fat check.

I go through phases where I freak out about how much it costs, and then realize that we will likely only have one opportunity to have all the people we love most gathered in one place, and that's worth it for me.

Only a tiny bit because it stopped us from buying a house right away, but I am so happy with the way it turned out. I went back and forth for some time. When I spoke to people who did not have the big wedding they say the wish they would have and when I asked my friend she 100 percent regretted not taking the money instead. I was scared I would feel one way or another, but in the end I am happy we did what we did.

We initially set ourselves a pretty realistic budget for our estimated guest list. Then we said, "Let's buy a house. We don't need this huge party." So we were seriously considering doing the courthouse + lunch with fam thing. Then everyone got butt hurt (which we didn't expect since it's a second wedding for both of us), and we realized that what we were going to spend on the wedding isn't even 25% of what we'd need for a downpayment in Orange County. So then we said, "Screw it. Let's have a big party." I've been doing my best to prioritize items that actually impact overall experience and cut unnecessary Pinterest things which has helped the budget stay in check. Some days I still wish we weren't spending this much money, but we're both looking forward to the day and know that we'll be able to look back for the rest of our lives at this very fond memory of a great day with our nearest & dearest.

Nope. We had the best day. We spent what we thought was reasonable and doable without going into debt. So when we got our gifts, it was nice to get some of that money back into savings.

@spaghetti that's pretty much where we're at. I'm feeling better knowing that others felt the same but felt it was worth it. We're def not going into debt, we try to live by the "Dave Ramsey" mind set. So it's hard to write those checks! But it will be the wedding that we want.

If I just look at the numbers, I have sticker shock - but when I look at what those numbers gave us, I know it was worth it.

I'm with OG Kathryn. I don't regret spending the money or wish I had gone for cheaper versions of the different vendors we chose. I DO regret not being a bit stricter with our guest list. Not for the money reason so much as having to spend my wedding day making small talk with people I don't know and likely won't ever see again. (Parents' cousins, DH's childhood friends he 'reconnected with' and saw once in the past ten years, etc.)

We had a long engagement to save up for the wedding we wanted. Yes, we spent a small fortune, but we don't regret it at all. We also invited coworkers. In certain professions, you grow very close to your coworkers and they become a second family. Nothing wrong with inviting them.

I disagree with @Karen that you must be inviting people you're not close to with 150 guests. That's 75 couples and it's totally believable that between the two of you, you're close to 75 family and friends.

I regret it now but once the day is here I doubt I will regret it at all. I do regret building a home and planning a wedding. I have never seen money fly out the door like it has. Once the day is here though it will be worth the aggravation and expense.

Agreeing with Elizabeth, my guest list is 175 people. I only have five friend/co-workers invited who are not already in the bridal party. I have a big family and a lot of people coming from out of state. Fiancee may be able to cut a few more friends but I personally can't cut anywhere else.

Not regret, per se, but it sure feels awful and gut-wrenching.

When we first got engaged I had extreme sticker shock and was super overwhelmed with all of the decisions and money. As time goes on and we get things booked and taken care of that feeling goes away and I get more excited with every decision we make! I want this to be my only marriage, too. (Don't we all?) Sometimes you have to realize certain things are just expensive no matter what. We've definitely figured out ways to cut costs where we can but if we can't we just accept the price (if we can afford it) and move on. So far the only thing I was truly shocked by is flowers. I think everything else I was ready for bigger numbers than what they ended up being.

This is where that all important phrase "have the wedding you can afford" comes in handy. You don't have to have all the bells and whistles wedding. I've seen lovely weddings on a budget. A small ceremony, fabulous dinner afterward will be as momentous as a large extravagant wedding. If you think a large wedding will have a bigger payout (presents, cash), I think a lot of people on here (as well as myself) will warn you otherwise. You have a lot of time, if it feels uncomfortable, then scale back. Don't go into debt over a wedding, and remember more people doesn't mean more gifts in a cost of wedding vs value perspective.