How much does a wedding reception cost?

Google says the avg is 26k. It needs to be whatever you can afford. Don't go into debt over one night

Costofwedding.com put in your area and look that way for a more specific result.

Two dollahs and fifteen cents!

All together? Way too much haha. Depends on where you're at as well. Usually they say like $30k but FH and I are trying to stay between $10-15k and then $5-7k on honeymoon. We are also paying for most of the wedding ourselves.

It really depends on how much you make it. Me and my FH have a set goal of $10k for everything, including the honeymoon because we're pretty much paying for everything ourselves and he's currently in school.

There is a lot of factors that come into how much a wedding costs.

#1 would be how many guests.

The less people you have the easier it is to host on a budget.

:3

There is no magic number. Think about what things are important to you and your fiancé.

Do you want lots of professionals involved, photographer, videographer, make up artist, hair stylist?

Do you want open bar? Do you want a higher in venue. Everything adds up.

So decide what you want/need/like out of everything and figure out a budget that works for you.

Congrats and GL!

Honestly, it's about what you're willing/capable of paying. People on here have weddings that range from $1,000-$60,000 (and maybe more, but not that I've seen). Mine was around $17,000 for 120 people on a Saturday night in the Philadelphia area.

About seven bucks.

Do not go by http://costofwedding.com if you want to see what a "typical" wedding costs. It shows what the "average" wedding costs, which is not at all the same thing.

Assume, for example, that four couples have weddings that cost $5,000 each, and one has a wedding that costs $80,000. So the "average" wedding costs $20,000 ($80,000+$5,000+$5,000+$5,000+$5,000/5). Yet the "typical" wedding is only $5,000.

Now, those are numbers I'm pulling out of a hat. But having been on wedding message boards for a while, I see few weddings that are as much as costofwedding would show. So I have long strongly suspected that something like what I described is going on. And my suspicions have actually been confirmed:

http://gogirlfinance.com/lifestyle/wedding-budget-why-the-average-cost-of-weddings-is-not-what-you-think/

In any event, the typical cost really means nothing. You have to figure out what you can afford to spend. If the amount is low, there are lots of options:

* Have a smaller wedding. It's easy to stay well under budget if you have only immediate family, for example.

* Have something other than a seated dinner and dancing on a Saturday night. A different type of wedding (a nice brunch, afternoon cake and punch) can be a lot less expensive. And pretty much any day other than Saturday is less expensive.

* Consider something other than traditional wedding vendors. Maybe a restaurant as your venue. Maybe have the ceremony the same place as the reception, so you don't have to pay for two venues. Maybe serve beer and wine instead of a full open bar. Maybe have a bridesmaid's dress in white or ivory, or an evening dress, instead of a traditional wedding dress. Maybe have a cake from Walmart instead of a fancy bakery.

In any event, do not go into debt for one day. One of the big causes of divorce is finances. And if the over-the-top wedding leads to a divorce, you've lost far more than if you had a less than "perfect" wedding and a long-lasting marriage.

Do it for you and only for both of you, not for everyone else, make smart decisions according to your budget, my is 10.000 to 12.000.

Photographer is a friend of my bff, dj also a coworker of my future brother in law, ask a lot of questions to your friends if they know someone that may not charge you a lot.... good luck

Cost of wedding, IMHO, is useless.

What do you have to spend? That is the key. Most of my couples pay for their weddings themselves, or with minimal help from other people. You can have a wedding for 1000.00, with a few friends and family at a lovely little restaurant or you can spend 100,000. for 200 people at an extravagant mansion. It's really up to you.

My budget is $2,500 but it's a small wedding, 50-60 people. Getting married in a beautiful park with a pavilion helps cut costs. We plan to just have a grill out and family is helping us with food prep and set up. We're not having a DJ either, just renting speakers and hooking them up to a lap top with a playlist. My best friend is a hair dresser and another friend takes good photos. Have fun, a cheap wedding can still be beautiful; it's just more hands on lol.

Probably depends on the area. In the northeast and west, weddings are a ridiculous amount...starting in the 20's. Down south, the average middle class wedding probably costs around 10k-15k. My fiance and I are paying about $8,500 for the wedding/ceremony. Add in the honeymoon, and probably about $11,000 all together.

Jeanine, it can be anywhere from $165 for a license signing, on up. It depends on your number of guests, and what/where you want to feed them and party. Parties can be cake and punch, a bbq, a catered meal, or a cocktail reception. Heck, food trucks are fun too!

I've gone to nice backyard receptions for family friends, and also gone for clients to do wedding flowers for them. They got hot food delivered by the local bbq restaurant, had a nice little cake, and it was quite lovely. The friends who had the backyard reception, their apps were pieces of pears canned by grandma, with cheese, a fresh fruit tray. Dinner was simple food, refreshed by an older couple from their church. Beverages were creme soda in bottles, and bottled beer. Cake too, of course. At both weddings, about 40 guests.

I am planning for a couple to get married in march up at "High Camp" at a local ski resort; they'll board for a few hours, and then come back down out of high country and back to the Central Valley, and have a reception at a brewery that they "bought out."

If you are having a traditional wedding, start with an estimated number of guests. Look at some caterers' websites to get an idea of how much food costs. Is the venue cost included? Or do you have to rent that separately? How many bridesmaids and groomsmen? Look at florist prices for bouquets, bouts, and don't forget corsages and bouts for parents and grandparents. Flowers for the reception - people usually sit 8 or ten to a table, figure out how many centerpieces that way. Price out a cake. Price out a DJ, and a photographer, maybe a videographer. Price out invitation costs, and stamps, and don't forget the costs of stamps for rsvps. Don't forget the cost of the officiant.

Some venues have a minimum guest count. If you are having a small wedding, and don't want a traditional reception, consider a banquet room at a local restaurant.

Like others, I feel like it's not wise to go into debt to host a celebration. So - you can also figure cost the other way. How much money do you think you'll have? Then go backwards. Figure out your priorities. Make sure people have enough food.

Best wishes.

We're budgeting for 200 people, our goal savings will be $3,800 in a year and a half and my future in laws are chipping in $6,000... We are definitely blessed!

We decided on $5k with a $1k buffer for anything that may come up. We are on budget and everything is working I our favor. We aren't having a honeymoon after the ceremony/reception since the majority of our guests are coming out of the country and it'll be kinda rude to leave them in the states since we're the reason they are here. We also found that it costs a lot less to have an out of state wedding/reception and just hire a day of coordinator. This alone saved $5k. Budget is a big thing and once you know how much you can afford stick to it and don't let anyone sway you.

I put it out there from the beginning that I didn't want any unsolicited opinions/suggestions without a check or cash attached to cover the cost, this has kept me from getting grey hair.

Monique is totally right.

I think the best way to plan it is to start with the absolute necessities (parents, license, officiant, rings) and work up.

All depends on your budget. Mine will probably be about 30k when it's all said and done.

Although costofwedding.com shows average prices, it also shows what most people pay and shows a range of prices for each category. It is a good starting point for someone who has no idea of weddings costs in her/his area. Maybe s/he won't faint upon hearing the first quote from each vendor.

Look at venues that include as much of the things you need/want. We are having a ceremony reception for 65 guests on the beach with everything including open bar, appetizers and dinner for 145 per person. The inn is also included for two night stay for our wedding party and immediate family is running us about 14k. That does not include my dress, photographer or dj. It depends on the area a lot. My sil had hers at a rustic inn located in northern va and spent over 30k on her wedding for 120 guests.