Sticker shock

Honestly I didn't really have anything! We had a longish engagement and I'm a very thrifty person so I was able to keep everything about where I expected cost wise.

Floral was I think the least expensive thing for me thus far. The venue and the dress are what gave sticker shock lol

The cost to rent tuxedos

Definitely veils.. I was expecting everything else to be expensive but veils shocked me a little bit..

I think the cake. Quoted thousands of dollars for a cake for 150

Flowers in NJ and NY? Morningside greenhouse for sure (paterson Brian) or Floral Epressions by Maria and Larry (Washington Township Maria)

They both do beautiful work and they're very well priced.

Yep. I was waiting for the officiant. Because after all, we just show up and read for 20 minutes and leave....

@Celia- I explained to my FW and reiterated a few times that for the photography they don't charge that much to "just" show up to shoot.

Same goes for officiants. She didn't balk at that one too much. I think ours was $250? Great reviews. I don't have too many things I have to have in ceremony, but I want it well spoken and organized. Worth it to pay someone who knows what they are doing!

That said, for me... honestly nothing really was too surprising. Being that I was so obsessed with weddings before I started planning mine, I knew what to expect. But we avoided a lot of that because we aren't using a florist, aren't buying a cake, as well as other things.

However, if I had unlimited funds, this could have gone in a completely different direction!

@Orchids- I would be telling my FH that we are only inviting 2 people for that price! But hey, if he wants them and is okay with paying that, then so be it!

Wedding dress alterations gave me my worst "Wait - it costs HOW much?!" moment. I was unprepared for that total.

Flowers are so expensive, I'm glad we had a preplanned budget that came with our venue.

Flowers and transportation for our short drive.

As a New Yorker anything cheap is a sticker shock. :'( #shitbeexpensive

We didn't pay for some things that a lot of other couples do, like limos, a planner/DOC, out of town gift bags, favors, engagement photos, or invited guests under 21, etc.

We had booked on a Sunday night and got a $50 per person discount. Then we added a lot of food to the cocktail hour (I've been to a wedding that had 3 passed hors d'oeuvres - and we were only offered one of them) and other upgrades, and we invited/hosted more guests than we had initially planned. When all the expenses were added-up after the honeymoon, we ended up being around 30% over budget. Oops!

Oh well, everyone had a fabulous time.

Rentals. $12K for tables, chairs, linens, the tent, utensils, plates, etc. Just no. I got the cheap chairs and it did not help a bit.

Photography and HMUA

Just how quickly everything adds up. We purposely picked a venue that included a lot of things like rentals and decorations and wildflowers to cut down, and we've been really good at finding deals but it still somehow adds up. Photography was a big one but we knew who we wanted to go with and the quality will be worth it. Doing dried bouquets which will cut down on the florals.

Florist, my first quote from the person I'm going with was 6000$. I about fell over when I received that quote. But she has been very good at getting in down and working with me. It's now at about 3000$ but that price still kills me inside to know they will be dead by the time I get back from my honeymoon

Basically everything shocked me. I went to a bridal fair one week after getting engaged, thank goodness. It was like pulling off a reality bandaid.

Photographer - surprisingly expensive

Dj - very surprisingly expensive

Cake - one baker quoted $11.50 per slice + tax and delivery. This was before I presented a design or anything. Like do you think its a full meal?? Overall, with that exception, I was surprised with how reasonable cakes were, I thought they'd be higher tbh.

HMUA some quotes were over $600 for just the bride. Nope

Catering - only got one quote but to pay a price per person and then add a 20% service change that is not gratuity is just weird. Just make your prices higher!