Wedding Wire Has No Extravagant Brides with Luxurious Weddings like the ones on Youtube?

So, this site may not be for you or your wedding can be the exact display of what's missing on here. Maybe try Munaluchi Bridal website.

Weddings are more costly than they look. We spent about $60k alone on just venue/food/alcohol. I think the ones with really extravagant decor that you see in magazines are $300-$500k+

Hi Faye,


I agree with Kelly! I’m a New York bride and our all in budget including our $10,000 honeymoon to Hawaii is coming in around $80,000 for a pretty modest wedding with nothing fancy. This based on my estimates of everything I believe we will need. There’s a chance I might be missing some unforeseen cost I didn’t calculate. I’m convinced a lavish wedding in NY is upwards of $200,000 plus and that’s for a relatively small weddings 100 - 150 guests. Large lavish weddings definitely way more in NY that is at an expensive venue. If you have that kind of money to spend, hire a reputable luxury wedding planner and ask her for guidance. I wouldn’t bother combing through this website for inspiration. Rather than hire a wedding planner we decided to put it towards our honeymoon. I didn’t feel like spending another $10,000 to $15,000 on a wedding planner.

Yeah one of my friends was $65k budget but she had over 600 guests and so I wanna think that went all to food and what not ya know? I don’t think she did anything super lavish or anything either

You’re right. There aren’t lavish $300k+ weddings on this site. But weddings of that caliber typically have high-end wedding planners handling each and every detail, the planner is presenting most of the ideas, booking all vendors and managing everything regarding the wedding. Although that’s not what you find on WW, there’s endless inspiration for such weddings all over the internet, and it sounds like you found it on YouTube too. On Instagram @nigerianweddings, @munaluchibride (as the PP mentioned) and @weddingsonpoint are just a few. But, you have over 4 years to go, so I’m sure you’ll find loads of inspiration by then.

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Thank you!!!! That's really helpful actually! I just found weddingwire by chance like on google.

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Hi there! Actually a lot of the brides with the wedding I'm talking about spent no more than 80k, some 100k if they went OUT out for entertainment. But thank you for your response!

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Oh that makes sense, I see. This site is useful for like emotional advice though and discussions about bridesmaids outfits and etc. Just for the specific planning and wedding I'm looking for isn't here. Thanks for replying

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True true. I have the inspiration, it's just the advice/companies/services they've used I was looking for when it came to dresses, makeup, decor, etc. Thanks for mentioning Munaluchibride becaue that's actually really helpful to me. I checked it out and it is what I'm looking for. Weddingwire is good for like other basic wedding questions (When should i start the wedding and end it, etc) Thanks for responding !

View Quoted Comment Yes, that’s very true! You are welcome and happy planning to you. Oh I’m curious in which city, state are you looking ? I have Ghanaian and Nigerian friends who have had lavish weddings in other states and also overseas, if you need vendors I can get some info for you! Let me know.

Weddings are costly and that cost is dependent on where you live and/or have your wedding. WW has a 2019 wedding report which describes the most expensive cities to get married in, general cost breakdowns, most popular months, etc. if that could be of help to you.

I would say the biggest expense is food/beverage. I looked at a local hotel in my city to have my wedding reception and the room rental was $15,000 and the food/beverage minimum was $45,000. Right there that's $60,000 without florals and photography (which are the second most expensive vendors), dress, attire, decor, transportation, stationery, hair & makeup and so on.

I would suggest reaching out and interviewing numerous wedding planners to help guide you and create the vision you want. Best of luck!

I will just say that those barns that are used to host weddings are not cheap at all. Just because it’s not your style or vision doesn’t mean it’s a budget-friendly choice. There are many threads on here that discuss how putting the label “wedding” on something typically skyrockets the price.

I think a lot of people don't know how expensive weddings are. Weddings in CT are super expensive, venues alone can start at $40K+ with nothing in them. I agree with the other girls when they say you're probably looking at $500k+ weddings that have wedding planners and staff to make them look like that.

One thing you may want to also consider is guest count. Guest count is a huge factor in cost. $100,000 for a 100 person wedding is different than $100,000 for a 250 person wedding.

Dress #1: $8,500

Veil #1: $500

Shoes: $1,200 (gift)

Dress #2: $1,000

Veil #2: $125 (found at a sample sale)

Estimated F&B: $38,000

Church: $500

Venue Fee: $3600

Floral: $7,000

Photography (including engagement session): $7,000

Video, photobooth, uplighting: $4500

Band: $5,500

Invitations (which had to be printed twice due to covid) $3,700

Room Draping: $4,500

Linens: $3,500

Makeup: $250

Hair: $500

Neon Signage: $550

Coordinator: $1600

Cake: $1,000

Custom Cocktail Napkins: $350

This excludes honeymoon cost, hotel rooms for the night of the wedding, flights for my parents, etc. I know I'm forgetting other things, but it comes in at $93,000... a third of that budget is controlled by F&B. We still have more things to buy like programs, menu cards, escort cards, small decor, signage, and so forth and it will be beautiful but still won't look like many celebrity weddings...

If you’re going for a specific, high end look I would reach out to wedding planners known for that - maybe ones tagged in the instagrams mentioned. Like others have mentioned, the style of wedding won’t be what necessarily drives up the cost. It could be super high end food, drinks, a large guest count - the decor isn’t the most expensive part. I wouldn’t say $300k+ weddings make up the majority of weddings shared on this site because they probably don’t make up the majority of all weddings across cities, states, countries and cultures. Hopefully you find the right vendors for your perfect wedding - best of luck planning!

Hey there,

Like people mentioned above, there are many factors involved. It depends on the numbers of guests, bridal party, and location. I have attended weddings that are 80K and up with only 120 guests or less. Their wedding is not extravagant, but are very similar to pinterest posts. One bride had 7 BMs, the other had 4. They both had it in an expensive resorts. The location is FL if that helps.

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Thanks sharing this site. We recently had to add a second ceremony due to covid, which is on the beach. I had never contemplated such a thing. I found some great ideas from this site.

View Quoted Comment Gotcha. That must be a super low cost of living area. I just know where I am venue rentals alone run 15-20k and food/alcohol is $200-$300 per person.

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That is true, it is more expensive in other states. That makes more sense for why people say it's more than $100k now. Thanks for that information and good insight!!

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It wasn't clear to me as to why the costs would be so high but yeah that makes sense now when you add the other factors in. I think depending on which state/location it's being held in, it can be very costly, the services. So yeah, some could be above $100k for that reason. Thanks for the insight!