Why is wedding so expensive?!

Could you take a second job to speed up your savings? I think 15k for a wedding is doable but it depends on where you live and how many guests you invite.

The easiest way to stay in budget is to keep your guest list on the smaller side. A nice wedding can definitely be done for 15k no matter where you live, but where you live will alter how many guests you can host for that kind of money.

Ugh I know. I feel like when I was planning everyone told me my budget was reasonable for the amount of guests I had. It wasn't so much that idea that my wedding was cheaper than the average, it was moreso the thought that oh my god I'm still spending so much on a single day. It's a lot to take in.

View Quoted Comment I thought about it. I could do a part time retail job on the weekends. Not sure who is going to hire me if I want to work 10 or 15 hours a week. I work full time in a behavioral health clinic and it can be stressful at times. ☹️

View Quoted Comment My plan is to keep it under 100 people.

We are having a fairly large wedding and we're keeping it around 10k. But, we've also been deal hunting and blessed with people who want to gift us things. I had a friend who paid for half my wedding dress, my FH's parents are taking care of all the food. They have a friend who borrows massive amounts of decor items that we will be using. A cheaper wedding is doable, but it takes a lot of work! See if there are friends and family who would be willing to help out some of the pieces together, see if there are things you can borrow before looking at stuff to buy or rent! Wishing you the best

View Quoted Comment You could probably get something like retail, some of them don’t like to give you more than 18 hours anyway. Since you’d want to work weekends you would have an easier time since no one wants to work those days. It wouldn’t bring in a lot of money but it would help speed things along.

View Quoted Comment Omg, Everyone tells me that $15k is reasonable. Every time I hear or see the price, I freaked out. The venue, catering and photographer are the most expensive one. I feel like if I didn’t have to pay any bills; my paycheck could go to the wedding! Waaaah 😭

View Quoted Comment Really? I could give it a try. I’ll start job hunting, hopefully it all works out. Thanks for your reply! 🥰

View Quoted Comment I had at the end of it all around $16.2k or so spent and everyone kept telling me that's a reasonable budget and I did well for my giant wedding. But I'm like ok but that's a lot of money regardless aha like that's literally buying a car and so the idea of it was just overall overwhelming even if it was a reasonable cost based on the average amount.

When I was in my early 20's and engaged, I thought I wanted a huge wedding with all the family, friends, etc... by the time I was considering marriage again in my late 20's, I realized I just wanted to elope. There were too many complicated things to worry about, and a party was the least important of them. Too bad my husband wanted a party :-P

How about getting married at the courthouse and having a large vow renewal later? That way there's time for you to save up, but you're married!

This was my plan too. We have 150 people and are going to end up spending around 17 grand. We found a venue that included almost everything for 75 a person. We only need flowers, a dj, and attire. I got my dress during the national bridal sale (July 20-28th) and it was $700 for a $2000 dress. I don’t know when you are planing next year but you might be able to get the sale next year! I also have been shopping sales at craft stores and such to get any decorations. We didn’t feel comfortable cutting the list anymore so we are trying to find every way to save money. I messaged so many vendors to try and find the best fit for us

I wanted a small wedding and its adding up really fast. I can't fathom how anyone can be engaged less than a year if they want a large wedding solely because the budget takes so long to save up.

Gurl i feel you. I wanted to spend less then 10K but it really doesn't seem doable. Thinking about taking up a second job myself in order to insure we can afford everything. With all the research that I'm doing then seeing the prices anything between 10K and 15K seems like the comfortable range to make sure a wedding is the way you want it. Trust me we all want to spend less and so have our Dream wedding

We are having an almost 2 year engagement so we could save the money for the wedding. My fiance has been working extra shifts as well at work (some volunteerly some they are calling him in 🙄). Between the two of us we are saving a little over 10k for the wedding in that time frame. My parents are paying for 2/3 of the wedding so that’s helping but we are looking at a total of 30k for our day. So I think 15k is doable you just might need to cut out unnecessary expenses. And maybe a part time job during the holidays? Retail will be looking for any help then.

Unpopular opinion: It's one day of your life. Sure an important one but some of the little things that the wedding industry convinces us we need and then charges up a wall for are the same things people aren't going to remember the next weekend. I'm having 80 guests and am staying well under 5k. How? I'm not trying to make a big show. I'm not trying to be fancier than I am just so I can think about how my wedding was "perfect" in every pinterest instagram definition but not even perfect in my own definition. What parts of your vision are driving up the price and is the price you've been told the actual price or the price the wedding industry knows we're desperate and will pay because of our dreams to be "perfect".

So we are having to keep it on the lower side at about $12,000 total. It is hard! I'm not sure of your situation.. But here are some ideas. Talk with your FH and think of anyone who would be willing to help. Parents? Grandparents? Aunts & Uncles? Close friends? I know not everyone is in a position to give but maybe draft an idea of who could throw in 100 bucks here and there, if not help with something like the cake or decorations. And plan a small get together to pitch ideas, share the budget, and see if anyone can help with anything. Cut out the little things you won't miss! Bridesmaid/Groomsmen gifts/proposals and things like that. They will love you no matter what! Guest goodies & gifts. You are feeding them that is enough. Look at cheaper food options (if your venue allows it) buffet style or bbq seems cheaper where I live. But I've heard pasta, brunch, and other ideas! Look into different days and times of year for venue discounts. Friday/ Sunday is typically cheaper or ask about their off season. We originally wanted Fall time. But we picked the first Saturday in December and got 1,000 off.. On a Saturday! Think about cheaper ways you can do any of the partys.. Can someone host a bridal shower for yall? Can you just do snacks? Find ways to cut cost. Find a way to cut alcohol down.. We are doing a stock the bar party! Cut the guest list. Try limiting plus ones or do adults only. Lastly, go simple with decorations and flowers. Obviously find what is most important to you all and splurge on those.. Then cut what you dont need! And it is okay to delay a bit if that is truly everything y'all want.. But you have some options! Get your budget together and see what you can do with it. Pinterest was a big help to me. Best of luck and sorry you are having a hard time!

View Quoted Comment That’s what my cousin did. She had a small wedding. It was just her mom, her siblings and our grandma. Everyone was upset about that. We were all shock. 😑

I'm having a wedding for 115 people at around $10,000. My original budget was $5,000 but that was unrealistic for having 115 people, mostly because you can't find a venue to hold that many people much cheaper than $5,000.

I think you can totally stay under $15,000 (or way less if you wanted to) but you have to put in a lot of time and research into getting the best deals on stuff, DIYing some stuff, and going without some things too.

I wouldn't freak out just yet. I'd make an approximate guest list and then research venues near you that hold that many people. See what that price point is. Some of them may be all inclusive for less than $15,000. Then you can decide "do I want to cut the guest list and have a smaller venue, which will mean less food/drinks aka less $$?" or do you want to wait a year, save up more, and be able to pay for everything you want.