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The_Jazz · 06-05-2006, 04:45 AM

OK, I'm going to draw a line that may or may not be relavent - there is the wedding ceremony itself and then the reception. Our wedding ceremony cost us about $2,000, but that includes the church, my tux, her dress, all the worn flowers and all the bridesmaids and groomsmans gifts. The largest single expense was my tux, but I've bascially already recooped that expense from rental fees since I wear it fairly often. The church was probably the next big expense, although that was a "donation" of about $400. A family friend did the honors and wouldn't accept any payment. My wife, the veteran shopper that she is, found her dress for $200 with another $200 in alterations. If you subtract the clothes, all of a sudden the total cost is down around $600.

The reception is something completely different - my wife is the only girl, and she and her mother had a definite vision in mind. My in-laws paid for about 2/3rds of the roughly $15,000 that the reception cost. That includes the hotel, photographer, DJ, meals, party favors, table decorations (including the majority of the flowers), and the transportation from the wedding to the reception.

My point is that the reception is what drives the price. I've been to several other weddings since ours where I would have stolen some of their ideas if given the chance. One couple eloped and then threw themselves a reception afterwards (another got married twice, once for his parents in the UK and once here for hers and did the same thing). I stood up in a wedding that was outside at the Field Museum (the bride and groom met while working there) with the reception at our favorite neighborhood bar with a beer garden afterwards. There was no paid photographer at that wedding, but every guest was given a disposable camera and instructed to leave it door on their way out. Another friend is a big photography nut and his gift to the couple was professional-grade pictures of the wedding and reception. That reception, if I remember right, cost about $3,000 including the food.

Deals can be had, but you have to think creatively and exploit your friends, who usually don't mind being exploited anyway.

And congratulations, by the way!

06-05-2006, 04:45 AM	#9 (permalink)
The_Jazz Asshole Administrator Location: Chicago	OK, I'm going to draw a line that may or may not be relavent - there is the wedding ceremony itself and then the reception. Our wedding ceremony cost us about $2,000, but that includes the church, my tux, her dress, all the worn flowers and all the bridesmaids and groomsmans gifts. The largest single expense was my tux, but I've bascially already recooped that expense from rental fees since I wear it fairly often. The church was probably the next big expense, although that was a "donation" of about $400. A family friend did the honors and wouldn't accept any payment. My wife, the veteran shopper that she is, found her dress for $200 with another $200 in alterations. If you subtract the clothes, all of a sudden the total cost is down around $600. The reception is something completely different - my wife is the only girl, and she and her mother had a definite vision in mind. My in-laws paid for about 2/3rds of the roughly $15,000 that the reception cost. That includes the hotel, photographer, DJ, meals, party favors, table decorations (including the majority of the flowers), and the transportation from the wedding to the reception. My point is that the reception is what drives the price. I've been to several other weddings since ours where I would have stolen some of their ideas if given the chance. One couple eloped and then threw themselves a reception afterwards (another got married twice, once for his parents in the UK and once here for hers and did the same thing). I stood up in a wedding that was outside at the Field Museum (the bride and groom met while working there) with the reception at our favorite neighborhood bar with a beer garden afterwards. There was no paid photographer at that wedding, but every guest was given a disposable camera and instructed to leave it door on their way out. Another friend is a big photography nut and his gift to the couple was professional-grade pictures of the wedding and reception. That reception, if I remember right, cost about $3,000 including the food. Deals can be had, but you have to think creatively and exploit your friends, who usually don't mind being exploited anyway. And congratulations, by the way! __________________ "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin "There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush "We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo