Getting Married?

[XTR]

I aint ........ yet

but if you are... do you know the costs involved?

The cost of the average wedding in 2003 is £61 per minute, and it adds up to a grand total of over £25,500.


http://money.msn.co.uk/life_events/g...st/default.asp

[acidrainy]

Hmmm.... ain't the tradition for the Father of the Bride to cough up?

[Flibb]

I think they over inflate the prices a tad, amybe average cost but not what average earner pays. Ours (2 years ago) cost about £3,000 all in. That was getting married in the Town catle, sit down 4 course meal for 50ish people, party for 100ish people and a night for me and misses in the hotel. Then 2 weeks holiday on Isle of Wight for £300.
Flibb

[Sair33]

Yeah. I'd say £3000 about right. There's a lot you can do yourself without spending too much. As soon as the word "Wedding" appears the price triples, but it is possible to avoid being ripped off!

[CocoPops]

For my wedding in 6.5 weeks, Here's my breakdown......
Ceremony + afternoon reception for 75 guests = £3500
Rings = £500
Evening reception £1500
Disco = £250
Honeymoon = £3500
Her Dress (+ shoes etc) = £1000
Bridesmaids Dresses (+shoes etc) = £600
Photographer = £400
Flowers = £350

And thats just the main costs and we've hit over £11000 already!
I'm sure there is plenty of costs that can be added to that, like my suit hire etc.

Wedding's aren't cheap thats for sure, and mine is a "relatively" small affair.

[IainB]

I got married at the beginning of July - including the Honeymoon - I would estimate around £7k all in - though we (my wife!!) did a lot of the decorations, invites etc at home, instead of buying bits ready made. Individually (of the small items), I think the cake was the most expensive, as it was a 'one off' - the shop even said if they were to do another, it would be double the price - I think ours was around the £475 mark - not bad when you consider the icing took in excess of 20 hours alone !! (hence why they wouldnt do another one for the price).
We also saved a lot of money as we (ok, ok the wife) made all the dresses with the help of her Aunt - good to have friends in the fashion industry

[[GSV]Trig]

Gettin married abroad seems to be cheaper tbh these days...

[Flibb]

Think we were lucky that the venue was council run so that kept the cost down a lot. Also it was an afternoon bash so the evening bash ran on from the main bit and didnt cost any extra. My suit was £150 and the best man allready had 1, 1 bridesmaid she allready had sommit to wear. And father In Law put £300 down at the bar for booze, unfortunately I forgot to tell anybody apart from my best mates So they guzzled their way through most of it.
Flibb

[Bindibadgi]

Tbh, and i know this would never happen (bloody women) id rather spend £500 on getting married then £3k on the honeymoon for like a month away travelling! Spending a month with ur new wife rather than 1 expensive day seems more worth it imo.

[Sair33]

Depends what you want I guess.... but I'd say it IS possible to spend what you CAN afford and still have a fantastic day

[RoGuE|SaBeR]

I work in a hotel and I'm basically in for the wedding parties.

Last time I checked the till for one it was £3500 for the dinner, party and the drink that was being paid for up front (ie. wine and toasts)

You can always tell thought if they have spent big on the day though. Just have a quick scan over everyones dress and then you can work it out.

[Nick]

My wedding was around £750, registry office, reception with buffet for 130 people, disco. My folks gave us two weeks in Greece as a wedding present so that sorted the honeymoon out too.

Best thing to do is ask around, there's always someone who knows someone else who can do a deal for you.

I don't reckon its how much you spend that makes a wedding, ut what you do and how you are when you're at the wedding.

My sisters, for example, was a lavish affair, horsedrawn carriage, hypocritical church service, marquee, sit down dinner, disco etc etc and I know the groom was so wound up over appearances he didnt enjoy himself at all. the only fun I had was lamping some idiot on the dance floor and watching me Dad get steadily more and more drunk.

Not worth the effort IMHO, just do what you want to do and enjoy yerselves!

btw, that £750 was for everything, license, flowers, gifts for the bridesmaids, cake etc etc.

[Shorty]

Getting married next year

My wife-to-be and I are getting married in our normal clothes. No suits/dresses or other fancy stuff (we both never wanted that).

Then a drink at the local and some grub for all who want to attend. That's it. Really simple.

Then we are flying out to spend 4 weeks in US, staying with friends

Just like Deckard, my sister and my brother have both had lavish "big do" weddings. It's just not our style, we would prefer to not spend so much on one day. We know we love each other, we are totally committed to each other and we don't feel we need a big wedding to prove it

[Sair33]

Originally posted by Shorty
We know we love each other, we are totally committed to each other and we don't feel we need a big wedding to prove it

Ah sweet!!!!
You're right to do that... nothing worse than feeling pressurised into doing something you don't want to do just because it's the "norm" to do it that way. Good for you!!!

[Bindibadgi]

Originally posted by Shorty
Getting married next year

My wife-to-be and I are getting married in our normal clothes. No suits/dresses or other fancy stuff (we both never wanted that).

Then a drink at the local and some grub for all who want to attend. That's it. Really simple.

Then we are flying out to spend 4 weeks in US, staying with friends

Now that's a quality wedding! Good luck m8 Nothing better than spending time with friends and family (who get on) in a comfortable environment Then buggering off to the US for a month

[woody]

Originally posted by XTR


The cost of the average wedding in 2003 is £61 per minute, and it adds up to a grand total of over £25,500.

you haven't factored in divorce settlements to that figure or am I just bitter??