Cost of a Wedding

Fireflyaway

We got married abroad and had a little barbeque party when we got back. You can get married abroad and then have a lovely honeymoon quite cheaply.

I agree with the above posters that cost will vary highly dependent on type of venue and food and bar arrangements. Do what makes you happy. I've been to different types of weddings. Some cheap, some expensive and none have been any more memorable than the others! resist temptation to try and make statements as all you will be left with is a large bill and regrets.

barbiedoll

My sister got married last year, it cost a tad under £20k (!!)
What she didn’t have:
Bridesmaids (I wore a floaty dress which I bought very cheaply)
Cars: A mate with a nice car did it as a wedding present
Expensive dress...my mum bought this for her, around £500
Expensive cake: my mate did it, I paid £300, it was lovely!
Wedding video: my son did this on a £50 video camera.

What she did have:
Beautiful venue (on a Friday to cut the cost a little)
Expensive rings (as she said, they’re a one-off, lifetime item!)
Lots of drinks on the table throughout the day. Her husband insisted on this, he wanted everyone to have a really good time.
Great entertainment. A fab DJ, a comedian, and lots of little fun things throughout the day (I won’t expand on this as I don’t want to be identified, if I mentioned any of them, anyone who was there would recognise the wedding immediately!)
Beautiful flowers (although I think she could have done this cheaper)
Stag and hen nights (one at home and one abroad....each!)
Full church wedding, with choir and bell ringers...that cost a fortune! (Beautiful country church though, well worth the expense to them)

You can pay as much or as little as you like, my wedding cost less than my sister’s dress....but that was 20 years ago.

Good luck with the proposal....and the wedding!

z1a

I suspect that a lot of people would prefer a decent buffet to a formal sit down meal. You eat as little or as much as you like of stuff that you like.
Will cost a lot less too.

Pollycat

Cotta wrote: »

Hi All,

I am planning to propose to my girlfriend in a few weeks (she knows it’s coming) and I would like to get married around Sep/Oct of this year but I am looking to gauge what we should be expecting to spend on a wedding. Highly subjective question of course, however I thought some on here could give some good advice of what ball park figure we should be looking at. Some points are as follows:

• Should be maximum of 100 guests.
• Service will be held in a church

Obviously I know it’s very subjective but I would be keen to hear others first-hand experience.

Thanks in advance

Isn't this something that you should be discussing with your future fiance rather than random strangers on t'internet?
You know, decide what you want as a couple and then price stuff up...

TBagpuss

Start from the other end. How much are the two of you happy to spend? Then plan based on that budget.

Things to think about
- Hiring a hall or other venue may well be cheaper on a Friday than a Saturday, and more expensive in peak wedding and party season (summer, christmas etc.)
- somewhere which markets itself as a wedding / reception venue will be more expensive, generally, for a similar level of service.
- if you want a 3 course meal with silver service it'll cost you a lot more than if you're happy with a buffet

It's possible to have an amazing day on a pretty small budget.

Some of the best weddings I've been to have been small and inexpensive.
For instnace
* Wedding reception held in a church hall. Buffet meal (mostly finger food from a large supermarket, cake made by mother of the bride, booze from a supermarket, hired glasses, and paper plates and napkins, so clearing up involved asking everyone to put their used plates and napkins into bin bags.
* Parties hired the village hall next to the church. Family helped set up for the reception (We used rolls of white paper (banqueting roll ) to cover the tables, with cheap gauze fabric to make table runners. Looked great and cost very little. Buffet meal supplied by local lady found via word of mouth, who also organised several servers, and did the washing up, as part of the deal. Glasses hired from supermarket, drinks bought by the couple on a cross-channel hop. Family helped with clear up , after which everyone still feeling social able joined the happy couple in the pub-with-rooms where they where they were spending the first night.
* reception at local school hall, catering (sandwiches, sausage rolls, cake, crisps etc by committee of friends, music by ipod play list, drinks
BYOB with soft drinks and fizz for toasts supplied by the couple)
* reception at small local restaurant. Booked as private meal. set menu with 2 or 3 options, total cost probably around £25 head. that was a December wedding so I think they got what was effectively the christmas party package.
*reception in a hall in a separate area immediately next to a public park. Food hog roast + salad bar, cupcakes, and a visit by an ice-cream van. drink - a couple of kegs of decent beer, serve yourself plus soft drinks. The couple were at the stage where lots of guests had young children, so they also had a bouncy castle and some outdoor games like giant jenga / giant snakes and ladders

None of these were hugely expensive events and they were all fun and memorable to attend, as a guest. I have also been to one or two weddings where there had obviously been a great deal of money spent, lots of personalised wedding favours, colour coordinated chair covers, etc - nothing wrong with it if that's what you want, but it's probably not what anyone but you is going to remember or care much about.

If you are getting married in church, it's worth talking to whoever is in charge of the flowers. With a bit of warning, and a donation (and, depending on what colours you want, providing some of the loose flowers) they may be willing to do that weeks church flowers in your choice of colours , rather than you having a florist do them. You won't get flowers on all the pews, but if the ones around the alter and entrance are in the colours you've chosen it can look lovely .

When you book the church, you pay a basic fee for the use of the church, and the vicar's time. If you want things like an organist, choir or bells, you pay for those separately, and extra. (Bells are relatively cheap, typically around £75-£150 depending on the number of bells, location and whether you want them before and after your service, or just afterwards. Choir will vary based on the size of the choir.

suki1964

I know you are in NI

Our daughter got married at The Manor Hotel in Enniskillen 3 years ago

150 all day guests

Prosseco reception

3 course meal

1/2 bottle of wine per guest

Evening Buffet

Master of ceremonies

Dj

5 double rooms plus Honeymoon Suite

came in for under 7k

Bride and groom paid for the registrar and band on top

Fantastic venue, good food and great friendly staff

Pollycat

Just to point out that there is a specific Weddings & Anniversaries board here:


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=142

Marisco

Pollycat wrote: »

Just to point out that there is a specific Weddings & Anniversaries board here:


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=142

You've morphed into Pogofish, Polly

Pollycat

Marisco wrote: »

You've morphed into Pogofish, Polly

Me 'n' Pogofish?
W1e're twins separated at birth. :rotfl:

Just thought the OP would get specific cost answers from people who are already along the wedding planning journey.

Gloomendoom

I don't think that there really is an answer though. Everybody has different priorities... and some of those cost more than others.

In some ways, we were lucky in that Mrs G was set on using the same church and reception venue as her parents. As that was a definite, we just arranged everything else around that to fit within our budget.