Wedding Costs

[schaabdl]

Somewhat personal since I have three weddings coming up
a) Daughter - 2 June
b) Daughter - 25 August
c) Son - 13 October
I was curious as I was working out finances this morning what is typical
SOURCE
Smart Money has been a decent source of information:

And there's lots of fat to cut. According to Richard Markel, president of the Association for Wedding Professionals International, the average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is now between $21,000 and $24,000. Of course, the costs vary greatly from region to region. He notes that in the elegant suburbs of Long Island, N.Y., the tab routinely reaches $40,000 to $50,000, while "you can have an awesome wedding for $12,000 in Walla Walla, Wash.," he says.

I discovered, I must be really cheap because as of this morning, the three are under a total of $10,000 (barely). Yes, there is a "modern" cost associated with the son. Looking at what remains, we will be under $16K for all three.
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As I said, just curious and I thought an interesting topic for culture side.

[redhead]

I am truly amazed at how much money people spend on weddings. I had a pretty small wedding, with just close family and close friends. It was informal as well, no pricey wedding dress with fancy train, etc., zillions of bridemaids and such. I just didn't want to soak my mother, especially since my father had passed just a year and a half previously. We was still a very nice wedding, and a memorable time with friends and family.

My hubby tells me of a friend of his whose sister had a very expensive, elaborate wedding, paid for by their father, followed by a divorce a few years later.

[jtdc]

I can see why fathers abandon their families.

[redhead]

Originally Posted by jtdc

I can see why fathers abandon their families.

The divorce was the daughter, not the father and his wife, just to clarify.

[jtdc]

Originally Posted by redhead

The divorce was the daughter, not the father and his wife, just to clarify.

I'm just talking in general. I watched my son-in-law buy his daughter a car. He had 5 more daughters to go. Add on the weddings? Bankruptcy. Otherwise disappointment. I guess I'm cheap, but when I had a family, I feared having to face those situations. Of course if I were a multi-millionaire, that would be different.

[nagash]

I've seen people spend over 20K on a wedding. Myself, a mere $60. Too bad the divorce is going to cost a lot more.

The price has gone up in time but the largest part of the cost is the reception. If you have it in a hotel in a city then you're going to shell out money like it's going out of style, which I find hilarious as I know, where I help run a convention, that the convention can get the same room for a third of what you'd be paying for it
And all you get for the extra money is fancier table cloths. Food is extra and it also isn't cheap depending on where it's coming from.
A tip on the food, if I may. My nephew had his wedding in October at a country club. Go with this option. Cheaper than a hotel and much better food. The one he had it in even allowed for a social mixer before the main course, filled with free appetizers and drinks. Not for nothing but the meatballs and chicken fingers at the mixer tasted better than the main dish downstairs.
Having said this, however, if I show up at your wedding, it doesn't matter, for I have a bad habit of making your wedding memorable for all the wrong reasons (poker game starts at my table before most people even finish the first dish (groom plays two hands minimum wheather the bride likes it or not) and I oversee the bouqet toss as a referee, and a few other things that shall remain a mystery).