Community Chat

[proudlyfromNJ]

There are people that can afford an expensive wedding. The couple are not spoiled and the parents don't feel they MUST do this for their kids. They want to do it. 

I'm talking about weddings today, as that is what was posted by the OP. Not weddings years ago that probably weren't as extravagant, I know my two were not. 

If someone wants an expensive wedding and can afford it, good for them.

[september]

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@Lila Belle wrote:
My opinion ? Worry about your own self.
Cash bar ? Bring cash or a flask or a bottle or 3 if that's important to you.

Honor the bride and groom or stay home.

I'm still stunned by the fire house reception. LOLZ

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Bring your own flask!  Well, there is a degree of tackiness in that, as well.  At my brother's wedding, I did hang out with a member of the bride's family, who did just that....

it was a Greek wedding, but he was worried there wouldn't be enough Ouzo.  So he brought some of his own.  I had a sip...or two.

[september]

Just one more comment from me...I went to a justice of the peace to get married.  But I'm all on board for those who want to do more.

My son had a fabulous wedding, and I look forward to the day when my daughter gets married. 

I want her to wear a fabulous dress and have a lovely wedding/reception!

[Tinkrbl44]

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@jubilant wrote:

What ever happened to Little House On The Prairie when you wore your Ma's dress to get married in!  Ha!

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@jubilant

Shucks, Ma'am, those days are long gone.

And why would anyone want that, anyway?

[gardenman]

I've believed for a long time that there's a market opening for a one stop wedding center where every part of the wedding planning and execution would take place. It would cost a few million, possibly more, to set up the business, but once operating it should be able to give couples a dream wedding at a very fair price.

It would have a wedding planning center where the couple would meet with a staff based wedding planner who would coordinate everything. There would be an in-house wedding dress shop, in-house seamstresses, in-house bakery, in-house caterers, and multiple custom built locations to simulate typical wedding sites.

You walk in one morning and a few hours later everything is taken care of, all in one place for a fair price. Right now the wedding industry is a fragmented mess. Brides get a dress at one place, a cake at another, find a site for the wedding, another site for the reception, find a florist, hire a photographer/videographer, hire a caterer, bartender, band, etc.

Why not have all of those things at one convenient location for a couple? Ideally have it connected to a large hotel for guests to stay in. Build some free standing wedding sites, a small country church, a larger church for bigger weddings, maybe a simulated beachfront for seasdie weddings, an outdoor site with a Gazebo or something for the more nature loving types.

I suspect you could have a series of packaged weddings where a couple could opt to pay anywhere from $5,000 and up to get the wedding of their dream and still make a decent profit. By taking all of those individual profits from all of those individual vendors and replacing them with a single profit for the company, you could lower costs substantially and give couples that event wedding they want for a fraction of the price they'd pay otherwise. A facility like that could have as many as six to ten weddings a day. With each wedding/reception facility built specifically for weddings/receptions most of the video and still cameras could be built in and operated from a central location. By the end of the reception it would be possible to provide exiting guests with a fully edited video of the ceremony.

The potential for such a facility is pretty much unlimited. You could sell wedding packages for very little (maybe as low as $500 for just the ceremony with no reception and either no dress or one the bride already owned) to the sky's the limit for those who want a big blowout with everything custom. Making it a one stop wedding Supercenter should help contain costs and give all of the profit to the Supercenter while making the whole event less stressful for all involved.

[ID2]

Both my kids are getting married soon and no way are they spending that much. I don't know where they get their averages.

[jubilant]

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

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@jubilant wrote:

What ever happened to Little House On The Prairie when you wore your Ma's dress to get married in!  Ha!

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@jubilant

Shucks, Ma'am, those days are long gone.

And why would anyone want that, anyway?

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********** You're darn tootin they are gone!! Ha!!!!!!  I would like it, however, if I could have my washer and dryer, stove, indoor plumbing, air conditioning, computer, dishwasher..............

[Hayfield]

I remember when I got married, back in 1978, my wedding cost $3,000 we had about 175 guests, that was a lot back then.  We had a buffet because my parents couldn't afford a sit down dinner and we had a bar but with limited alcohol, it wasn't an "open" bar.  Wedding dresses back then cost around $600 without the veil.  My sister-in-law made my dress and veil for only about $100. We had a live band, everyone did back then.  Today everyone has DJ's.  Who knows what a live band would cost? I was told by a good friend when she was pricing the cost of her daughter's wedding that you couldn't feed anyone for less than $100/person today, I live in the Northern VA area about 20 miles from DC.  So even if you have only 100 people that alone is going to cost you $10,000.  Yes, weddings are very expensive today but as someone else said as long as I don't have to pay for it, it's really none of my business. What's different today?  Most of these couples have been living together for years, because they can't afford to rent a place by themselves because rent is so expensive yet they'll spend a ton of money of their wedding.  I have a friend who was very embarassed that her daughter moved in with her boyfriend before marriage.  I told her not to be, it's just the way it is.  I have two children, when and if they get married I'll offer them what I can afford, no more, no less, and they can have a wedding, not have a wedding, dosen't matter to me.  Everything is more of a "show" today, no doubt, but society is just geared that way. 

[winamac1]

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@september wrote:

I think what's changed significantly from the past, is the food.  I remember  so many bad wedding meals (like Swanson's tv dinners).  The more recent weddings I've been to had fabulous food, including my son's wedding. Good food=more money.

Another thing I saw often in the past...cash bars.  I'd never invite anyone to a party and make them pay for their drinks!

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I think cash bars at weddings are so tacky.  Have no alcohol or have alcohol and provide it.  I only had beer and wine.  We paid for it.  My wedding was lovely, 100 people, very nice lunch, beer and wine--total cost about $8 K in 1999.  

I think 32K is ridiculously high, but my sister married a Jewish man (we are Catholic) and their childrens' bar mitzvahs ranged, years ago, from 35 K to 50K.  I think that's astronomical.

I'd rather be given money as a down payment on a house and spend $10 K on a wedding.  

5 years ago, the averge wedding was less than 25K.  It's just escalating in cost, and I think it's ridiculously high unless you have 500 guests.

[jubilant]

I really do think it has gotten out of hand...especially considering the economy.  I would rather keep it small and give the kids that money towards a downpayment for a house.  I would tell the kids how much I would put towards a wedding and let it be their choice.