Cost of a Wedding

dreamwinds · March 2010

I saw this a few months back when the FI and I were starting our wedding planning and I recently saw it again on another blog and started wondering how much of it is true, especially for Seattle.

How true do you think this graph is of weddings in our area? It says the average Seattle wedding is about 34k.

And what about those breakdowns?

http://bridepop.com/everything-else/weddings-by-the-numbers-infograph/

Tygirljojo · March 2010

Honestly, I always figured the average around here was like $25-30k. Mind you, that's taking into account the actual average in this area. I think on this board we have a fair amount of budget brides so our average on this board would probably be half of what that graph says.

KayleeC123 · March 2010

I dont know how true it is.....I'm a huge DIY-er....and we've scored some amazing deals our wedding thus far has cost around $800.....that inculdes photogerpher, venue, dress, invites, Favors, FG Dress, 8 pairs of shoes, stuff to make ring bearer pillows, FG basket & (My mom has spent $895 on our DJ but that was their wedding gift to us!

I have a hard time thinking people spend SO much money on one day.....the debt that can be left over is crazy!

Tygirljojo · March 2010

Kaylee - you also need to keep in mind though that there are affluent families in the area and in some cases it's the parents footing the bill or the couple and both sets of parents which means a bigger budget, so for them they wouldn't be going into debt for it.

Archel · March 2010

Does that cost include the honeymoon...?

elleh08 · March 2010

I would say that was about right, $20-$30K or so... depending on the number of invites, and I would assume that would include the honeymoon right?

mgoss228 · March 2010

I figured that Seattle Weddings were around that, that's part of the reason I decided to have our wedding "up North." I think if you move a little out of Seattle, things get a little cheaper.

Tygirljojo · March 2010

Lol, Archel, you found a use for the money emoticon!!!

KST_ · March 2010

I think average is $28K when you take into account all the socialites and parents who worked for MSFT in the mid 90s and made bank on stock.

It would be kind of fun to do a poll, for those who don't mind sharing, what their approx cost is just to see our Board's average.

Kaylee, your costs are unbelievable!! That's sooo awesome! If only my dad still had his Bellevue house, I would have just had it in the huge backyard and saved on venue.

sarack · March 2010

Omg Kaylee- you've got some amazing deals! holy moley!!!

I'd love to see a break down. We didn't include my rings or our honeymoon in our actual wedding budget. If we did, our budget would be around the average. I just think my ering was a gift from FI so that doesn't count.

And our honeymoon is a WELL needed vacay for us.

dreamwinds · March 2010

I don't think the costs they quote in the graph include the honeymoon, e-rings, or wedding bands.

If we had our wedding back home (east coast), we'd have had it in my parent's backyard. Beautiful lakefront property. The only reason we're not having it there anyway is if we do, we have to invite my mom's entire church and I can't stand most of those people on a normal basis, let alone on what I think should be an incredibly intimate and personal day.

dawnies79 · March 2010

I would say that is average. As PP's have said that does take into account some of the more affluent people/families in the area. I happen to NOT be one of them.

Although I was not a huge DIYer, I managed to keep our cost at more like half that. I must admit I wasn't the best deal shopper either but I still think we did alright. I think the size of the wedding is a huge factor. My wedding might be expensive to some considering our head count was around 60. It seems like those numbers are somewhat vague. I'd like to see a breakdown by headcount. I think that would give a better representation.

hsunij · March 2010

ok..... so Im not a big DIY-er (cause I end up ruining things more often than not), as i wish I could be. So everything were things we had to buy, plsu both of our parents live out of state and are not paying for the wedding. We are, and our wedding is just a tad above average and our wedding is not lavish, Im just picky

Anywyas, i just wanted to say that even with no DIY, that average is about right. (also depends on the amount of people come)

jennuinne · March 2010

I agree with pp. That's probably pretty accurate. There are going to be some very expensive wedding that increase the average. I think most people spend less, but a few extravagant weddings can effect the average. And it depends if it includes rings and honeymoon, and of course guest list. But, you can definitely do it for much less!

In term of each category, some seemed high but the music seemed really low. And it was surpising to see that they said so many weddings occurred at chruches or synagogues. I think the percentage is much smaller here.

kinmir30 · March 2010

Our wedding will hopefully be less than that, but it will most likely be in the 20-30 range. Really sucks but I haven't really found a way to cut costs. Our guest count is currently set at 100. One of our biggest expenses though is our photogrophers. We absolutely love them. Photos are really important to us and we want extremely high quality. And our photographers give unlimited time, which we also thought was very important. We don't want to miss anything. We are paying $3900 for that. So I could say we are kind of picky too. We know what we want and it is hard to find it cheap. You get what you pay for I guess.

But I think that breakdown is pretty right. I like how Seattle is third in the most spent.

karebear219 · March 2010

I would also say the average is about right. I also spent the most on photography. After the day is over the pictures are all you have to remember it by, it's better to have good ones.

morganyuly18 · March 2010

I have managed to keep my whole wedding cost under 5000 dollars! for a wedding of 100 people! Our biggest expense is 2100 for the venue/reception site. But I am a huge DIYer and a *beg friends and family with useful skills to help* I have been able to delegate almost all things out to friends or family with skills in specific areas!

From catering to flowers to wedding cake!

carrieoz_76 · March 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_washington-seattle_cost-of-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:104Discussion:6fc327d5-849b-4260-b206-6ef2e9b3d34ePost:08a15ff9-82b7-465f-ae66-e956613c026c">Re: Cost of a Wedding</a>:
[QUOTE]I think average is $28K when you take into account all the socialites and parents who worked for MSFT in the mid 90s and made bank on stock. :D
Posted by KST_[/QUOTE]
I've read that for weddings, it's actually helpful to look at the median because if you have a few well-off folks throw weddings, they screw up the average, but what that doesn't tell you is that not very many people are having those really spendy weddings. Most people are probably still down around $20k (esp. when you take into account all the folks who get married in their parents' backyard or at the courthouse).

Cost of a Wedding

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