So, I'm getting married next year. If you are married or plan on getting married, what did you do for your ceremony/reception (if any) and how much did it cost?
Getting Married/Marriage Expenses
- Thread starter The Lunchbox
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This is the best advice you will ever fucking get RE: getting married...
Right now, take $4K and throw it into a separate checking account. Let that be your reception money. Any money you save above and beyond the $4K, put into a separate accoutn and continue to accumulate THROUGH the wedding gift opening and use it to build your new lives together.
This way, you spend more time planning the MARRIAGE than you do planning the motherfucking WEDDING.
Don't be a douche and let the bitch spend spend spend spend spend or be a loser and let parents pay for it.
$4K puts on one nice party, the money you save aside from that builds one GREAT start to a marriage.
Our wedding / handfasting -
Wedding at the local State Park, near the dock at sunset looking over the bay - $0
Dress, altar supplies, handfasting cord - $130
BBQ Dinner with all the friends and family - around $200, I believe is what we spent.
Music - pre-burned CD's - around $5 for the cd's.
And honestly... there wasn't much difference between what we did, and what many others do. We got married for under $500, we had a beautiful ceremony, and one hell of a fun reception. Why would someone go spend several thousand $$'s on ONE DAY? Wouldn't you rather have an (only mildly) toned down ceremony, then drop that cash into, say, a house?
Wedding at the local State Park, near the dock at sunset looking over the bay - $0
Dress, altar supplies, handfasting cord - $130
BBQ Dinner with all the friends and family - around $200, I believe is what we spent.
Music - pre-burned CD's - around $5 for the cd's.
And honestly... there wasn't much difference between what we did, and what many others do. We got married for under $500, we had a beautiful ceremony, and one hell of a fun reception. Why would someone go spend several thousand $$'s on ONE DAY? Wouldn't you rather have an (only mildly) toned down ceremony, then drop that cash into, say, a house?
Dude. Do what we did. Get married in Jamaica (or somewhere like it ) in an all inclusive resort with friends and family there. They will all LOVE it and the whole thing (airfare, wedding package, and stay) cost us less than 7K. Try to do a lame church stateside wedding under that price! Also it only takes a fraction of the planning you would have to do for a regular wedding (they pretty much do it all for you)
I swear I wish we could do it again and I totally see why people renew their vows , it's romantic, leisurely, beautiful...perfect.
I swear I wish we could do it again and I totally see why people renew their vows , it's romantic, leisurely, beautiful...perfect.
I heard this is what marriage looks like,
Not all husbands wear speedos and spend Euros on credit.
I should have thrown this out there in the thread starter, but did anyone do anything at the ceremony/reception and later thought, "Why the hell did we do that/pay for that/invite that guy/not do this or that?"
Tacky:
- Dollar dance
- Garter auction
- Anything that solicits money from teh crowd
- Best man (or any) speeches that include any reference to sex, ex girlfriends, alcohol, etc.
Classy:
- Small tokens of appreciation for guests
- Asking the guests to eat first, serving them the good wine/champaign, and being appreciative for their involvement in your life.
- Publicly thanking individual people who have made a significant impact on your lives.
- Speeches that tell a good story, are funny, and relate to something positive.
The key is to be humble and not all "oh, look at us, we're so happy, this is the first time anyone has ever been as happy as we are, look at us, drama drama drama".
If you're humble and generous with teh guests/family, that'll say more about you guys than any stupid wedding tradition that the other 1000 people getting married that weekend will also do.
My advice: Don't fucking do it!! Stay single, kick her out and enjoy life. Getting married is a death sentence.
Best advice of the lot!
Beware of catering companies... In our experience, they're the biggest waste of money. If you must have a meal catered, go high end instead of paying $40/plate for shit food. If you're gonna be unhappy about spending a crap load of money, at least you can enjoy the food.
Oh, and keep the attendance below 100.
shop around for restaurants you like and ask them if they cater. a buffet can keep the costs down and let people pick and choose what they want to eat. Ask the restaurant how much they can do per person. Negotiate with them a bit.
Look around for local community centers. they often have meeting space or banquet rooms that are fairly affordable. they also allow you to bring your own caterer as well, since most every hotel will want to supply the food and not allow you to bring your own.
Look around for local community centers. they often have meeting space or banquet rooms that are fairly affordable. they also allow you to bring your own caterer as well, since most every hotel will want to supply the food and not allow you to bring your own.
I've been with the same girl for nearly 17 years and we have no plans to get married as we both see marriage as an institution of religion and have no interest.
HOWEVER, if I were to get married I would try to choose a the most beutiful spot that you can get the people you want there to, with what would be unusual but fantastic wedding food (read simple home cooking, huge barbecue maybe, lots of salads, a big seafood and corn boil, or something similar), cases of your favorite wine, kegs of beer, a good photographer (Delicious Photography - Wendy Niamath, Vancouver - Home), and a shitload of your best friends and family... along with your favorite tunes on a decent PA (most important). Get one of your best friends who shares your love of music to DJ/MC the night and you are set.
Basically your perfect Saturday night but in fancy clothes. It doesn't have to be anything more than that and everyone will be happy.
HOWEVER, if I were to get married I would try to choose a the most beutiful spot that you can get the people you want there to, with what would be unusual but fantastic wedding food (read simple home cooking, huge barbecue maybe, lots of salads, a big seafood and corn boil, or something similar), cases of your favorite wine, kegs of beer, a good photographer (Delicious Photography - Wendy Niamath, Vancouver - Home), and a shitload of your best friends and family... along with your favorite tunes on a decent PA (most important). Get one of your best friends who shares your love of music to DJ/MC the night and you are set.
Basically your perfect Saturday night but in fancy clothes. It doesn't have to be anything more than that and everyone will be happy.
NickRac
ก้้้้้้&
do what i'm doing. destination wedding...you cut off half the people you HAVE to invite b/c you have the excuse of "sorry..there's only so many people we could invite"..and they won't feel slighted as if you had the wedding in your local area and you didn't invite them.
plus then the people who REALLY want to go to your wedding will go..instead of "got nothing to do this saturday, let's just go to the wedding" kinda people...and this is a bit of a wash..but cutting down the guestlist will give you more room to make things more nicer and personal...but b/c it's further away..your costs will go up..
good luck..to you and me. haha....
plus then the people who REALLY want to go to your wedding will go..instead of "got nothing to do this saturday, let's just go to the wedding" kinda people...and this is a bit of a wash..but cutting down the guestlist will give you more room to make things more nicer and personal...but b/c it's further away..your costs will go up..
good luck..to you and me. haha....
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