Average Wedding Cost - $28,400??? SAY WHAT????

Gabriele - don't even bring me back to my stat classes. Lines and lots of little dots are very very far away from my mind now.

Yes, I'm a Seattle bride. It's funny because based on what I'm doing, I'm very well aware that if I choose a different venue I could be spending much much more. However I don't really feel that just because it's a wedding, that I'm getting ripped off. If I wanted to go out to a very nice dinner, 3-4 courses, it'd easily cost $40-50 pp, factor in a bottle of wine, there's another $20. Now if you sit your butt in that restaurant for 6 hours, they'd probably kick you out no matter what you spent

That number does not shock me. I’m in SoCal and the majority of the weddings I’ve been to and heard of cost around that much to host.

I agree with Celia. Nothing wrong with spending a ton on your wedding or spending 100.00. If its everything you want its enough!! No-one was judging anyone on their budget, some people have and want to spend it on their big day, some people may have it and not want too. Some people don't have it at all. Not anyone's place to say what someone else should spend their money on!! The whole point is you cant lump everyone together because there is no average, because everyone's taste and priorities and money situation is different!

Ours will end up at about 35k on long island, which is slightly lower than average.

Our house cost us 10x our budget and we ate in a cheap area for LI

That's about average for Texas; I'm thankfully an outlier on that bell curve, though. I don't think I could stand spending that much on a wedding! But I agree with others saying if people can afford it, why not do it!

Depends where you are. I think we'll spend between 40-45K, and when I say "We'll," I mean our parents who are throwing the wedding...but yes, this sounds very accurate (sadly, more like an underestimate really) for my area (a big city).

I had the exact same reaction when I started wedding planning. I first thought I could have a budget wedding for $3,000....what a joke! I had no idea that a budget wedding was hard to do under $10,000 and I cut every expensive I could think of.

At first I had the whole "why spend this money on one day?" mentality and it certainly varies for each bride, but it occurred to me that a marriage lasts a lifetime, a wedding only lasts one day! This is the only wedding (well, hopefully) you'll have and the only time you'll get to throw a rocking party centered around you and your fiance.

I'd be happy to marry my fiance in a muddy field if that's all we could do, because I want him to be my husband. But if we can afford a fancy party to celebrate the marriage with our friends then I'll certainly do that. If I had $30,000 extra to spend on a wedding, well, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't spend every last dime!

Here's a thought. When I got married,back in....oh, you don't want to know, even the most fabulous wedding was a relatively simple thing. We didn't have STD's, gobos, uplights, favors (unless you count Jordan Almonds,which were invented by dentists), after parties, video, planners, babysitting services, customized runners, personalized dress hangers, crystal embellished bridal party hoodies, taco trucks, giant sparklers, artisanal ring bearer pillows, stretch Hummers, Laboutin bridal shoes, miracle belly wraps, MUA's, plasma tv's, or rentable lounge furniture.

And lots of people still got married, had great receptions, and had a wonderful time.

The cost of these shindigs goes up in direct proportion to the number of items that you're convinced you can't do without. Including those last 100 guests.

I'd suggest if you want to keep your costs down, you really look at every aspect of your party, including who is invited. It's possible to not spend a mint; you just have to prioritize.

That said, I'm planning a wedding in either the Nashville or Knoxville area and it looks like I'll probably spend $10,000 before the honeymoon, though I'm really trying to cut it down enough to include the honeymoon in that total.

We have ours budgeted at $10,000 and I believe we are going to hit that. Went simple with the church and decorations and spending a little more on the reception. I have made allot of my things and borrowed from other brides and been watching different for sale site and buying left overs from other weddings. Saving us a bundle for sure.

Yeah it is sad I think ours is about $40-45k and we are in Chicago area. Not going broke paying for it but not happy about it either.

Oh I didn't even count the ring which was $16k. Shit. I don't like thinking about it!

It's way more expensive here. But I think no matter where you are there are ways to cut back and it can be equally nice. I am grateful we are in a position to have the wedding of our dreams so the cost of our wedding is more than double that average. It still freaks me out when I think about it...so I just try not to!

My budget is $25k. I'm in the DC area and am probably considered a budget bride lol. It's crazy.

Lies! Everything is double the price where I am! I would like to save in some areas...

No offense here! I was pretty shocked to see people find vendors for like half the price of mine and half my budget. Lke Lindsay said, it's SoCal and prices are just high for everything.

Mine is over that average for sure. Not saying how much since it's still up in the air lol but it works for us. As long as you can be happy, have the celebration you want and not go bankrupt it's all good.

Yup, that's is average for our area, and that's about how much we're looking at. I was just talking to FH about how we should put the money towards something else, like a vintage car

Just to check and see about people jacking up prices for weddings I decided to call a local caterer and ask about costs for a family reunion. For 150 people food cost about 1000. I then called a few hours later asked about the same food for a wedding with a 150 guests and got a quote for 3000. When I called them on it they got tongue tied and said a manager would call me back. Still waiting on that call....

Melissa, that is hilarious! I should have done that. I do think that everybody takes advantage of the fact that an event is a wedding. So sad, because I would love to pay a third for everything. But it is what it is.

Dang Melissa, i totally thought of doing that. But i got lazy and my voice is too memorable so it would never work lol.

But yeah Lynzey we definitely pay for being near the ocean. It's our cross to bear.