How do people afford weddings in their late 20s and early 30s?? I feel like I'm on the right track to success, but spending $10K-$20K on a wedding just seems so outrageous! Of course I want my dream wedding and I want all my loved ones to be there, but how do you afford it with student loans, car payments, rent/mortgage/utility, etc? Please tell me! We already save money by not eating out (no fast food, rarely restaurants), we don't really seem to spend lavishly on other things. We don't have shopping sprees or splurge on car parts or tools. We do enjoy traveling, but even that take several months of saving and planning, and it definitely does NOT cost even close to $10K (even to travel abroad), AND we do it maybe once a year. I'm sure many have parents that can afford to help, but not everyone does. I know mine will to the best of their abilities, but I can't possibly ask them to fork over several thousand dollars when I still have younger siblings at home. We both make a median middle-class income and so do my parents. If only our annual taxes could be spent on a wedding, we'd be set!