There are so many people that will spend thousands of dollars on a wedding and on one hand I can see people getting carried away because they figure this is their one and only wedding but paying like $2,000 dollars for a wedding that I'm only going to wear once just does not sit well with me. Along with all of the other expenses that go along with a wedding. Curious to hear stories from people who have budgeted a nice wedding for like under $1000 dollars?
I got married almost twenty years ago and we spend almost $2,000 (equivalent to my local currency) then. But seriously, we did get back all the money plus we have received lots of wedding gifts as "interests", lol.. I guess my husband and I were just lucky to have generous guests (relatives/friends) that mostly gave cash and checks as their wedding present. So the money that we originally saved for the wedding went back to our savings bank literally. Anyway, it was actually a budgeted wedding as some of my friends who got married back then were spending more than double for their wedding. As for us, we did our own planning/coordination and got my wedding gown designer cousin to do my gown so I really did save a lot as far as I know. Even my bridal car's rental fee was shouldered by a former classmate as a gift to us. Again just lucky I guess. ^_^
I don't think it is necessary to spend that much. You can have a very simple yet meaningful ceremony for only a few hundred if you are not worried about having fancy things. One of my friends is doing this. She is having fake flowers from the dollar tree instead of real ones and making everything herself. She will only have to pay for the church and the preacher I think since everything else is already bought.
I think that if you have the money and want to spend it then you should. If you believe that spending that amount of money is too much then its up to you to find ways to cut cost. If you can do certain thing yourself then do so. Maybe you have friends who are good at cake-baking, their contribution could be to bake the wedding cake.
A wedding is supposed to be memorable and since it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing for most people, they don't mind spending more money than they should. Someone I know paid $0 for their wedding. It's an unusual way to save money but anyone willing to try it is free to do so. He was a church-goer and when the priest saw him accompanied with a lady to church each Sunday desired to know if they were married. Guy said he couldn't afford to pay for the wedding. The church decided to help. They raised funds, bought the couple everything they needed and that was that. An easy way to save money IMO would be inviting few guests for the wedding reception. Lots of people do that and they save lots of money.
If you have the money to spend a crazy amount of money then all means but for people who are scrapping together every last dime to have an extravagant wedding when that money could be better spent toward something that would be more long-term, like a down payment on a house or paying a car cash then I think it is unnecessary. I think finding every way to cut costs is a good idea like having a friend who can assist with the cake or even make the wedding dress ect.. is a good way to cut costs.
