How much did your wedding really cost?

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I’m curious because on here it often seems that if you spent more than £500, you’re looked down on for being stupid and vain but simultaneously your guests are all there under duress so can’t have any inconvenience or expense to attend. Obviously these two things are at odds, so I wondered what the true experience was for most people.

We’re getting married soon and although I don’t know the final costs yet I estimate it will be around 12k in total. That’s for 30 guests, a sit down meal (including canapés first, beef dinner, desert table and cheese table), welcome drinks/ wine with meal and an open bar all night. The biggest expense is food and drink apart and accommodation as we’re paying for all of the bridal party to stay at the venue the night of the wedding and breakfast together the day after.

£100k. Flowers were £10k, candles £500. But that was for two events, a pre wedding lunch in a marquee with flowers etc and then the wedding day next day at a venue. The marriage lasted a year so take from that what you will!

Ours was very cheap because it was very DIY. 150ish guests all day (we gained a few along the way), including children. A garden party theme so no sit down meals and we didn't need to hire a venue. Free bar.

From memory, it was around £4k but it could have been less. 12 years ago.

About €20,000. 120 guests and free bar all night.

I am not sure as MIL paid but she invited about 200 people to a hotel reception to start with champagne and canapés then she hired a casino by a lake for main event and had a sit down meal disco etc for around 200 plus small church and flowers at the start then a chateau. She had been waiting for a wedding for years so went to town. She also paid for our honeymoon in the Carribean. Still married over 20 years later.

I’ve been to so many weddings from the Dorchester to Hereford registry office. Honestly, don’t worry about the size or prize ( within the bounds of what you can afford). Have the day that will make you happy and, most importantly begin your marriage in a joyful key ( and a sound economic footing).

We were just at the start of our careers, and with a baby and London mortgage. We didn’t have loads of money, but pulled in many favours. Ours’ cost 8k for 80 guests.
I travelled to the church sidesaddle on my cousin’s horse (that was quite a challenge in a corseted dress!). Borrowed a gazebo for my parents’ garden, trestle tables from the village hall. MIL brought a car load of flowers from New Covent Garden and decorated the church and reception. An artist friend kindly took out photos during the day. Another played the church organ, and another sang. Kegs of beer from the local brewery and wine from a local vineyard. Sparkling wine was driven over from Limoux, where BIL was living at the time. A friend drove us from the church to mum’s house in his twenty something banker’s bonus Porsche. A huge buffet from the smokehouse down the road, a late evening hog roast. Ice-cream van too. My dress was priced down from 1600 to 400 due to a tear in the lace which my aunt fixed with no trouble. We had a brilliant barn dance in the evening, with a live band and the village morris dance troupe did a turn as a favour for my mum. Honeymoon was three nights in a boutique hotel in Suffolk (near my family home).

It certainly wasn’t the poshest or most expensive wedding. But it was joyful and relaxed, surrounded by family and friends. And was the beginning of a long and very happy marriage.

£12k, private hire venue.

The canapés alone were a grand!

12 guests and we got married at 4pm so only had to pay for one meal but we paid for all drinks and it was the best day ever, 5k for everything including honeymoon. It was so small only one hotel would let us book and it had to be on a Thursday which was quite unusual 12 years ago

7k including two weddings, one abroad with close family and we paid accommodation for them as well, around 30 attended, meal after.

Then reception in the UK for around 80 people. Band, DJ, and casino: plus sit down meal for 80. Could have done without the second one as the first day was perfect!

£2000 in 1995.
Registry office, meal for 20 people, bigger evening do for around 80 people.
My mum paid for the evening do around £750 I think, was a small but quite posh local hotel.
My dress was £130 to hire but was exactly right for my height/body shape. The fashion at the time was the 4 weddings and a funeral meringue, which I would have looked stupid in.
Also a honeymoon, well just a last minute self catering week in Canaries, booked the week before at Lunn Poly, was the only thing available as I got married Whit week so all booked up.
Still married.

Caveat is that I only have my mum and 2 cousins for family, it may have been different if my dad had still been alive and I had a larger family.

Around £7.5-8k I think. This was for registrar and room hire at hotel. Around 25 guests for lunch (they chose off normal hotel restaurant menu and most chose the expensive items!) Drink during day. Dresses for me (i had two) and bridesmaids, some designer shoes for me, suits, rings, gifts, favours, flowers, decorations hotel, night before and of wedding, photographer, then hire of pub for evening do, first drinks for around 100 people, evening hot food buffet, acoustic guitar duo, cake and a mini moon in Yorkshire. PIL paid for a honeymoon in Italy (around £1.5K).

This was about 10 years ago and apart from a few hundred from GP and my Parents we paid it all ourselves. It was fab and I would not change a thing. Worth every penny and people still talk about some of the more non traditional elements.

Around £13k all in I reckon, local pub/barn type venue, 50 guests, open bar and that's including my dress. We went no frills so no transport, got ready on my own and no wedding party etc. It was a lovely day and I wouldn't have changed a thing

I have no idea as my parents paid for mine, but it must have cost them thousands as we had a small registry office wedding first with 37 guests and a sit down meal after. There was also the fees, food and drink, photographer, cars, flowers and my dress etc to pay.
Then two months later there was the main wedding in church ( in my home country, you have to marry in the registry office first even if you marry in church ) which was for 239 guests. For that there was another dress, food and drink, cars, photographer, flowers, church fees, etc to pay.
Then a separate bar bill to pay the ransom to return the stolen bride ( me )
That was 40 years ago.
My daughter married last year in the same circumstances and it cost me and her father just short of 63k euro's.

£750

What ever the registry office fees were (£60?)
My dress was the cheapest I could find, £50.
Dh parents had already bought him a suit the year before.
The rest went on feeding 25 people I’ve mostly never seen again in a shit pub afterwards.

It was 44 years ago so the figures will mean nothing. I'll just say considering we were only in our early 20s we realised the folly of spending a large amount of money on one day and put all we'd saved and were given into a deposit for our first home. Just as well as it bucketed down all day.

My first wedding would have met full MN approval. We wore sack cloth and ashes. Then there was £135 for the marriage legalities, plus £10 each for the two strangers acting as witnesses. £155 in total.

Pity it barely lasted six months.

£14K, 89 guests, only 11 of those were night time only. It was FABULOUS! BEST wedding ever if I say so myself haha! Didn't put anything on a credit card/finance and had £4k of help from parents. Don't regret a penny ❤️

I think it was around £4.5k in October 2020. We wanted a small, low-key wedding so booked a small venue in 2019. Covid restrictions put the rest of the planning on hold until the summer of 2020. I spent a lot on my dress but we saved on flowers, photography and the cars as family provided those. A local bakery also gave us a good price on the cake, so we saved there, and because of further Covid restrictions, we didn’t get a honeymoon. We did make back nearly the whole cost of the wedding in more gifts too.

I got married 9 years ago, in a bit of a hurry. Wanted to have a nice wedding but also not spend obscene amounts of money.
My dress was one of the most expensive bits. My mum insisted on buying it and after alterations it was around £1k 😬😬
Ceremony in church, reception at the local football club, family friend did a disco, bbq buffet catering, friend’s mum made the cake as a gift. Spent around £4.5k in total.

£5k all in 2012.
Included wedding dress & shoes & 3 bridesmaids dresses (adults) Grooms suit & shoes, make up & hair, transport, church, flowers, transport, reception with food & table drinks plus £500 at the bar before paying (& arrival drinks)
we are both negotiators in our jobs and searched around & negotiated to get the best prices for everything

We also had rain fussychica and lightning no less which I did wonder if it was a message from God telling me not to do this. 😂But 20 odd years later we are still happily married and we got married in France and lots of people said to us rainy wedding, happy marriage in French. Think they just say it to make you feel better but was right. Very sensible to spend it on a house deposit.

We had scorching sunshine. It was 33 degrees on the day, so I don’t think there is any correlation between the wealth and the longevity/happiness of of a marriage.

From memory we were about £20K incl the honeymoon, 16 years ago. We paid for it ourselves, had a great weekend and no regrets.

Just under 2k but we had registry office and reception in back room of a pub, we only had to pay for a buffet for around 60 people and the DJ

We tried to keep costs down and just paid for everything each month before and we didn't ask for help with costs

I'm glad we did it that way than get into debt for it and everyone had a good time so that's what matters

Oh and it was 6 years ago

Approx 22k and then 5k honeymoon.