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The staggering price of weddings in this country.

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    #62
    Toots
    Administrators, Business & Finance Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 16,906 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Toots


    Effects wrote: »
    Thanks for the reply but I was referring to Christians, not Catholics. It's not the same thing.

    Sigh. Banned for 1 week.


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    #63
    SK76
    Closed Accounts Posts: 66 ✭✭SK76


    Ballykealey manor Carlow


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    #64
    MadDog76
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,162 ✭✭✭MadDog76


    Neyite wrote: »
    The prices will come down Op, if people stop paying.

    But, most people are like you - they will grumble, but still go for or be guilted into by family, the standard format of wedding and all that it entails and cough up the money for it. And vendors know this. They know people want the vintage car, the three bridesmaids, church music, DJ and all the trimmings.

    I know someone who had their wedding - outfits, sit down 3-course meal for 60 and a honeymoon all for €2,000. They didnt bother with a lot of trimmings and it was one of the nicest weddings I attended. Food was sublime.

    You dont have to follow the standard format and can do something really beautiful and unique for a lot less money.

    I'm sorry but ............. can you break that down for me please???

    How much were the "outfits" exactly?
    How much did the venue charge per person exactly?
    And finally where in the name of god did they go on honeymoon??

    Or did you mean to say 20,000 euros :confused:


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    #65
    laurinjames
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 44 ✭laurinjames


    Irish wedding guests have very high expectations, and this is a costly country for eating and drinking out it.


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    #66
    DesperateDan2
    Registered Users Posts: 10 ✭DesperateDan2


    Weddings! Elope! put the money towards a downpayment for your home then invite everyone around for a house warming ;) DD2


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    #67
    Milly33
    Registered Users Posts: 8,638 ✭✭✭Milly33


    Not going there again silver tis all the same nonsense if you asked to play a party or pub they would do it for a few hundred wedding and tis thousands..


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    #68
    fits
    Registered Users Posts: 13,279 ✭✭✭✭fits


    I'm fed up with it too. Trying on dresses today again, and nothing I liked for less than 2k. I'm not looking for anything massively fancy, just good design and good fabric. Too much to ask for 1000 apparently.


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    #69
    Addle
    Registered Users Posts: 4,812 ✭✭✭Addle


    fits wrote: »
    I'm fed up with it too. Trying on dresses today again, and nothing I liked for less than 2k. I'm not looking for anything massively fancy, just good design and good fabric. Too much to ask for 1000 apparently.

    Wedding dresses - why do brides bother?
    Wearing a colour they'd never wear at any other occasion.
    Do they think they're a virginal princess in their 30s?!
    Women who are so stylish 364 days of the year and then wear some boring bleugh dress on their wedding day, that's probably the most they'll ever spend on an outfit in their life.
    I really don't get it!

    Brides and grooms have no one but themselves to blame for the expense of 'the' day.


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    #70
    hattoncracker
    Registered Users Posts: 1,091 ✭✭✭hattoncracker


    Prices are crazy, alright. I'm getting married in Newry because it works out so much cheaper. £40 a head for the top all inclusive package, including wine and a 6 course meal. 85 minimum.


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    #71
    fits
    Registered Users Posts: 13,279 ✭✭✭✭fits


    Addle wrote: »
    Wedding dresses - why do brides bother?
    Wearing a colour they'd never wear at any other occasion.
    Do they think they're a virginal princess in their 30s?!

    .

    so...what would you wear?

    People don't wear white coz they don't want to look like brides, not coz they dislike the colour.


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    #72
    clint_silver
    Registered Users Posts: 2,895 ✭✭✭clint_silver


    Milly33 wrote: »
    Not going there again silver tis all the same nonsense if you asked to play a party or pub they would do it for a few hundred wedding and tis thousands..

    If you don't want to go there why continue your online tirade against prices bands charge.


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    #73
    Addle
    Registered Users Posts: 4,812 ✭✭✭Addle


    fits wrote: »
    so...what would you wear?

    People don't wear white coz they don't want to look like brides, not coz they dislike the colour.

    It's probably the least flattering colour available to pasty irish women.
    I'm not engaged. I don't know what I'd wear. But I do know I wouldn't wear white/ivory. I like to think I'd buy a beautiful gown. I definitely wouldn't waste hard saved money on an unremarkable wedding dress.


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    #74
    rainbow kirby
    Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 26,928 Mod ✭✭✭✭rainbow kirby


    We're getting married in Limerick (OH's home town) in May - it's working out around 20% cheaper than Dublin (my home city) and around half the cost of getting married here in London. We were finding it hard to get quotes here for less than three figures sterling a head, combining that with the viciously expensive accomodation and travel for a lot of people... crazy stuff altogether. We also priced up getting married in a nice hotel in the town in Wales where my OH holidayed every summer growing up but it was still working out too expensive.

    The weakness of the euro against sterling is making getting married in Ireland great value for us. We're paying €56 a head for the mid-range package at the hotel for 85-ish, having a humanist ceremony on site (we were lucky enough to get the one Limerick-based celebrant so no extra travel expenses, and no fancy cars needed to take us to a ceremony site or to the venue), we have our photographer from within my OH's family and we have a DJ booked for the evening. My dress was relatively cheap (£200 for dress, petticoat and bolero) and he's renting suits for himself and the brothers.


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    #75
    uck51js9zml2yt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,268 ✭✭✭✭uck51js9zml2yt


    My wifes dress was made in a week and cost 300 for satin.

    Granted she got it made at home in Eastern Europe by a friend who was a dress maker.

    I really dont know why people go on about the cost of weddings when they can be doing well and cheaply with a little bit of determination.

    Its when everyone wants hundreds of guests and to impress the guests that things go wrong.

    Ours was for 66 people, 6 years ago.
    The meal cost 1800 and the day in total about 3000. plus wedding dress and my suit.
    I got the a suit in the outlet centre in Banbridge.


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    #76
    fits
    Registered Users Posts: 13,279 ✭✭✭✭fits


    Addle wrote: »
    It's probably the least flattering colour available to pasty irish women.
    I'm not engaged. I don't know what I'd wear. But I do know I wouldn't wear white/ivory. I like to think I'd buy a beautiful gown. I definitely wouldn't waste hard saved money on an unremarkable wedding dress.

    well good luck to you. I started the hunt being fairly open minded about what I want. Now i know i do want a pale colour. Not all wedding dresses are unremarkable. I can tell you i have seen some beautiful ones, i just won't pay the price they ask for them.


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    #77
    Deise67
    Closed Accounts Posts: 119 ✭✭Deise67


    fits wrote: »
    Also check out the Stephouse, Borris house, and Ballybeg house (friend of mine got married there quite cheaply and raved about it). They're all driveable from Dublin and wouldn't be large venues.

    Lord Bagenal is very nice also (and on the river) as is the Rivercourt in Kilkenny.

    highly recommend the stephouse in Borris , got married there 3 years ago , venue suits a smaller group, food is first class , rooms are fab , we went for an all inclusive package and a more tailored menu
    think it was €85 per head but there are different deals , bout sixty people @ ours !


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    #78
    wuffly
    Registered Users Posts: 662 ✭✭✭wuffly


    A lot of people have given you options budget wise. I would if I were change the day and get better value on the venue. We got married in a 5 star hotel 65pp on a thurs. It wasn't that we wanted a flash venue but when I was kid the venue was a school & monastery with lovely grounds and spent most of my weekends as kid tearing around there, so it was special for us. Everything else we bargained hunted for or family were able to help with, we organised from abroad so we were lucky our families helped out so much(time & effort). Loads of people will say 'its only a day' etc... which is all true but at the same time its your only wedding day (hopefully). Its the only time you'll get all the people that the two of you love together, yes their will other family weddings but (for us anyway) the other half of the crowd will be different. I remember thinking on the day how lucky we were to have such great people in our lives and how genuinely grateful we were to have so many of them there. It really could have been in a shed, as long as we had music. The venue was great, guests loved the food etc... don't regret the choice but we hardly noticed it on the day. We have nice photos from the grounds which we could have gotten anyway. The only thing I would say is get a decent photographer they are really the main thing you have after the day beside a happy marriage that is! good luck!


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    #79
    pwurple
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,449 ✭✭✭✭pwurple


    fits wrote: »
    I'm fed up with it too. Trying on dresses today again, and nothing I liked for less than 2k. I'm not looking for anything massively fancy, just good design and good fabric. Too much to ask for 1000 apparently.


    The dress was the easiest part to save money for me. I sold my dress for more than I paid for it originally, second-hand. It was a silk taffeta fabric, slightly darker than ivory... full length. I got it for 300 on ebay, in my size, second-hand. I had it altered very slightly to fit me perfectly (for another 60), got it professionally cleaned afterwards, and resold for 550 euro 3 months after the wedding. I had tried on various shapes and styles in shops, and knew pretty much what suited me before I got it. (v neckline etc)

    There are numerous second-hand shops, there is an internet stuffed with dresses for sale.


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    #80
    fits
    Registered Users Posts: 13,279 ✭✭✭✭fits


    pwurple wrote: »

    There are numerous second-hand shops, there is an internet stuffed with dresses for sale.

    believe me, I am trawling it. most dresses on the Irish second hand site are well over 1000 still!
    I suppose if I have patience something will appear.


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    #81
    Neyite
    Administrators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,947 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Neyite


    Addle wrote: »
    It's probably the least flattering colour available to pasty irish women.
    I'm not engaged. I don't know what I'd wear. But I do know I wouldn't wear white/ivory. I like to think I'd buy a beautiful gown. I definitely wouldn't waste hard saved money on an unremarkable wedding dress.

    I'm a typical pasty irish woman, and I dont fancy caking myself in cresote fake tan, so I deliberately tried on dresses without any tan or makeup to see if they suited my skin. The dress that suited my skin tone was a cream lace over ivory so its very warm toned. The rest I tried looked lovely, but this one gave me the whole 'glow' thing, because it suits me so well.

    What seems unremarkable to you in a gown, may be the most beautiful dress ever to the woman wearing it - it may make her look slimmer than usual, bustier than normal, taller than normal, anything that gives her that extra confidence boost and makes her feel amazing because she looks amazing. It really is about how gorgeous it makes you feel. My gown gives me the best ever version of me.


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    #82
    byhookorbycrook
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 12,482 Mod ✭✭✭✭byhookorbycrook


    Barnardos do new , never worn bridal dresses for a fraction of the price. Worth checking out. We had the wedding we could afford, not what we thought would impress the neighbours. And we didn't ask for cash for " gifts" as has become the norm at many weddings now.


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    #83
    Gatica
    Registered Users Posts: 3,300 ✭✭✭Gatica


    clint_silver wrote: »
    Sounds like what youre doing is looking for a car armed with a budget for a mid range saloon but checking out the ferrari and complaining about the price. It doesnt work that way.

    Set your budget for everything. Break out the costs so you have everything fixed or very close to it. Then start looking at venues that fit into your budget of which I guarantee you there are, youre just not looking at them.

    ballymagarvey/bellinter/tankardstown are near me at 120e-140e a head. theres also 5-6 hotels within 20 minutes of there at 30-50e a head.

    It is what it is. someone will pay the big money cos they can afford it, (to the victors go the spoils and all that) someone will pay the small money cos thats all they have in their budget. I work at weddings, the happiness index on any given wedding day is 100% affected by the people there, not the price of the venue.

    ^This is it....^

    If people want a fancy wedding with all the fancy stuff attached, then you can't expect that to be dirt cheap. Good hotels with a good reputation will be popular and therefore be able to put a higher price-tag on their goods and services; as well as that, the better (whether slightly or hugely better) service and food in general is going to be costing them more than a "cheap" venue, so price is obviously also going to reflect that.

    At the end of the day, if there are people willing to pay the money, the suppliers will keep charging it. The recession affected "some" people, and to different extents. Just because we were in a recession doesn't mean that no one could afford anything at all, just less people and affording a bit less.

    If you don't have it in your budget to have a grand wedding, there are plenty of suggestions on this forum, and already on this thread for alternatives to save money. Cut out all the trimmings and you'll save a fortune.
    If I were to do it all again, I'd still happily save and spend the small fortune, but probably wouldn't bother with a few things that were pointless, like the cake for example...


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    #84
    eviltwin
    Registered Users Posts: 17,495 ✭✭✭✭eviltwin


    I got married in the tail end of the Celtic tiger years and we spent 1500 total on everything. Most of that went on the honeymoon. Wedding are like anything, they are expensive if you want them to be but they don't have to cost the earth. Its about priorities. Some people think its worth borrowing money to have a huge day and others don't. If you can't afford a big do then that's just unfortunate but its not really the fault of the suppliers. Shop around or rethink your plans.


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    #85
    MadDog76
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,162 ✭✭✭MadDog76


    eviltwin wrote: »
    I got married in the tail end of the Celtic tiger years and we spent 1500 total on everything. Most of that went on the honeymoon. Wedding are like anything, they are expensive if you want them to be but they don't have to cost the earth. Its about priorities. Some people think its worth borrowing money to have a huge day and others don't. If you can't afford a big do then that's just unfortunate but its not really the fault of the suppliers. Shop around or rethink your plans.

    1500 on everything??? Really??? :confused:


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    #86
    fits
    Registered Users Posts: 13,279 ✭✭✭✭fits


    eviltwin wrote: »
    Some people think its worth borrowing money to have a huge day and others don't.

    Its not an either or situation though. We definitely wont be borrowing for it. But we don't have a house. And even if we did, I can't justify spending so much on a dress for example, whereas I don't begrudge the price of the food and wine for our nearest and dearest at all.

    Anyway, I need to take a step back from the dress issue for a while methinks. Its just stressing me out right now.


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    #87
    drumswan
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,592 ✭✭✭drumswan


    People in other countries go for a meal for their wedding. I went to a wedding in Australia we went to the pub in the afternoon, had a few canapes and went home for 8pm. In France we went to the registry office at 4pm, took a few photos and then for a nice meal in a restaurant.

    Hiring an entire venue, an entire catering staff, several courses of meals for 100+ people, alcoholic drinks for 100+ people, a live band, accommodation for the entire wedding party etc. etc. is a huge expense and not one you need to fork out for if you dont want to. People in Ireland appear to think its mandatory - its not - the "wedding" is the bit where you get married. It would be just as expensive (relative to income) to have a wedding of this size in any other country.


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    #88
    fits
    Registered Users Posts: 13,279 ✭✭✭✭fits


    Gatica wrote: »
    , like the cake for example...

    How much do people spend on the cake?


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    #89
    pooch90
    Registered Users Posts: 2,371 ✭✭✭pooch90


    My cake was €300 with a good 'friends and family' discount but it was absolutely fab. Would have cost over €500 I'd say


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    #90
    eviltwin
    Registered Users Posts: 17,495 ✭✭✭✭eviltwin


    MadDog76 wrote: »
    1500 on everything??? Really??? :confused:

    Yeah, I got married in the registry office which was 50 euros back then, dress was just under 100, his suit was about 250, we didn't have flowers, cake, cars, photographer or rings, I got the bridesmaids dresses second hand for 100 all in, we had the reception at home so I hired caterers, not sure what they cost but it was less than 400. I didn't have much money at the time and we didn't want to borrow so I had to work within my budget as best I could.


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    #91
    martinak89
    Registered Users Posts: 177 ✭✭martinak89


    xpletiv wrote: »
    I have been engaged for 6 months and have been looking around Ireland for a nice venue. The church we are getting married in only does Saturday ceremonies so we have to have it on a Saturday. What I cant believe is the absolute greed of venues; MOST cost about 100 euro a head, for basic enough package of canapes, 3 course and evening food and wine, but they also have insane minimum numbers of 100 people and sometimes more (140 ive found) meaning a wedding costs MINIMUM 10000 euros. Now, call me cynical, but are we in Ireland not still in recession!? Are people actually paying this crazy amounts?! And most importantly, with the lovely new budget that just came out, new house buyers have to have 20% of their mortgage (thanks older generation!) so I would now assume people are going to spend less on their wedding, yet we cant get past the minimum numbers part, and no where seems to be negotiable for price or numbers. Any tips? Also, to vendors out there that may read this, consider that the generation that is currently getting married is being destroyed by tax and costs as it is and now have to save 20% for houses. I really think the minimum numbers thing is a joke. Especially for the prices you are charging!

    I came across the minimum guests "problem" when I recently booked my wedding venue. When exactly are you thinking of having the wedding? I'm having mine during the "off peak" season so the hotel didn't give me a minimum guest requirement, maybe you should consider that? Also in terms of their packages that they offer you should build your own package (if available!) as that could work out cheaper! Or maybe try and switch around one that they already have :) I did this with mine and got an extra €15pp off the price! :D Hope that helps!!!


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