The cost of a wedding EXCLUDING hotel costs

INeedHelp15

I guess this is a 'how long is a piece of string' type question but what are the main costs to a wedding bar hire of the band, DJ and the actual costs of wining and dining guests?

Has somebody had a wedding recently who can go through the main costs (not looking for exact amounts folk spent) so that I can try and put some sort of budget plan together?

whiskeyman

this may help:http://www.mrs2be.ie/wedding-business/irish-wedding-survey-2015/

pooch90

Our wedding came in at about 20k overall.
Hotel was 7.5k
Band,dj,drinks reception 2.2k
Photographer(engagement shoot,signing board,photo booth,two photographers) 2.2k
Video 1200
Wedding dress with alterations & accessories 2k
Bridesmaids (3) 800 overall (dresses shoes,jewellery
Hair and make up for 6 was about 500
Groom bought suit 400ish
Groomsmen hire,shoes etc 400
Cake (friends discount) 300
Spiritualist celebrant 450
Ceremony venue 200
Room decor 300

We didn't have flowers,I handmade button bouquets which ended up being pricey.

Cant think of what else we had but if u have specific questions ask away!
There are loads of little bits and pieces that add up quickly.

Pac2015

Our wedding came in at about € 20K with a ceremony in the hotel the breakdown is as follows:

Hotel with 206 guests € 11,330.00
Invites € 300.00
Band € 1800.00 had to haggle on that as prices were going up again.
Spiritualist ceremony € 275.00
Dress € 1850.00 this included alterations and a bolero would never spend that much again on a dress.
Bridesmaids € 762 for 3 dresses
Buses to and from the venue € 500
Car for husband to hotel € 110
Cake € 550.00
Groom & groomsmen suits € 300 we got a good deal as my husband was local to the area he hired them in.
Hair € 200 this was for me and my 3 bridesmaids plus my mam and sister in law I used my own hairdresser as I knew she was good.
Photographer € 400 he was friend and did me a deal but pix were not great
Make up € 225.00 for me, 3 x bridesmaids, my mam and sister in law we also got a trial done some weeks previous
Make up trial € 125.00
Flowers € 250.00 again this was a family friend.

Most things I haggled or asked friends to do paid them of course but it was cheaper and most were happy to do it.

Would I have a big wedding like this again NO WAY I wanted Vegas but husband wanted a party for friends and family so I gave in the only bonus to this was that we got around €10,500 in money presents which I know is not what getting married is about for us it was a big party for friends and family and we did party until 7am the next morning.
The hotel included food after the ceremony, wine at dinner and the room already done.
Best of luck I hope this helps.

fits

An example of some expenses and ballpark figures. Some things will be more or less.

Wedding rings 1000
Bridal gown 2000
bridesmaids 200
Jewellery 100
Shoes 200
Grooms suit 600
Groomsmans suit 400
Gifts 300
Flowers 300
Cake 300
Ceremony musicians 550
Band 1500
dj 300
Photography 1500
Invitations 300
Thank you cards
stamps 60
guest book
programs 120
celebrant 550
salon appointments 400
gratuities 300
hotel rooms
contingencies
transport 300

lollpop

Band & DJ - 2k
Notification to register intent - 150 (has gone up now)
Pre marriage course - 200
Church "Donation" - 200
Priest & Sacristan "Donation" - 250
Wedding dress & alternations - 1200
Bridesmaids dresses - (400 for 2)
Shoes (Bride, Bridesmaids, Groom) - 250
Tan/Nails - 100 (Bride & 2 BMs)
Wedding rings - 600
Suits (7 in total) - 800
Flowers - (Bride, bridesmaids, church, buttonholes) - 600
Photography - 600 (No album)
Hair - 130 (3 people)
Makeup - 250 (4 people)
Cake - 300
Ceremony Singers - 500
Invitations (DIY) - 200 including stamps and trial runs
Mass booklets (DIY) - 30 euro (paper)
Didn't do transport or favours.

sm213

Still planning but so far
Dress 100
Shoes 15
Solemniser 450
Dj (reception+ ceremony) 450
Photos 2 family members
Cake family making
Invites 20(diy)
Makeup 150 (6 faces)
Hair 280 (6)
Flowers tbc
Transport not needed
Grooms suit about 300
3 bridesmaids 2 doing their own instead of gift.
Best mans suit and shoes.
Venue about 2000 for 40ish guests
Favours are a donation to Irish Autism Action.
Stamps for invites and rsvps will add up.
Bridal lingerie costs a bit of you need a decent bra.
Veil still to get and jewellery for myself and bridal party.
Wedding rings.
Think its working out at about 5000 at the moment. Subject to change though
My nanny is paying for a large portion of it as a gift.

sullivk

Ours roughly broke down as follows:

Reception venue 10k (120 people - this was for full reception and then BBQ next day including all food/drink/parents accommodation)

Band/dj/reception music 2k
Flowers 700
Bridal dress/shoes/veil etc. 1.5k
Suits 850 (bought, not hired)
Bridesmaids 350 (3 dresses)
Flower girls 150 (5 outfits)
Hair 200
Make-up 250
Photographer 750
Favours 200 (homebrew & homemade jams... Ingredients, jars, bottles etc)
Invitations 200 (diy)
Transport 550 (VW camper hired for full weekend)
Outdoor games hire 300
Cake 170
Church organist 220
Church donation 150
Church minister gift 150

To be honest, many of the above expenses are unnecessary and can be avoided.
It really depends on whether you have the funds available and if it means enough to you to pay for it.
I certainly wouldn't go getting into debt, luckily we had savings to cover the costs.
Hope that helps

westernlass

What's an average bridesmaid dress cost? I paid 300 euro each

eviltwin

westernlass wrote: »

What's an average bridesmaid dress cost? I paid 300 euro each

I got three of them second hand from donedeal. Dresses, bags and wraps were 80 for the lot. They had only been worn once so we're as good as new. I sold them on for 50 euros so in total they cost a tenner each

Faith

I bought mine on Etsy for about E40 each. I wouldn't dream of asking for them back to resell them.

emzibob

I paid 120 for my bridesmaid dresses on asos

fits

And I paid 65 euro as she got it in a sample sale. (great option if you have just one bridesmaid!)

PhoenixParker

On the bridesmaids dresses, they were free as I didn't have bridesmaids.

On the OPs original question, a good rule of thumb seems to be that the wedding's total cost will be double what you plan to spend on hotel costs, i.e. the non-hotel costs will roughly equal the hotel costs.
Obviously that's +/- by a large margin depending on your own personal tastes, but from observation a wedding that has a bigger more expensive reception tends to end up having other aspects more expensive too and vice versa.

John Mason

solemniser €400
Bar extension €800
Dress €125
Suit €100
Hair and Make up €30

What's an average bridesmaid dress cost? I paid 300 euro each

Nothing, they wore their own suit

Extraplus

westernlass wrote: »

What's an average bridesmaid dress cost? I paid 300 euro each

My bridesmaids didn't wear matching dresses, so I just gave them a budget of €150 each and asked themt o pick their own.

stickybookmark

INeedHelp15 wrote: »

I guess this is a 'how long is a piece of string' type question but what are the main costs to a wedding bar hire of the band, DJ and the actual costs of wining and dining guests?

The cost of my wedding bar band, DJ and wining and dining the guests was:
11-12k

The big ticket items out of that 11-12k were:
Photographer 2200
Videographer: 1100
Dress: 1200
music for drinks reception: 650

The rest was just loads of small things added up like clothes, hair, shoes & make up for the wedding party, hire of ceremony venue & celebrant, flowers, transport, ceremony music, invites, registration fee, decor for the venue, presents for BM & mothers etc ....

stickybookmark

westernlass wrote: »

What's an average bridesmaid dress cost? I paid 300 euro each

I had one BM her dress cost 191 from Coast (she bought it online)

jaja321

Just paid 325 each..bit more than I was planning, but they're really lovely. I just have two BMs so it's not too bad.