what do weddings cost the couple overall??

lalababa

Just struck me today looking at a wedding like something out of hollywood :rolleyes: if everybody that comes gives 50 or 100 euro say at a big wedding- that is 275* (-euro75ave.) = 20k and so on. Is it a break even type of thing or what?

pleas advice

Some make a tidy profit selling toasters on the black market

Tigger

Mine cost me 8 k after gifts
Small wedding good band good extras (fireworks etc)

doolox

It is very healthy for couples to be questioning very carefully, assertively and cogently the cost of conventional western weddings as we know them in Ireland.

It is my contention that we can no longer afford weddings as we know them because of the higher cost of housing, the lower rate of wages, and the much lower security of employment experienced by young people today.

The reality is that Irish people are competing for scarce housing, services and other bases of living with people from all over the world who have a much more grounded and realistic approach to life than we have.

The foreigners are more frugal and less pretentious than the class conscious and public show approach that many Irish take to weddings.

In many cases people are not as important or as socially significant as they think they are. The whole purpose of weddings in olden days was to forge and cement alliances between countries and counties and other noble and semi noble families and groupings and owners of large estates etc.

Businesses were often merged through marriage between two competing firms when the daughter of one married the son of the other.

Big social weddings therefore had a pragmatic and business-like reason for existing. This was perverted by hotels and other catering establishments to apply to ordinary people with scarce resources and done so purely for profit.

The unpalatable truth is that most ordinary people do not need large, showy weddings and cannot afford them, in view of the fact that they need every penny for a house, raising their newly born children at the most expensive and risky time of their lives and getting started in their careers.

Being frugal and sensible at this stage in a persons life gives them a much needed boost in the deposit needed for a modern house buyer, it gives them a much needed easing of debt pressure needed in negotiations for higher wages or better working conditions in their chosen profession or trade.

Big showy weddings should be avoided at all costs, even if this means annoying or disappointing the parents. They lived in different times and each generation must live appropriately to their times.

Conservatory

Girls always think they will make money on the cards. Men always pay all the bills for the event and the girls get the cards.

White male privilidge or something

corner of hells

Conservatory wrote: »

Girls always think they will make money on the cards. Men always pay all the bills for the event and the girls get the cards.

White male privilidge or something

I can't find my bottle opener .

Conservatory

corner of hells wrote: »

I can't find my bottle opener .

A white male probably sat on it

Larbre34

We spent 27k on the day, 15k on a 7 week honeymoon some months later and netted 15k in gifts including our parents contributions. So I guess it cost us 27k. We had the gaff bought 7 years beforehand

Atlantic Dawn

With a rebate given by gifts most weddings over 150 people actually make the wedding couple a profit.

Tigger

Larbre34 wrote: »

We spent 27k on the day, 15k on a 7 week honeymoon some months later and netted 15k in gifts including our parents contributions. So I guess it cost us 27k. We had the gaff bought 7 years beforehand

You spent 27 on a day

Tigger

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

With a rebate given by gifts most weddings over 150 people actually make the wedding couple a profit.

This is a comon moscionceptikn

Larbre34

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

With a rebate given by gifts most weddings over 150 people actually make the wedding couple a profit.

No.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Father of the bride pays for it.

Best thing to say when my partner starts yearning


I want to leave her when the kid flies the nest. Won't go before that because a child has a right to be raised by their Mum and Dad.


Only another 12 years.

Fr_Dougal

Larbre34 wrote: »

We spent 27k on the day, 15k on a 7 week honeymoon some months later and netted 15k in gifts including our parents contributions. So I guess it cost us 27k. We had the gaff bought 7 years beforehand

You don’t include your holiday in the wedding costs.

Like someone said, €27k.

uck51js9zml2yt

My day cost about 4000.

marklazarcovic

Your sanity.

Annasopra

Larbre34 wrote: »

We spent 27k on the day, 15k on a 7 week honeymoon some months later and netted 15k in gifts including our parents contributions. So I guess it cost us 27k. We had the gaff bought 7 years beforehand

Crazy

umop episdn

Anyone that pays over 8k for a wedding needs a slap.

You don't need to invite 450 people to your special day...half of them probably don't even like you as you're marrying their Virgin cousin who's too good for you.
And chances are...you're not even getting the ride that night

The Bishop Basher

3k.

No suits, no formalities, no bridal party, no gifts, no photographer, no politics, no bull****..

Neither of us would change a thing..

OldMrBrennan83

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DrPhilG

Our wedding cost a fortune, and I don't regret any of it.

As for presents, no we didn't "clear a profit". Although it can be an eye opener. Some people gave €300 which was very unexpected, while others including very close family didn't give anything.

I know you invite people "for their presence, not their presents" but I do look back and marvel at the stinginess of someone who would go to any wedding, never mind close family, and not give a present of any kind.

paw patrol

Tigger wrote: »

Mine cost me 8 k after gifts
Small wedding good band good extras (fireworks etc)

I was about 5k cost.
100 guests

wedding cost about all in 12.5k (including her rings)
got about 7.5k in cash.
MIL bought the wedding dress for my wife as a gift .

We had some silly (i.e non cash) gifts...not as easy to flog as you'd think.

Trigger Happy

Spend what you can afford assuming no cash gifts. Then any cash is a bonus. Unless the parents are paying...

Do people still take out loans to fund their weddings?

mvl

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

As you say you never counted gifts, did you include the monetary gifts in the cost calculation ?

According to a survey published in January, "average budget for a wedding including honeymoon is €26,015, up 7% on last year". So many factors contributing to the cost ( can see for yourselves https://www.weddingsonline.ie/blog/irish-couples-spending-7-big-day-last-year-according-weddingsonline-survey/ )

facehugger99

7 or 8k to get married abroad including flights, accommodation and honeymoon (in the same country). Only had about 30 close friends and family attending and obviously, given the cost to attend, did not want any of them getting us gifts.

JustAThought

From what I've observed:

They cost you your freedom
They cost you your sanity
And in many incidences they cost you your
friends.

Eggs For Dinner

The income some people seem to expect for their wedding, it should be declared as taxable income to Revenue

Idle Passerby

Ours cost less than 10k including honeymoon. We got about 4k in gifts which was a lovely bonus. We didn't do it to milk our friends and family and only paid for what we could afford. We just cut out all the pointless extras we didn't care about. Had a lovely day, a great honeymoon and came home to zero debt.

PandaPoo

Ours cost around 16k. We had 120 people at it.

OldMrBrennan83

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Eggs For Dinner

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

The income some people seem to expect for their wedding, it should be declared as taxable income to Revenue

It falls under the small gifts exemption. Every person in the country can give you 3k per year free of tax.

Should be no limit really, gift tax is a disgrace.

Also they are not making any money as you see in this thread they are just covering some of the costs. Id guess a wedding costs up or 30 or 40k so a couple would be hoping to cover maybe 2/3 of it with gifts

My first wedding, paid for by parents, cost just over £2,000 for 100 guests in late ‘70s. Second one in late ‘80s, including ring, clothes and meal (for 4) cost £500. First one was very stressful and I had very little say in anything. Second one was happiest day of my life. I was doing it my way with no fuss, no stress, with a wonderful man and our 2 best friends.

lalababa

I think it is the norm to give 50+ per guest. With the closer you are the more you give- you know as a kind of help out- like furniture for abode etc. But now seems like just paying for the wedding and seemingly falling short at that. So should the new norm be ( if you're not short yourself) 300+ ? Or should couples be more frugal with weddings? That person that spent 27k was it seems a bit high alright for the one day.

Graces7

Met a young mother years ago . The couple really financially had to choose between a house, or, with large families who would pressurise them, a wedding .

She really wanted to be married.

As I was working alongside a local Franciscan Friary at that time, I asked there,,, and we arranged a small secret wedding . It was a lovely occasion, her closest friends and the toddler racing around. A meal after,, I made the cake and did he flowers

Later they had a big housewarming party

i know of others who have done similarly.

Conservatory

I nearly got John Leslie to pay for mine but the feckin cctv caught me out.

Graces7

Graces7 wrote: »

. It was a lovely occasion, her closest friends and the toddler racing around. f

.

Don’t know how people tolerate this at their weddings, no kids allowed at ours.

OldMrBrennan83

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umop episdn

Phoenix Stale Viking wrote: »

Don’t know how people tolerate this at their weddings, no kids allowed at ours.

I've been invited to quite a few weddings that have stated no children....not gone to one...a wedding is all about families...and if someone doesn't want children there...well...sod them imo

andekwarhola

Think just over 10k, including honeymoon. Only about 80 at it though. Couldn't get my head around paying more (although each to their own, obv) as we'd just bought a house and were about to start a family.

umop episdn

umop episdn wrote: »

I've been invited to quite a few weddings that have stated no children....not gone to one...a wedding is all about families...and if someone doesn't want children there...well...sod them imo

Children are annoying, running around making noise during speeches, during the mass and in general getting in the way of people enjoying themselves and drinking etc.

No need for them at weddings at all. You are obviously one of them annoying parents who care about nothing but your “little darlings”. Most parents I know are just glad to be away form their kids for a day or two and have a proper night on the beer etc.

OldMrBrennan83

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Shenshen

I think we spent around €3k on ours.
We invited our closest friends and close family we like, 20 people in total. As we're both from abroad, we invited everyone to a small hotel in Kerry, where we had the wedding and celebrations. As people had to pay for their travel, we paid for their rooms at the hotel, it seemed only fair.
Other than that, we had little expenses. Neither of us wear rings, I'm not a fan of flowers, I didn't want a big dress so got a lovely purple dress from ebay instead. I designed the invitations, himself found nice paper to print them out on. No speeches were allowed, it was just a lovely, relaxed, get-together in a beautiful location. Couldn't have been better.

Love kids at weddings, I see them as family events and not just booze ups.

If people want to spend a fortune on a day and it's what they both want, let them at it. It's their business and maybe they think it's worth it. If people have to borrow or basically charge admission, it's probably a bad decision but it's still their business.

Not for me, but to each their own.

umop episdn

Phoenix Stale Viking wrote: »

Children are annoying, running around making noise during speeches, during the mass and in general getting in the way of people enjoying themselves and drinking etc.

No need for them at weddings at all. You are obviously one of them annoying parents who care about nothing but your “little darlings”. Most parents I know are just glad to be away form their kids for a day or two and have a proper night on the beer etc.

You strike me as one of the people most of us want to avoid at a wedding...

OldMrBrennan83

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umop episdn

Patww79 wrote: »

Because they would rather not have brats running riot? It's right what they say, nobody has a bigger sense of self importance than a parent.

Parenthood didn't change me, I was always a self important snob....and drunken twats falling over themselves, groping waitresses and puking I the corner just aren't my type of people... but you go right ahead and enjoy yourself

Blaas4life

umop episdn wrote: »

You strike me as one of the people most of us want to avoid at a wedding...

Seems kinda harsh??

OldMrBrennan83

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iamwhoiam

Do people understand to each his own ? Some like it one way another likes it a different way . No one suit fits us all . Let others enjoy their day as they prefer it

iamwhoiam

umop episdn wrote: »

Parenthood didn't change me, I was always a self important snob....and drunken twats falling over themselves, groping waitresses and puking I the corner just aren't my type of people... but you go right ahead and enjoy yourself

What kind of weddings to you frequent ?

umop episdn

Patww79 wrote: »

I'm not the only one making generalisations anyway. What an unhealthy attitude towards drinking, you're more dangerous than anyone that's having a few.

Ah, when all else fails reach for the hyperbole....maybe someone threw up in it already, so be careful