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juergenwt

Stainless
Joined
Feb 2, 2008
Location
Wheaton, IL.
Have you noticed how lately so many weddings are taken place as so called "Location Weddings" where the wedding is scheduled in a way out location requiring guest to spend a lot of money flying there and paying for expensive hotels?
It looks to me the whole industry created around weddings has gone ballistic. What ever happened to the simple church wedding and a reception in a place that is affordable? Has everybody gone mad?
Here are the latest average prices for a Wedding in the US:

By Jennifer Harper - The Washington Times - Saturday, February 4, 2017
Big fat weddings are still popular, Greek or not. But they will cost you.
The price of an average American wedding has reached a record-breaking $35,329 as couples seek to provide custom experiences for their guests according to a survey of 13,000 brides and grooms who tied the knot last year.
The most expensive place to get married is Manhattan, where a typical wedding will run $78,464; Arkansas is the cheapest at just $19,522.
“Couples are using their wedding day to make their first big statement as a couple. From invitations to the reception band, couples are spending more to put their personal stamp on every detail,” said Kellie Gould, editor in chief of The Knot, the well-read wedding magazine which conducted the survey.
Those personal stamps include such things as a custom “signature cocktail” created for the bride and groom, photo booths, fireworks, musical performances, dance performers, cigar rolling stations, wine and liquor stations and midway games.
All that and than a 50% plus divorce rate. Third highest in the world (Maldives and Belarus are higher)

Compare this to Europe - in this case Germany:
Average wedding (38%) is between €1000.00 and €5000.00.
26% between €5000.00 and €10000.00
9% up €10000.00 to €25000.00
1% more than 25000.00
13% up to €1000.00
The rest (to make 100%) had no plans to ever get married.

Are we (in the US) nuts - or what?
 
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You have misleading information purposely designed to shame people into spending more.

aka fake news.

And you're spreading it. :) :)

The numbers have 15k surveyed when there were over 2 million weddings in the US in a year.
 
I dunno how the other half live, but I was married 1.5 years ago. We rented the pavilion at the local zoo. I think the whole thing cost about $8,000 with all the dresses, flowers, hall rental, etc.
 
It's called a "Destination Wedding". My middle daughter's was in Cancun. Not too bad, spent around $20,000, about the same as the older one here at home. We just paid for the wedding party and only family and wedding party came. The older had a big one in a local facility with way more guests so price was about the same. Two down, one to go! In my experience and opinion any more would have been ridiculous and any less would have been unforgivable! I got married in my living room and spent the weekend in Vegas, probably spent less than $2,500.00. Things have changed.
 
I always marry quietly and on the cheap, so the earlier wives and families don't learn about the later wives and families through the media.

It's none pf their business. Sometimes the earlier ones do learn about the later ones.

I tell them it's all their fault--if they were any good, they wouldn'y have been traded.

Sheesh, what a stupid thread topic:blahblah:
 
I always marry quietly and on the cheap, so the earlier wives and families don't learn about the later wives and families through the media.

Don't know if I'm just lucky or not but my ex wife (married for just over 10 years) and had a daughter and my present wife (tomorrow is our 36th anniversary) and have with her a son. Both my ex wife and wife have no problem speaking together and my daughter and son have always gotten along together just great.

First wedding in a big church, second time more quietly. I've no idea why some that can't afford it splash out on expensive weddings. Probably the same reason why many buy a more expensive car than necessary - IMPRESS THE NEIGHBOURS.
 
So was your first wedding to IMPRESS THE NEIGHBOURS?
Really, I don't see the need for a wedding ceremony at all. Or "marriage" for that matter. I'm legally married, but I would have been fine with making that commitment just one on one with my wife without anyone or anything else being involved. It's all sort of stupid to my way of thinking.

Squire

Sent Using Tapatalk - Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Tahlequah OK
 
I dunno how the other half live, but I was married 1.5 years ago. We rented the pavilion at the local zoo. I think the whole thing cost about $8,000 with all the dresses, flowers, hall rental, etc.

I never thought of having t at the zoo. That way, my in-laws wouldn't have had far to travel. :cheers:
 
And in other news, People Are Stupid.

Let them spend whatever they want. $19.000 in AR??? I got married for about $900 in MN, 14 years ago, including the $75 marriage license. Cheap food, cheap music, cheap booze, the bride was gorgeous and everyone had a great time.

I'm still married (barely, some days!) after 14 years and spending $900. How many of those $78,000 wedding people can say the same?
 
$19,OOO in Arkansas? Not even! My oldest brother just spent $34,000 in Fayetteville last October to marry off his last daughter. He offered them the cash to put toward a down-payment on a house + some extra. Of course, they wanted the big wedding. Awful food, although the guests are like hogs at the trough.

Now the young husband wants to quit his job and get a PhD in Economics at U Arkansas. Stupid. But, you gotta let youth have its head, I guess.

Squire

Sent Using Tapatalk - Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Tahlequah OK
 
$19,OOO in Arkansas? Not even! My oldest brother just spent $34,000 in Fayetteville last October to marry off his last daughter. He offered them the cash to put toward a down-payment on a house + some extra. Of course, they wanted the big wedding. Awful food, although the guests are like hogs at the trough.

Now the young husband wants to quit his job and get a PhD in Economics at U Arkansas. Stupid. But, you gotta let youth have its head, I guess.

Squire

Sent Using Tapatalk - Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Tahlequah OK

Ummm, no. I have 2 daughters. If either of them think I'd waste that sort of money on ephemera, they're in for a real nasty shock. I'm happy for them to have as fancy a wedding as they can afford, just don't believe it's on me to pay for it.

They know me too well to even try. Money like that goes to a house deposit, nothing else.

PDW
 
I'm told my parents spent about $50 at the county clerks office to get married circa 1955. Half the grandparents had religious grievances with the match, so this was both a frugal and an austerely neutral choice of venue.
 
Price tends to be driven by the bride as we want to make her happy.
First wedding was way over $50K and "the social event of the year" in my area.
Second was way under $10K.
So much happier now.
Bob
 
I got married in my living room and spent the weekend in Vegas, probably spent less than $2,500.00. Things have changed.

I can beat that, got married at a wedding chapel and brought along a made of honor and a best man to Las Vegas. It was back in the day where they weren't hell bent on catching card counters as long as you were discreet and didn't make too large of bets. Paid for everything for the 4 of us and got home with an extra $1500 more than I left with. Things went downhill from there and was divorced in 4 years.
 
Foreman of the crew that built my building was marrying off a daughter.

He was complaing to me how he ONLY wanted to spend 100k, but passed that long ago. He said 500 people were coming to the thing.
 








 
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