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I’m curious to see if other bees made money from their wedding (gifts) or was it a wash?
The FI and I will be fronting a lot of our own money for the wedding. We aren’t sure what to expect for gifts but we are hoping for it all to wash out.
Anyone else?
I don't think we'll even get half of what we spent, but that wasn't our intentions for a wedding. Neither of us went to our high school proms or anything grand and wonderful, so we figured $6K on our wedding will make up for lost times! Lol
Most people I know have made at least half back. Some all. Is cash/check the norm in your social circle/area?
@heather25: Cash/check is usually the norm.
We are in the process of buying a home and most of our money is going toward the downpayment of the home. We still have to pay for the florist, photographer, the wedding bands, and any other little misc. item.
We are screwed.
Oh WOW, a profit would never have crossed my mind. Do people actually get so much money in gifts it covers their wedding? That's kind of amazing. I would be surprised if we got 1/3 of what we'll spend in cash.
Profit??? We spent $35K and probably got about $2K in cash and gifts (not including my parents' gifts) , so obviously not even close. Is that even possible?
Depends on what is the norm in your family and friends.
We did make a profit on our wedding but that is largely due to very generous gifts from my immediate family.
We always joke if we had the wedding closer to his side 75% of my side would not have come and we would be broke a$$es. Don't get me wrong we did not spend more on the wedding than we had. But it's nice that we have breathing room now.
And no, that had nothing to do with why we had the wedding closer to my side!
P.S. It's VERY common in Chinese weddings to make a profit.
We got probably somewhere between 20-25% of what we spent back (and that was cash/check and the value of gifts combined). Do not go into the wedding with any expectation of making money (or even having it come out in the wash). It in all likelihood will NOT happen.
The average amount of money I have hear of people getting in cash this area is about $10K. We got about twice that, but his entire family and most of our friends gave us cash instead of "boxed gifts"
And, no, I did not have a wedding to get gifts. That's just silly. I am shaking my head at that comment - annoying
I guess it depends on your circle but I've known some older women that made profits (the parents paid for the entire event)
I'm just curious how things turned out for other couples.
I thought I should clarify. We had very genourous guests and I'm sure we did better than most. Our guests covered their plates, which is the standard expectation where I am from. However, the venue and food was only about 30% of what we spent. All that other stuff really racks up.
@magilnyc: I don't think you need to jump to be defensive and call her comment "annoying" like that; it's actually pretty rude. It's a valid point.
If you can't afford the kind of wedding you want without your guests subsidizing it, you should scale back.
@magilnyc: Well, I asked because who asks about making profit at a wedding? Then says "we are screwed" in the next comment (i.e. not making a profit). I'm shaking my head at those comments to be quite frank.
One of the girls I work with paid $10,000 for her wedding and got $6,000 in gifts. I was floored at the gift money. They were both older, with a house already, so everyone gave them cash. I think she had 110 guests.
Since we are lucky enough to have everything paid for the wedding and no debt. It would be nice to make some money but, allot of guests are coming from out of town and i am just glad they will be here and don't really expect gifts from them all.
Maybe I'm the only one, but I don't think we really added it up or counted at the end. :)
We made a profit, but we had a mixture of things that went into this. Our parents paid for our wedding (very generous and we are very grateful!) and we did not register so we got 99% cash. We spent some on the honeymoon and some on furniture for our house. The rest went into a savings account that we will hopefully not have to touch for a very long time!
I didn't really care. I just wanted people there to celebrate with us! To answer your question, our wedding was ~$6K and we got about $1400, so nope. Not a wash and no profit. And yet I was thrilled with the generosity my friends and family showed!
In Chinese families it is very common to note down what each family gives as a gift so that in turn when their kids get married we will give them the same amount + inflation.
We typically have "greeters" that sit by the receiving area receiving wedding gifts, usually red envelopes. The greeters then note on the envelopes whom's it was.
So, technically, it is not a profit because we will be giving that cash gift back out in years to come. :)
I agree its bad news to go into the wedding with unmanageable debt and hope for money to cover it. I don't think it says that you are greedy but it does say that you aren't managing your money well. No judgment as to character, but I do think you should consider scaling back if you cannot afford it. You just can't bank (forgive the pun) on anything, especially in this economy.
We'll be making a 'profit', but only because we aren't paying for 95% of the wedding. My family insisted on paying for the wedding and gave a lump sum. I refuse to spend all of it, so my fiance and I will be paying for some items on the list. We're inviting 160 people, aiming for 140 to attend. We already have a home and established lives together, so I'd imagine if people bring gifts it'll be in cash form.
Now will we get back what was spent on the wedding as a whole? Absolutely not. Every person invited would have to give $156.50 to break even... and that definitely isn't happening.
We doubt we'll break even, but if we can get close we'll be happy.
@daydreamwanderer: We noted it only so we could make sure the right amount appeared in our bank account after we deposited it and so we could write personalized thank you cards (not with the amount, but to thank them for the cash or check or gift card specifically).
@BackyardLoveBird: I don't think the OP asked for comments about whether or not you agreed with "making a profit" or anything like that (meaning this isn't a post asking for opinions), so maybe you should've skipped over this post. I'm totally not meaning to sound rude or anything towards you either...I'm just saying that unless the poster requests opinions, then you probably shouldn't comment if you don't have anything constructive to say.
I never thought about it this way, but now that I think about it, a friend of me told me in terms of cash gifts, they got almost half of what they spent.
For us, nope, prob got about 15%ish, I guess.
Omg, it would be so nice to get even half back, but I highly doubt it.
We got approximatly 25% back, and all of our guests gifted cash. We were prepared to make 0% back however, and knew that we would have to save in order to afford the wedding. Each guest would have had to give us $300 in order for us to break even, though.
Also keep in mind that some of the guests will be having weddings themselves in the future, and you'll have to "give back" what they gave you.
We paid for the wedding completely by ourselves, which for the wedding alone (not counting honeymoon or rings) was about $12,500. My parents contributed a small amount and the inlaws gave a little too (which some of went towards the rehearsal dinner). Most people gave gifts, so its hard to quantify that, but if I had to guess, counting all gifts and money (including from parents) maybe $4-5K? I have no idea, but way less than half. We had 100 guests and a wonderful time. Unless its standard in your area or culture to receive huge cash gifts, don't even count on getting back what you spent. Its just not going to happen.
I didn't mean to stir the pot here.
I think this topic is more of regional/cultural thing that is talked about in my cirlce. The comment about the chinese cultural is close to what my family and friends do also.
I was just curious if people usually "wash out".
In a dream land far far away we would make a profit. Very doubtful considering it is $150(including taxes and service charges) a person just for the reception. Add all the extras and we would need a good $200-300 to make a profit. FI's parents also were appalled at how much a wedding in city costs versus the rural weddings for their daughters 5 years ago. Keeping that in mind I have no doubt that people will give $150 per couple thinking it will cover them both. Alas it is far from true...
@mg1363: Thank you for being diplomatic. I only said something when someone stated they were annoyed by my question. I think it was a valid question and I still maintain my opinion as constructive.
Of course no one gets married for the hopes of making a profit, that's just crazy to ask someone if that's the reason why they are getting married. But it's a good question for those just curious if they'll get some of that money back, maybe they'll spend a little more on the meal or entertainment.....who knows.
I can’t say for sure for another 7 months but if I base our wedding off of my FBIL’s from a few years ago, we will more than likely turn a profit. FI’s family is very “what one gets, the other gets” and since I know how much they got from most of their side, I can sort of estimate what we’ll receive. My family, on the other hand, is VERY generous. I’m an only child and the only girl in my family (my only cousins are much younger). This is the only wedding my family will have for years so I assume they’ll probably go above and beyond (some already have).
We’re certainly not getting married to turn a profit but I don’t think anyone can argue that it wouldn’t be nice!
Not even close. DH and I actually came out almost exactly even after only OUR contribution to the wedding which was miscellaneous expenses, wedding party gifts, a portion of the RD cost and our honeymoon. That's not even including the reception, ceremony, photographer, videographer, florist, DOC, etc.
Obviously we weren't trying to profit, so it's not a big disappointment, but that puts it into perspective at least.
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