Post # 1
Member
2204 posts
Buzzing bee
Miss Perfume’s recent post about her flower sticker shock, and Mrs Hummingbird’s post from a while ago, got me to thinking about what a shock it was to my meager budget (which I thought was HUGE) when I stepped into the world of weddings. Everywhere I turned it seemed like every day items were marked up 2-10 times more than they would be for any other event or occasion.
So here’s my question: what was the biggest item that gave you complete sticker shock? food, alchohol, flowers, dress, honeymoon, accesories?
My biggest wedding sticker shock was definitely the food. Granted, now that I’ve been exposed to the average prices per person for a dinner reception, I know my price is on the mid to low end, but I was completely shocked at how much it cost and how quickly it added up!
My list isn’t exhaustible, so make sure to comment below and explain!
Post # 3
Member
398 posts
Helper bee
I think food was my biggest sticker shock, I definitely started to shop around after speaking to just one vendor.
Post # 4
Member
121 posts
Blushing bee
For me it was caterer/location/venue fees since I primarily looked at places that provided food on-site. I live in NYC and was amazed at what some places charged for a Saturday night wedding in season (some places were $195 per person but that includes everything…still not cheap). One place was this beautiful rooftop garden in midtown Manhattan and the price was $20,000 just for the location rental…forget about actually having any food or a place to sit! We ended up doing a daytime wedding which is helping us save money, but it was definitely mind-blowing and initially frustrating to find a place that we felt would work.
Post # 5
Member
200 posts
Helper bee
Food and alcohol was a shock for me! I knew it was going to be somewhat pricey, but I was shocked at how much so!
Post # 6
Member
2004 posts
Buzzing bee
Mine was food, but the ceremony location fee was a close runner up!
Post # 7
Member
359 posts
Helper bee
I knew NYC averages going into venue and food search. Our biggest shock was the honeymoon. We thought 10k for Tahiti/Bora Bora was plenty, but we ended up going way over instead. I have no regrets because it was an amazing once in a lifetime trip, but wow!
Post # 8
Member
796 posts
Busy bee
It is unbelievable how much getting your make up done costs! I couldn’t believe it. I knew I needed it though – whenever I try to make my make-up look "special" I just look silly and overdone or like a clown. Not the look I’m going for.
Post # 9
Member
12 posts
Newbee
I’m not sure if this should go under food or not, because I wasn’t really shocked at the food for the reception it was the CAKE!!!!! I never thought the cake would cost so much for my small guest list. PLUS I checked into this at the same bakery….. if I wanted the same amount of cake and flavor and design for a "BIRTHDAY" cake it was cheaper! All I needed was a 3 tier round cake one 12" one 10" and one 6", white frosting with small dots. No color, no special designs, no nothing special. Just sweet and simple. PLUS, I already had the stand and cake topper, if I got this at the bakery they would have charged me more. I went to anther place and they were a little cheaper but it was still shocking to hear the price for just a simple cake!
So I have ordered myself 3 seperate "BIRTHDAY" cakes for my "WEDDING" cake
The title "WEDDING" makes everything more expensive.
Post # 10
Member
2725 posts
Sugar bee
For me, it was the photographers!!!! Silly, naive me thought I could find one under $1000 but the average basic, bare bones packages start at $1500!!! And I’m in a small town in Ohio! I was THIS close to booking one and my hairstylist recommended a photographer that’s just starting her business. I’ve seen lots of her pics and we’re going to talk to her soon, but her prices are very reasonable and much closer to what I expected to pay.
Post # 11
Member
2022 posts
Buzzing bee
food/venue. I felt like every place we looked was really overpriced and were not even all that great! We sucked it up and are paying more for a great venue though. I’d rather spend more on that than my flowers.
Post # 12
Member
963 posts
Busy bee
- Wedding: August 2009 - Bernardo Winery
Hands Down THIS venue! FH and I went to check it out b/c my mom liked it… when we got there we thought it was okay. Our ceremony would have been near the pool with nothing stopping hotel guests from playing "Marco Polo" during our ceremony. There was also a public park directly below the ceremony and outdoor reception space where anyone could have a wedding at the same time as you. There was even a great big photo of this happening in the business office.
After the tour they sat up down and explained the cost – the Min was twice our wedding budget, we laughed all the way back to our paid parking lot.
Understand that we live in a very popular beach town on the cost of CA and there are plenty of ocean view stops to have your wedding… we could have had our wedding at this St Regis for cheaper.
Post # 13
Member
1896 posts
Buzzing bee
- Wedding: August 2009 - St. Thomas of Villanova Church & the F.U.E.L. House
It’s probably going to be the plane tickets for the honeymoon — flying ain’t cheap!
Post # 14
Member
596 posts
Busy bee
I had very minimal floral requirements and I was surprised that even then, florists wanted to charge me thousands of dollars for my teeny tiny wedding that needed very little decoration!
Post # 15
Member
286 posts
Helper bee
For me it was the photographers/videographers. I’ve always known what to expect for the reception, flowers, dress, etc. I just had no idea that photographers can be so expensive.
Post # 16
Member
77 posts
Worker bee
I voted for other because i think we need an ALL category. From the DJ, per person cost, to my dress, make up and hair, to the Rehearsal Dinner it is all CRAZY. The second they smell it might be attached to a wedding they up mark it like CRAZY. I once heard about how they do this because most of the time they have to deal with a crazy bride wanting perfection and they have to deal with her crazy bridesmaids or family who are sometimes worse so they charge for emotional abuse which they think they will have to deal with. They also realize that the majority of their income comes from Saturday (more increasingly Friday and Sunday as well) but while the majority of us work 5 days a week to earn a living they have one to three days so they factor that in as well.
For me I am getting married on a Monday and there were a few vendors that I knew I would be able to negotiate with more than others (think DJs who are done at the end of the night verse the photographer who still had hours of post production after the end of the night).
So for me (being the first in my family to marry) it has all been sticker shock but we have had tons of time to save and search for deals.
