Going to the rehearsal party tonight and the big day is on Saturday for my wife's daughter.
Hopefully out side if the weather stays dry.

Maybe I can find out the cost and guest numbers?

Hope your kids have a get time and honey moon.

Yes. The cost of the wedding is inversely proportional to the length of the marriage. I figure that if you meet a girl that wants a big splash, maybe she ain't the one for you. It does not matter if the families are rich. If that much money is available, it could be put to better use.

What are you guy’s complaining about. The wedding is a bargain compared to the divorce!!!!! Lol

My soon to be wife, Me, a Reverend that was picked because he helped her change a flat tire. She made her dress herself, carried a bouquet of Yellow roses. No family there because that's what she wanted. It was 1970 and I went to work the next day. This fall we'll have been married 53 years and I hope for many more.

I don't know what our daughters wedding cost but probably not as much as she would have liked.

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Sceva
OGCA SWCA NRA

Two daughters, did the same with both. Handed them a check for $10,000 and said anything above and beyond that is on you. My youngest got married first and had less than a couple of hundred out of pocket expenses. She owns her own business and is very savvy, so she did well. It was a beautiful wedding and everything she wanted. My oldest is getting married in November. She too has a side business and has worked things out that will cost her virtually nothing out of pocket. She picked a great wedding venue and am sure it will equal my youngest's wedding.

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Have Canon, Will Travel

MAD Magazine once joked that Elizabeth Taylor had a wash and wear wedding gown.

The first time I got married, my soon to be bride and I drove down to Yanceyville, North Carolina. When we got to the courthouse (We were too young to get married in Virginia) and told them we wanted to get married, the women in the courthouse about closed up shop. Witnesses were rounded up. Someone produced a chocolate cake. Someone else got flowers. A woman volunteered to be maid of honor. A local police officer got volunteered to be my best man. An attorney who walked by got drafted to give away the bride. Word spread around the courthouse and the place filled up quickly. The judge performed the service. From somewhere rice showered us as we walked to the car. Women were happily crying. Men were making crude remarks. At least no one soaped the car or tied cans to the bumper. Other than the cost of the license, and gas for the drive it cost us nothing. No one would even take a tip. Well, we did stop for a burger on the way home. My mother was not happy. We hadn't told her what we were doing.

(I suspect this happened a lot there, it was pretty common in those days for young Virginia kids to go to North Carolina to get married. It was probably a fun break for otherwise boring days in a small town courthouse.)

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John 3:16 .

CajunBass that is the best and most moving wedding story I have heard. Everything was done with love and because of love. SWMBO also loved it.

Sounds like the court house crew had some prior experience in making everything come together in a short time.

True Love has no price.

Any comment I have relative to costs for Wedding Planners, Venues, Caterers, and Divorce Lawyers would get me another ding.

Bekeart
Unlicensed Resident Cynic

My youngest daughters wedding was similar to all the above. Double decker bus to transport the wedding parties to the event, food STARTING at $6,000. I was just sitting here thinking that this is Registered Magnum stratosphere. And I'm talking about one (or two) NOT chopped, cerakoted, rebarreled, refinished with stars on the butt and factory returned dates all under the original numbered grips!! Just sayin...

Roger

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Eph 2:8-9

Pretty simple here. 45 years ago it cost me $20.00 at the US Embassy in Seoul, works outs to just about .45 cents a year and getting better each year.

My son and daughter in law were similar. Station at Ft. Bragg (yes it will always be Bragg IMO) on 9/11.

Justice of the Peace in Fayetteville NC. Oct. 11, 2001.

I like to introduce my wife to people she hasn’t met like this: “Have you met my first wife?”

Somehow, she’s not a fan . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

My son and his wife,to pay for there honeymoon,agreed to sit through a time share spiel in Cozumel lol
The girl is shrewd!

I related earlier that, of fiscal necessity, my wife sewed her own wedding gown. But it really wasn’t so much a gown as a white formal dress. After the wedding she cleaned it and put it away. And it hasn’t been worn since, after over 50 years. She would have an extremely difficult time squeezing into it today, yet she won’t dispose of it. I believe that illustrates the folly of buying a wedding gown. It is unlikely to ever be worn again, and it will take up valuable space for the rest of her life. Grooms generally rent a tux. So why don’t women similarly rent a gown instead of spending thousands to buy one? I know that there are gown rental places, I drive by two of them frequently.

We once had neighbors who structured their vacations around listening to time share spiels. Think of timeshares in any exotic vacation destination and they were probably there once.

If folks have the disposable income to provide a rehearsal dinner, nice wedding, full service reception and lasting memories for people they love and care for then everyone wins.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Heck, that sounds like the old Mahoning Hardware & Implement Company store in Punxsutawney.

My ex and I used to do that just for something to do. If they sent us an invitation, off we went.

Guy was twisting my arm once to get me to sign up. Can you put down $1000? Nope...Can you do $100? Nope. Can you do $10? Come on, just $10.00. Nope. Sorry, I don't have it.

You mean to tell me you drove halfway across the state and you don't have $10 in your pocket? How were you going to get gas to go home? Uhhh....You told me you were going to give me $10 if I drove out here. (Holding up the letter.) Plus a clock.

Man, you should have seen the blood rise on that fellow. He turned as red as a beet, but he stomped off and came back with a cardboard box (the clock) and threw $10.00 at me. Now get out of here. No problem. Thanks. (That clock turned out to be the only decent "prize" we ever got visiting those places. It hung on the wall for many years.)

Man, I could tell some stories about visiting time shares. We had a blast.

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John 3:16 .

So far so good. Going on 45 years. The fashion has been for a while to run up every cost possible (and there are a LOT of possibilities) because nobody wants to spare the loot for their 'special day'. That's why it's been referred to as the wedding 'industry' for about 40 years now.

Almost 20 years ago I met some working boob like me who had just spent $35000 on his daughter's wedding. That would about wipe me out.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Weddings have become a social event which is sad. A wedding is a culmination which results (or was meant to be) in an intimate lifetime bond between two people deeply in love. Beyond that nothing else matters other than to satisfy the egos of the brise, parents, etc. If that is in fact the issue than the marriage is already starting off on a bad foot. My bride's parents threw me and the missus a big wedding for which I will forever be grateful, but I hated it all. All I wanted is a priest, imediate family and then leave us alone to start our life. Smartest thing we ever did was to move away to a little pissany town in the middle of cane fields to live an unremarkable life, raise three children and are now starting to slow down and enjoy the grand child Didn't get rich, didn't set the world on fire, but I think I've done the best I could with my wife at my side. I just shake my head and smile at the wedding escalation and the money spent on trying to either impress people, one up someone or "repay" all the people who invited you to teir children's weddings.
Kinda waxing a bit melancholy this Saturday morning aren't I.....

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Forum consigliere

Forbid the marriage and leave a ladder near the daughter's bedroom window.

After the fact apologize to the new couple and welcome your new son-in-law. :-)

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Paul
Salome, AZ

Friends of mine had three daughters. As each became engaged, they told her that they had $XXXXX available, to be used for a wedding or for the down payment on a house. Two of the girls opted for big weddings, the youngest scaled the ceremony down and used the unspent funds to buy a house.

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Where Law Ends, Tyranny Begins

I was fortunate enough to give my two daughters the weddings they wanted. Did have to say no to a couple of things but all went well. Fancy weddings in Churches and reception where we fed everyone.
However I did try to get them to go the old traditional route with church wedding, cake and punch in the fellowship hall and we are done. Simple.
No luck with that.
And it has gotten to where everyone tries to outdo the most recent.
They are still married, though and throwing off grand kids, so all is good.

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Some men, you just can't reach

My wife stored her things for 50 years. We had no daughters and no one else in the family/friends wanted to use it. She found out about a organization that would accept those items and use them to bury still borns or young children.

She cried when she handed over the sealed box and they opened it there and told wife how nice it was. Got to admit I felt very proud of my wife as I thought that was as good as anything than could happen to her gown.


They cut and modified that good material. In my humble opinion for a good cause. I know the people that lost their children appreciated the gift. All was confidential but we got a nice note from the organization that arranged things.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

What a compassionate and humane thing to do! God bless your better half...please give her a big hug from all of us here...

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Where Law Ends, Tyranny Begins

Thank you, I will pass this on to her!.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

A tail about a friend. His wife to be found a nice wedding dress at a thrift store for $10. And they were married on a Sunday after the regular service. His parents sprung for a nice reception for 50 at their "Club". He was a college kid in his 7th year of his 4-year degree and played college bars 3 nights a week for a living.

Now 42 years later he's a very successful attorney and politician (marring the right person is always the most important part!)

When their oldest got married it was the reception was cozy affair for 400 at the Hilton.

I have watched this attorney that could barely make his house payment give couples wanting a divorce $40 cash to go out to dinner with a cost checklist of what a failed marriage will cost them. Then for free help them with marriage counseling. I don't think any couple he helped ever did get divorced! (I take that back two couples did, in both cases, one spouse wouldn't act married at all!!)

Different couple: My best friend married my wife's best friend. The wedding had to have the best of everything! She wanted a divorce after 6 weeks, he toughed it out for 5 years!

Nobody is perfect! One of the keys to a successful marriage is being able to forgive your spouse's imperfections quickly! I don't think my wife's friend has ever seen or met any of our kids (oldest born 2 weeks after that wedding) My best friend is an additional uncle to our kids and us to his from wife #2! I would have to guess; some people's fairy tale doesn't have any room for imperfect people in it!

Ivan

And somewhere in the course of all this conspicuous consumption the father of the bride will slip the officiant an envelope with $100 in it and ask for a receipt so he can write it off as a charitable contribution.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

…have officiated more than a dozen weddings. They have ranged from destination weddings to backyard weddings.

In addition, I have been a guest at three truly EXTRAVAGANT ceremonies and far more “keggers.”

The only common denominator is that the bride and groom are honored.

Be safe.

To each their own. I like to think of weddings and similar occasions as allowing for shared memories, a sense of community, etc. Sometimes you can-and should-do things on the cheap, other times a little indulgence
is needed.

We gave our daughter a set figure and they had the rest of the costs. We had just recently paid for A 4 year Big ten college. Enough is enough!

Close friend recently retired. When he was working with his financial advisor, the advisor asked him about his children.
“One daughter, two sons” he said.
“Daughter married?”
“No” he responded

The advisor then went to his computer and did some calculations, and recommended he push back his retirement date!

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Reg. Magnum wants/Rossi wallet

This thread has highlighted a couple of things:

1) It confirms that people can be major league stupid with money. (Guess we knew that already.)

2) Society needs to ditch the medieval thinking that you have to pay to get daughters out of the house. Did nobody notice the years start with 20?

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Release the Kraken

My wife and I got married in '97. We ran off to Lavern's Wedding Chapel in Miami, OK. Cost with license, syphilis test (required in Oklahoma then unless you were cousins ) and the chapel with just the two of us was less than $100.

I have read that David's Bridals has filed for bankruptcy, laid people off, the marriage rate is down, men are walking away so perhaps those planning weddings can bargain a little more.
I think weddings should be social occasions. 2 of the nicest ones I have attended were reenactor weddings. At the Civil War one the seating was not bride's or groom's but reenactors/modern people. At the RevWar one it was at Monmouth Battlefield during the annual reenactment. The minister conducted the service using a period Book of Order from the Presbyterian Church from that time, after the kiss we artillerymen fired a salute.

My daughter just ordered the wedding photographer and said that her fee will be $2,600. I thought to myself, don't cell phone pictures nowadays turn out darn near perfect? Or find someone with a $500 camera that will take really good photos? I just kept my mouth shut, smiled, and thought about her as a baby, then a toddler, then a teenager, and now she is all grown up and I couldn't be more proud of her. Then I handed my little girl a check.

My son is getting married in September. My wife and I are paying for the rehearsal dinner. Is that acceptable? The bride's parents are divorced. I have met the mom but have never met, or have spoken to, the dad. Does the old rule that the bride's parents pay for the reception still stand? Or, should we be offering to pay part of the cost? Apologies for asking in your thread, Farmer17, but it seemed related. Thanks.

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'Merica!

My wife's family was not as lucky as mine was. She had 2 older sisters that got married, her father had just died, no insurance and their event was rather frugal to say the least.

My father (a business man) paid for our reception, I do not know numbers but it was not cheap. Note I was a only child and I think my father thought that was a decent price to get rid of me. As he told my wife "he is now yours, all bought and paid for, I will not accept any returns''. ( We are now at 53 years)

Get a bit more inf on the wife's side and so armed I know you will make the right decision. If in doubt remember some rules are made to be broken.

Good luck, Dave

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Rehearsal dinners must be an American thing. Never had those in the UK. Seems like another way to empty your pockets.

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Release the Kraken

Yeah, the bride is responsible for the wedding and the groom the rehearsal dinner and honeymoon. But some people can't afford the kind of wedding the bride wants and sometimes other family members or friends pitch in. Gracie's wedding venue cost $6,800 for a Friday or Saturday, $5,000 for Sunday, and other days of the week were $2,800. I told her to pick a weekday but her aunt said if she would do it on a Sunday she would pay the additional fee.

I fully understand where you are coming from.
I had a talk with the girls and basically laid it out. you can have whatever type of wedding you choose but keep in mind," You are spending your money."
They looked at me like...what? Finally, they got it and they both had beautiful destination weddings. Apparently, my talk had little impact on their decision.
Don't know what it cost, and thankfully, they married great guys and with grandchildren.

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Never fly the "A" model

A friend married and decided to do photographs on the cheap. They passed out mini cameras to attendees and asked that they take pictures. Unfortunately, he was a Rugby player and most of the pictures were of the inside of their pants. Be careful what you wish for.

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Front sight and squeeze