(By the way, brides may find that their fiancés tend to
answer "don't care" and "don't want" much more than they
themselves do. This is perfectly normal, and it's no
reflection on your love! It's just that men aren't
socialized to dream about their weddings the way women
are. They are taught from early age that it's not
appropriate for them to understand the difference
between turquoise blue and baby blue, so even though
they see the difference, they can't acknowledge it.
Accept the fact that you are going to make a majority of
the decisions and probably be the keeper of the
timetable too. In exchange for your creative and
organizational efforts, this is a good time to extract a
pre-wedding promise that when you give your fiancé a
task to do, he will do it promptly and accurately,
without trying to weasel out. That's probably about the
best you can hope for.)
| |
Average
Spent |
Must Have |
Would Like |
Don't Care |
Don't Want |
| Reception |
$6,226.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Wedding rings |
$3,300.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Photography-Video |
$2,530.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Bridal gown |
$1,452.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Music |
$1,342.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Flowers |
$1,144.00 |
|
|
|
|
Bridal attendants'
apparel |
$990.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Rehearsal dinner |
$924.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Men's formal wear |
$704.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Invitations |
$616.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Attendants' gifts |
$462.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Mother of bride
apparel |
$374.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Bride's veil |
$352.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Clergy-ceremony fees |
$264.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Limousine |
$198.00 |
|
|
|
|
| Groom's attire |
$176.00 |
|
|
|
|
At this point, you may be in despair at ever being
able to afford to marry, but don't be afraid. There are
so many ways to cut many extraneous costs and still have
a beautiful, meaningful day. Obviously, some people's
tastes run to more expensive things than others, and if
you can't have a wedding without getting caviar for
every guest (and the average numbers of guests at a
wedding runs between 175-200), you can omit other
details that just don't seem important to you. And you
can compromise to make expenses less—expensive. For
example: you can make a gorgeous veil yourself in a
couple of hours for under $25: you don't have to have a
specialist make it for $300.
|
