How much is the avg cost of a wedding?

I'm in finance and my FI profession is nothing to do with numbers. We have a tight budget for our wedding. Every day I open and take a look at my wedding budget spreadsheet and figure out ways I can do some cost savings while my FI doesn't really care about the cost and cost savings. We are both paying for the wedding ourselves since my dad has offerred to pay a portion of it (it's not right to take his money cause both of us are currently working and my dad is retired).

What is the average cost of a wedding these days?
Fill free to chime in.
According to my spreadsheet - Ours is an avg between high 30K to low 40K ~ for a party size of 250.

we have about 200 and we are spendin between 40 and 50k

p.s. we are planning on the cheap side. ( nothing extravagant)

I think it depends on where you live. For example I live in Central California and prices are a bit cheaper than say the Bay Area.

I think 40k to 50k sounds right for a wedding of 250.

You can also save a lot if you are crafty. You can do a lot od DIY projects

i shouls have mentioned my wedding is in s.f.
plus my cousin is in this business and she has all the vendor discounts. if you want to cut downt he cost, cut down the invite list. thats what i noticed.

The average American wedding around $30K, and of course, in major metropolitan areas is probably closer to $50K. That said, you can definitely do it for a lot cheaper...in fact I am building a business on planning events (including weddings) in the SF Bay Area for people who want a fantastic party but don't want to break the bank.

It's called La Divina Events and I am in the process of launching my website this month, but for now, you can check out my blog: http://ladivinaevents.blogspot.com/

I am currently working with a Spring 2008 bride who will be married in San Jose and has a budget of $10K. In 2007 I planned my own DW in Hawaii for about $13K which included 12 days in Hawaii (airfare, accomodations, car rental, etc.) as well as assisted another bride with her $6K DW in Montana for 300 guests. None of these events looked or felt low budget.

The three biggest factors in cost...the number of guests, the size of the bridal party and the time of year/date. If you can negotiate on any or all of those areas you can save thousands of dollars.

Mine is probably no more than 15K, and I live in the OC! (approx. 160 guests) We just cut costs where we could, but still whave a beautiful ceremony and reception.

Mine is 25K for 125 guests in the south bay. I have done a lot of DIY and am cutting costs whenever possible without compromising style.

My wedding will be in the East Bay (San Ramon). Within my budget I have already incorporated some DIY projects. =( As for the guestlist, it will be tough to cut it down because of the family and friends size that FI and I have.

Lori - you are such an inspiration! That's a great idea, I thought about doing something like that on the East coast- if you want a bi-coastal biz, you let me know!! I used to be on Wall Street, we could make this happen!

I think people read magazines that tell them how much to spend and go from there. In reality if you shop around there are a lot of talented vendors who could do things for a LOT less. Make them fight for your business! I'm doing a DW for 60 for $14k. We are splurging quite a bit with events all weekend which is what brought to total up. For the one evening alone it would be around $10k.

I know how you feel, FI and I are pretty much paying our own wedding as well and it's even tougher since we just bought a new house.

We originally had a guest count of 260 for our wedding in LA now it's increasing to about 280 and our budget is no more than $45K. At this rate i'm pretty sure in the end we'll be spending closer to $50K a little more than planned with all the tips and extras that will add up.

I'm sure some of the money will be replenished from the monetary wedding gifts :)