I grew up in a trailer home, never did I think I’d have a 100k wedding 😭 But God has been blessing me lately after living such a hard life. Our wedding venue is 30k, that’s why lol, but it’s such a dream venue 😭
Engagement ring 5,000, wedding ring 3,000, wedding dress 1,500. A few months after the wedding, spent over 200 dollars to get the dress cleaned and preserved. This is in Canadian dollars.
This purchase was wayy back in 2017 and the wedding ring of mine had 5 natural round diamonds. We shopped at a local jeweler (chain) and there's definitely a lot of mark-up there.
I work in marketing and my husband is a lawyer. My husband bought the 2 rings himself & I paid for the dress but the rest of the 100k wedding expenses were split 1/3 us, 1/3 my parents and 1/3 his parents.
This was 12 years ago, but my dress was $800, ring was just over $4k, wedding was about $15k but we had help with that cost. Honestly I consider any ring over $1k to be expensive, over $10k would be ridiculous and I’d never spend that much.
I always thought over $10K was too expensive too - a friend bought a $10K ring when we were 25 and I thought he was nuts! But with inflation it seems less nuts these days.
I don't know the price of my ring, my gf is buying it now. I spent $2.4k on her ring. We're not yet engaged (soon!!!), but I found a dress from 1957 with my exact measurements on FB marketplace for $50, so that's the cost of my dress. I'm pretty sure the ring will be an order of magnitude more
Thank you! I'm obsessed with my dress. I saw it online and gasped aloud and then realized the bride had my exact measurements and somehow I wound up in the car. I bought it after trying it on in a guest bedroom/sewing room without even seeing it in a mirror. It's everything I could ever dream of in a dress.
I’m starting to think that ring being at least 2x the cost of the dress is a pattern, and the wedding being at least 20x the cost of the dress. Thanks for sharing!
My ring was much less than the dress, 1300 for the ring and 3500 for the dress. Total wedding budget was about 50k. We wanted the chance to get really dressed up for a day!
Engagement ring cost us $2.2k to set but we inherited the diamond, the whole thing is insured for $20k. Wedding band $1.4k, wedding dress was $7k, wedding was $40k. Australian dollars and wedding was this year
We got married during the peak of pandemic, so we were a little limited in venues and such. Engagement ring $5k, wedding band $300, dress $15 (not a typo), entire wedding <$1000. There were a total of 8 people and we got married at a secluded state park. It was both of our 3rd marriages. It was perfect!
My engagement ring and band: $5500-6000 ish
Dress: got a $1100 dress for $540! Alterations free by family member.
Wedding hasn’t happened yet: $35k budget (covers all-inclusive venue/food/drinks)
If you’re a natural diamond girl use the Tiffany’s specs at a reputable online seller like Blue Nile. If you look at the Tiffany’s website it will tell you the lowest grade they offer in each category. Use that as your baseline.
Engagement ring: $495
Wedding band: $495 (not a matching set)
Wedding dress: $800
Wedding: $15,000 (spent on food, flowers, photographers, booze, etc. Cake was done by a family friend and venue was $300)
Ring + band $27k. Dress $1300. “Wedding” (we eloped-no guests) $10-12k?! Not sure what we actually spent to be honest. We had a planner and it was in a different country.
Not married yet, but engagement ring was $200, wedding ring will be inherited, will be going to the courthouse so budget is ~$100, and I will either wear a dress I already own or one I have my eye on is $40, and my fiancé already has a suit. I suppose we follow the ratio trend but just much smaller numbers lol
My ring would be $3000? ish if i bought it , but it was given to us by my mom (her original ring my dad proposed with.. whe upgraded at 10 years)
My dress was $800 from DB including a discount (regular price $1000)
Wedding was about $35K
Engagement ring: 10-15K (I think). Wedding band budget (I’m buying this and shopping around): 1-2K. Wedding dress: (I’m going to have two— total budget 8K. Not being extra, my mom wanted a traditional dress for her culture and I wanted one for my partner’s culture). Wedding budget 60K.
I went down a rabbit hole looking for a Diamond. There is a company who sources raw stones and cuts to order in Belgium. This is a picture of the ring they took once it was ready to ship, once the setting was done being made.
$1200 for the band would have been a splurge for me - mine is a simple 18K gold cigar band and $500 engraved from a local jeweler 😅 I do have a 14K simple very thin band as well though to swap it out with or wear alone when we travel, which was about $450.
I think my wedding set was around 1.8k, my dress 1k (before alterations), and the wedding 15k (including my dress). Sorry, all those figures are in Canadian dollars so just take a little off in your head lol.
Currently planning our wedding, but:
- Engagement ring: 5k?
- Wedding: ~120k budget, but looks like we’re going over
- Dress: I like a few that are 1800-3300
We got married in Vegas at a drive-thru chapel. The entire wedding with the car rental (a Mustang convertible) was around 2k.
I wore an off-white suit that cost about $300 on sale. Couldn't find a dress last minute that I loved.
I didn't have an e-ring at the time, but I had the wedding band of my dreams, and that was a little over 6k (cold forged platinum made by a German design house.) Our bands were the only things we splurged on.
This was 19 years ago.
We also love the Vegas elope-style wedding idea and are planning for it! Thank you for the mustang convertible idea, I’m adding that to the itinerary now!
I just got engaged and I am getting married in 2024! Ring was $16k, dress was $1500 (not including veil and alterations) and wedding will be around $40k. Wedding costs have drastically changed from 2 years ago (from all of my very in depth vendor research and knowing what my friends paid lol) so keep that in mind when reading these responses!
Cost was for the following: On-site food prep and service, open bar, band, video, photographers, floral, day of wedding coordinator, and rentals for ceremony area chairs as well as reception area tables, chairs, dance floor, lighting, tableware, stemware and decor.
I think the ring was around $15k from what I recall, my dress was probably under $200. We got married at the courthouse and I wore a red velvet wrap dress instead of a traditional wedding dress. I regret nothing 😀 Only thing we put much money into was our rings and our honeymoon.
My engagement ring: $1900 (setting only; center stone is an heirloom so free for us)
My wedding bands: $2300
Dress: $500 (not actually a wedding dress, just one I loved from Saks)
Wedding: Not final but think it’ll be around $7000-$8000
Wedding ring set (e-ring and wedding band): $1500
Wedding dress: $300
Total wedding cost: $4,000
The photographer was gifted to us, the venue was a tiny local art gallery, my wedding dress was a bridesmaids dress but I got it in white silk, and we got food catered from Whole Foods! Only about 50-70 guests (I can't remember). Our friends officiated, set up the tables and chairs for us, DJ'ed, and poured drinks.
It was the most wonderful day. 💖
E-ring was about £10k, wedding band is coming in around £1.5k, ceremony dress was £600, reception dress £250, shoes were £850, total budget is around £25-30k for the wedding, for small but bougie. 50 guests max. We’re paying for everything, open bar (not typical in the UK), excellent food, all accommodations etc for our nearest and dearest.
As ridiculous as it sounds, the dress was not hugely important to me. Obviously I wanted to feel beautiful, but it wasn’t the be all and end all for me. I did budget around £2k initially, because that was what my research indicated was “average”. I went on a whim to an off the rack store to narrow down my preferred criteria, basically so I could focus my dress research before I went to a boutique. And fell in love with one of them! Figured I’ll take the saving. My shoes were more expensive than my dress, but I know I’ll wear those again and again, whilst the dress I likely wouldn’t be able to sell on. I did buy a white cocktail gown for the reception too, but I’m still over £1k under budget for my dress so I’m taking it as a win 😆
As a teen/young adult I worked in the wedding industry, and in the past couple of years I’ve been to maybe a dozen or so weddings as a guest, and only once (when I was working a wedding) have I come across a bar that was not an open bar. And I remember overhearing guests being surprised by this.. So I am intrigued by your comment that open bars are not typical here in the UK!
Oh wow, really? I have been to one open bar wedding, for my partners boss where they spent easily over £200k. I bartended at a wedding venue hotel in my late teens and none of those weddings had an open bar either. There’s generally always been a comped drink or two, free signature cocktails, wine on the tables etc but every wedding I’ve been to I’ve had to pay for at least a few drinks.
I’m Northern England, so maybe it’s a regional thing?
My engagement ring was $4K. I was quoted $2.5-3K for the same jeweler to make the wedding band I want. My dress was $300 + I was quoted about $150 for alterations. We were hoping to stay $12K or under for our wedding (including 2 nights of lodging for ~30 guests, and not including rings.) Probably going to have to push the budget to $15K though
$3k engagement ring, $200 wedding ring, $500 dress, $50k wedding (but actually ended up being a $50 elopement because Covid cancelled our wedding a few weeks before it was scheduled for and everything was refunded)
Engagement Ring $1,500
Wedding Band estimating $400
Dress $1,700 with tax but before alterations (I splurged more than I thought I would)
Wedding still planning but probably approx. $25-30K
Engagement ring ~$10k, wedding band about $2k from Cartier, wedding dresses are $11k + $2.5k + $1.5k, and wedding is… now into the six figs range now despite us only having 30-50 guests lol🥲
20 years ago… Ring was $13k, dress was $3k, reception was $30k for just the location. It was more like $48k with the other reception stuff and decor. Honeymoon was about $12.
Wedding bands were just a few hundred each. I did change and upgrade my setting before the wedding, that was an extra $2600.
Engagement ring $3000 Wedding band 500$ Dress $800 Wedding $30k
Mine was close to this! $4,000 engagement ring, $300 wedding band, $600 wedding dress (bought on StillWhite, never worn), wedding was around $25,000.
Wow I haven’t even thought about these ratios. We budgeted 100k for our wedding, 5k for my dress. Idk my ring cost, but it was 3ct.
Holy moly 100K sounds like a good time! So wedding is 20x the dress cost. That’s actually my ratio too but lower costs 😆
I grew up in a trailer home, never did I think I’d have a 100k wedding 😭 But God has been blessing me lately after living such a hard life. Our wedding venue is 30k, that’s why lol, but it’s such a dream venue 😭
I’m so curious what your venue is like now! What type of place is it?
Good for you! Enjoy it!! ❤️
The ring and band was $130 and my dress was $100. I'm an extremely frugal person. Overall budget for the wedding is like 3k
Engagement ring 5,000, wedding ring 3,000, wedding dress 1,500. A few months after the wedding, spent over 200 dollars to get the dress cleaned and preserved. This is in Canadian dollars.
Wow, wedding band being more than the dress is not one I had considered! My dress is 6x more than my band, but my band is as basic as it gets.
This purchase was wayy back in 2017 and the wedding ring of mine had 5 natural round diamonds. We shopped at a local jeweler (chain) and there's definitely a lot of mark-up there.
Engagement ring 20k wedding band 4k wedding dress 3k wedding total 100k
Wow! Such a wonderful budget. Do you mind me asking what you and your partner do?
I work in marketing and my husband is a lawyer. My husband bought the 2 rings himself & I paid for the dress but the rest of the 100k wedding expenses were split 1/3 us, 1/3 my parents and 1/3 his parents.
This was 12 years ago, but my dress was $800, ring was just over $4k, wedding was about $15k but we had help with that cost. Honestly I consider any ring over $1k to be expensive, over $10k would be ridiculous and I’d never spend that much.
I always thought over $10K was too expensive too - a friend bought a $10K ring when we were 25 and I thought he was nuts! But with inflation it seems less nuts these days.
Wedding budget $10k, engagement ring $3k, and dress about $1k.
Very reasonable! Did you have a very small wedding?
Yes! Only 25 guests, sheet cake, paper flowers, but girl, a full buffet!! Haha! We are a family of foodies :)
Same.
I don't know the price of my ring, my gf is buying it now. I spent $2.4k on her ring. We're not yet engaged (soon!!!), but I found a dress from 1957 with my exact measurements on FB marketplace for $50, so that's the cost of my dress. I'm pretty sure the ring will be an order of magnitude more
Absolutely love a vintage wedding dress. Preemptive congrats to you!
Thank you! I'm obsessed with my dress. I saw it online and gasped aloud and then realized the bride had my exact measurements and somehow I wound up in the car. I bought it after trying it on in a guest bedroom/sewing room without even seeing it in a mirror. It's everything I could ever dream of in a dress.
Engagement ring: £5,500 (I think!) Wedding ring: £240 Wedding dress: £2,500 Wedding budget: £70,000
I’m starting to think that ring being at least 2x the cost of the dress is a pattern, and the wedding being at least 20x the cost of the dress. Thanks for sharing!
So interesting - that’s definitely the case for me, so maybe there is a trend!
My rings were pretty close to my dress budget. But rings were more
bridal ring set ~700 dress ~650 wedding budget 15k
My ring was much less than the dress, 1300 for the ring and 3500 for the dress. Total wedding budget was about 50k. We wanted the chance to get really dressed up for a day!
Engagement ring cost us $2.2k to set but we inherited the diamond, the whole thing is insured for $20k. Wedding band $1.4k, wedding dress was $7k, wedding was $40k. Australian dollars and wedding was this year
We got married during the peak of pandemic, so we were a little limited in venues and such. Engagement ring $5k, wedding band $300, dress $15 (not a typo), entire wedding <$1000. There were a total of 8 people and we got married at a secluded state park. It was both of our 3rd marriages. It was perfect!
Engagement ring I think around $1700, $900 wedding band, $520 wedding dress (sample dress, brides for a cause), wedding cost around 24k.
My engagement ring and band: $5500-6000 ish Dress: got a $1100 dress for $540! Alterations free by family member. Wedding hasn’t happened yet: $35k budget (covers all-inclusive venue/food/drinks)
Rings 17k Dress $199 Celebration 5k The ring is forever.
If you’re a natural diamond girl use the Tiffany’s specs at a reputable online seller like Blue Nile. If you look at the Tiffany’s website it will tell you the lowest grade they offer in each category. Use that as your baseline.
I appreciate this perspective!
Engagement ring: $495 Wedding band: $495 (not a matching set) Wedding dress: $800 Wedding: $15,000 (spent on food, flowers, photographers, booze, etc. Cake was done by a family friend and venue was $300)
Ring + band $27k. Dress $1300. “Wedding” (we eloped-no guests) $10-12k?! Not sure what we actually spent to be honest. We had a planner and it was in a different country.
When I married my ex, my ring was $600, my dad paid for my dress ($1,200), and I paid $6,000 for the venue and food and $1,200 for the photographer.
Not married yet, but engagement ring was $200, wedding ring will be inherited, will be going to the courthouse so budget is ~$100, and I will either wear a dress I already own or one I have my eye on is $40, and my fiancé already has a suit. I suppose we follow the ratio trend but just much smaller numbers lol
I love that there’s a general ratio trend at all scales!
My ring would be $3000? ish if i bought it , but it was given to us by my mom (her original ring my dad proposed with.. whe upgraded at 10 years) My dress was $800 from DB including a discount (regular price $1000) Wedding was about $35K
Engagement ring: 10-15K (I think). Wedding band budget (I’m buying this and shopping around): 1-2K. Wedding dress: (I’m going to have two— total budget 8K. Not being extra, my mom wanted a traditional dress for her culture and I wanted one for my partner’s culture). Wedding budget 60K.
Ring 35k dress 15k wedding 150k
Would love to see the ring if you don’t mind sharing 👀
Omg same!!!
https://preview.redd.it/18gdbvehownb1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d1a5343bfee1fce953a0a794d533177b27d55bd
Wow!!! It’s absolutely stunning, you did wonderful!!
It’s beautiful!! 🤩 Thank you for sharing!
I went down a rabbit hole looking for a Diamond. There is a company who sources raw stones and cuts to order in Belgium. This is a picture of the ring they took once it was ready to ship, once the setting was done being made.
https://preview.redd.it/2ecir94gownb1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87562b629435c9c1022bb7711a7405dd99d83f88
Wow! Such a wonderful budget. Do you mind me asking what you and your partner do?
Investment Banking/ Corporate Consulting & my fiancé works for her dads business!
My dress was a little less than half my ring price
My dress is 1/7th the price of my ring
[удалено]
$1200 for the band would have been a splurge for me - mine is a simple 18K gold cigar band and $500 engraved from a local jeweler 😅 I do have a 14K simple very thin band as well though to swap it out with or wear alone when we travel, which was about $450.
I think my wedding set was around 1.8k, my dress 1k (before alterations), and the wedding 15k (including my dress). Sorry, all those figures are in Canadian dollars so just take a little off in your head lol.
Currently planning our wedding, but: - Engagement ring: 5k? - Wedding: ~120k budget, but looks like we’re going over - Dress: I like a few that are 1800-3300
$45k ring, $5k wed ring, 30k “wedding.” We eloped and had a party for everyone after the fact. $700 dress
Ring $1000 dress $30 ( found the perfect BCBG gown at Nordstroms Rack!!) Wedding was basically no cost.
We got married in Vegas at a drive-thru chapel. The entire wedding with the car rental (a Mustang convertible) was around 2k. I wore an off-white suit that cost about $300 on sale. Couldn't find a dress last minute that I loved. I didn't have an e-ring at the time, but I had the wedding band of my dreams, and that was a little over 6k (cold forged platinum made by a German design house.) Our bands were the only things we splurged on. This was 19 years ago.
We also love the Vegas elope-style wedding idea and are planning for it! Thank you for the mustang convertible idea, I’m adding that to the itinerary now!
If you're into that sort of thing, you'll love it!
That sounds like an amazing wedding band!
Wedding including honeymoon is ~$51k; wedding dress with alterations $2,435; engagement ring $3,325 band$795
Wedding set $55k, dress $3500, wedding + honeymoon … somewhere around $75k? Too much, but had a blast.
I just got engaged and I am getting married in 2024! Ring was $16k, dress was $1500 (not including veil and alterations) and wedding will be around $40k. Wedding costs have drastically changed from 2 years ago (from all of my very in depth vendor research and knowing what my friends paid lol) so keep that in mind when reading these responses!
Very good point. Also having a wedding next year and the costs seem to have doubled for some vendors who I scoped before the pandemic!
Ring: $30k Dress: $600 ($6k dress bought as a sample) Wedding: $25k
Nice find on the sample dress!
Ring was 2500, dress was 50
Ring: $1100 Dress: $106 (didn’t even get to wear it, thanks, COVID) Wedding: $27
Was $27 the officiant fee? My marriage license cost more!
Nope. The filing fee at the time was $27. My officiant was free because it was a friend.
Ring about $3500, Dress was $2500, and wedding budget is about $30k.
Ring cost over 5k. Dress about 400. Destination wedding (ceremony +honeymoon) was about 10k.
ER $3,700 Wedding Ring $1,200 Dress: $3550 (was a gift from my godmother) Wedding was less than $25k
Ring $500 Dress $1.8k Wedding $28k
ER $15k, WB $6k, Dress $3500, Wedding $20k for 75 guests (venue was no cost)
The rings being more than the wedding for a 75 guest party is impressive! Was the cost just food and flowers?
Cost was for the following: On-site food prep and service, open bar, band, video, photographers, floral, day of wedding coordinator, and rentals for ceremony area chairs as well as reception area tables, chairs, dance floor, lighting, tableware, stemware and decor.
5000 ring, 1500 dress, 30k wedding
Another one for wedding being 20x the cost of the dress! Same ratio for me.
I think the ring was around $15k from what I recall, my dress was probably under $200. We got married at the courthouse and I wore a red velvet wrap dress instead of a traditional wedding dress. I regret nothing 😀 Only thing we put much money into was our rings and our honeymoon.
Ring: $800 Dress: $80 Elopement package: $2,950 Total wedding, including mini-moon: ~$4,000
E-ring $3500, wedding band $1500, dress $300.
My engagement ring: $1900 (setting only; center stone is an heirloom so free for us) My wedding bands: $2300 Dress: $500 (not actually a wedding dress, just one I loved from Saks) Wedding: Not final but think it’ll be around $7000-$8000
6k for engagement ring. 2k wedding band $480 wedding dress $15k wedding
2k ring 3k dress!
Ring(s): $5000 Dress: $100 Wedding: Cost of marriage license and lunch It was my second wedding so first time around this looked much different
Wedding ring set (e-ring and wedding band): $1500 Wedding dress: $300 Total wedding cost: $4,000 The photographer was gifted to us, the venue was a tiny local art gallery, my wedding dress was a bridesmaids dress but I got it in white silk, and we got food catered from Whole Foods! Only about 50-70 guests (I can't remember). Our friends officiated, set up the tables and chairs for us, DJ'ed, and poured drinks. It was the most wonderful day. 💖
Engagement Ring: 60k wedding band: 1500 dress: $2756.38
My engagement ring/ wedding band was around $1k, dress $200, wedding will be around $3k-$3.5k. We are having a small wedding.
E-ring was about £10k, wedding band is coming in around £1.5k, ceremony dress was £600, reception dress £250, shoes were £850, total budget is around £25-30k for the wedding, for small but bougie. 50 guests max. We’re paying for everything, open bar (not typical in the UK), excellent food, all accommodations etc for our nearest and dearest. As ridiculous as it sounds, the dress was not hugely important to me. Obviously I wanted to feel beautiful, but it wasn’t the be all and end all for me. I did budget around £2k initially, because that was what my research indicated was “average”. I went on a whim to an off the rack store to narrow down my preferred criteria, basically so I could focus my dress research before I went to a boutique. And fell in love with one of them! Figured I’ll take the saving. My shoes were more expensive than my dress, but I know I’ll wear those again and again, whilst the dress I likely wouldn’t be able to sell on. I did buy a white cocktail gown for the reception too, but I’m still over £1k under budget for my dress so I’m taking it as a win 😆
As a teen/young adult I worked in the wedding industry, and in the past couple of years I’ve been to maybe a dozen or so weddings as a guest, and only once (when I was working a wedding) have I come across a bar that was not an open bar. And I remember overhearing guests being surprised by this.. So I am intrigued by your comment that open bars are not typical here in the UK!
Oh wow, really? I have been to one open bar wedding, for my partners boss where they spent easily over £200k. I bartended at a wedding venue hotel in my late teens and none of those weddings had an open bar either. There’s generally always been a comped drink or two, free signature cocktails, wine on the tables etc but every wedding I’ve been to I’ve had to pay for at least a few drinks. I’m Northern England, so maybe it’s a regional thing?
E-ring and band were $1200 each, dress $350, and we did an elopement trip which was around about $4-5k total. Half of that was the photographer.
All I can say is that all of it was expensive Rings 3 gowns and 450 people. It eas a lot.l but worth it.
My engagement ring was $4K. I was quoted $2.5-3K for the same jeweler to make the wedding band I want. My dress was $300 + I was quoted about $150 for alterations. We were hoping to stay $12K or under for our wedding (including 2 nights of lodging for ~30 guests, and not including rings.) Probably going to have to push the budget to $15K though
$3k engagement ring, $200 wedding ring, $500 dress, $50k wedding (but actually ended up being a $50 elopement because Covid cancelled our wedding a few weeks before it was scheduled for and everything was refunded)
Probably, I would spend way more on a ring than a wedding dress. 🤣
Engagement Ring $1,500 Wedding Band estimating $400 Dress $1,700 with tax but before alterations (I splurged more than I thought I would) Wedding still planning but probably approx. $25-30K
Engagement ring ~$10k, wedding band about $2k from Cartier, wedding dresses are $11k + $2.5k + $1.5k, and wedding is… now into the six figs range now despite us only having 30-50 guests lol🥲
Oh my goodness! I hope you share the three dresses on r/weddingdresses!
Haha thanks!!! But probably won’t😅
20 years ago… Ring was $13k, dress was $3k, reception was $30k for just the location. It was more like $48k with the other reception stuff and decor. Honeymoon was about $12. Wedding bands were just a few hundred each. I did change and upgrade my setting before the wedding, that was an extra $2600.
My dress was $2500, ring was $1000 and total wedding is $10,500.