Hi, Everyone!
If you’re currently planning your wedding, you’ve undoubtedly been inundated with an endless amount of Painfully Pretty Weddings from Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, wedding magazines, and countless blogs. The wedding industry excels at presenting gorgeous inspiration — from impeccably styled shoots to the most unique of minute details — but really falls short in educating couples on how much these things cost. We feel that lack of information sets up you guys for disappointment (and tons of What The Heck?! moments) when it comes time to start hiring vendors or planning a realistic-for-you budget.
As part of our ongoing commitment to bringing you practical inspiration and information, we’re launching a new weekly feature called “Reality Check” where we take a scene from a wedding and break down the estimated costs for you.
Reality Check is not about passing judgement on how much anyone spends on their weddings (or what vendors charge) nor is it about re-creating the scenes we showcase. We simply want to give you an idea of what things realistically cost.
In addition to the scenes we already have planned, we welcome submissions from:
- Photographers – If you have a photo you’d be willing for us to showcase for the purpose of a Reality Check, let us know.
- Vendors – If you’d like to submit a scene and the cost-breakdown of the elements within it, we’d love to hear from you.
- Newlyweds – If you’d like to share a shot from your recent wedding along with the cost-breakdown of what you paid, please don’t hesitate to share.
Here’s an example of how it works
Hover over one of the dots to see an estimated price and scroll down below the picture to see a breakdown of the costs.
The Breakdown
Table Rental: $12.00
Chair Rental: 10 x $3.50 = 35.00
Chair Ribbons: 10 x $2.50 = 25.00
Tablecloths: $64.00
Glassware: 20 x $0.90= 18.00
Plates: 10 x $3.50 per person = $35.00
Silverware 6 pieces per person @ $0.7o each = $4.20 /pp x 10 people: $42.00
Votive Holders: 14 x $0.45 = $6.30
Candles: 12 x $0.25 = 3.00
Large Candle Holders: 2 x $4.50 = $9.00
Mirror Plates: 2 x $2.50 = $5.00
Flowers: $48.00
Favors: 10 x $3.50 = $35.00
Food: 10 x $35.00 = $350.00
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Estimated Total For This Table: $686.00 (including food)
I’m loving the new feature. People forget how much weddings really can cost. As the French almost say “Beauty is pain(ful to your wallet).”
This is by far the best Idea any wedding blog has EVER had! I always hear, “why are weddings so expensive!”, because the little stuff adds up fast, thats why!
Wow! That’s certainly high praise and I hope you enjoy the new feature. Thank you so much! -Khris
I admit that I was prepared to be upset by this. I work in the bridal industry and feared that the “reality check” was going to target wedding professionals in a negative way. Wrong! This really is a smart and truly helpful feature for brides and wedding professionals, Kris. Kudos to you.
This is such a wonderful tool to assist in planning your wedding! You’ve taken a painstaking process and simplified it for those luck enough to use this tool. Thanks!
This is a godsend. I just started planning my 2014 wedding and have no idea how much anything costs! One caterer made me and my fiance feel really dumb when we told her our budget and she laughed at us. We had NO IDEA $45 a person was standard in our area. We told her our budget was $18 – $25 because we thought that’d be more then enough. No one talks about these things when you’re getting started. Thank you!
This is so cool! I haven’t seen anything like this before!
I cannot say how much I appreciate this!!! We are just starting to form a budget for our wedding and it was beyond shocking to realize how expensive these pinterest-inspired weddings actually can be. This is a great dose of reality. Thank you!!!!
I wish I had this feature when we started wedding planning! We have SO much help from friends and family, and it’s still costing us way more than I ever though I’d spend on a single day. I’m not sure how folks have all the bells and whistles when they’re paying for every piece of it.