I forgot to add in the above story that bride was SO upset with the lack of documentation of her wedding and she and her mother haven't spoken since.

Clearly, other advice to give brides would be to meet with the vendors you're hiring more than once--and not just the florist and the wedding dress shop. And to research on the Internet; there are many, many sites these days that are dedicated to reviews of professionals. If Joe Shmoe down the street is dirt cheap for his photography, it could be because he's just getting started...or it could be because he's so piss poor at his job that he's desperately scrabbling for whatever money he can get. It's nice to know that BEFORE you blow money on him and he drops the ball and it makes holes in the sidewalk.

I like this thread, so I am bringing it back up ;-)

Anna about the only thing I spent money on for my wedding was the photographer.  I paid $500 30 years ago and have never regretted a cent of it.  I don't know why but I tended to look lousy in photos, even though I was attractive, and my photographer got some truly lovely shots, which is more than can be said for the hundreds of photos taken by friends and family.  I also have the only decent shots of 4 generations (if you count the one on the way in my sisters belly) of close family that have ever been taken.  Rest was cheap.  $20 to get my mothers dress altered and a new pair of shoes.  SAL did the flowers, family friend did the cake.  Only 50 close friends and family and a good restaurant to celebrate.  No frills, such as church flowers, or chair bows etc cos I'm not that sort of person and personally think they are a waste of money.  One big party, no seating arrangements, menus, and we made sure we were the last to leave, which was totally against the tradition of the time.  The whole thing would have had wedding planners turning over in their graves (when they are dead of course!!!).

We went to some very upscale weddings at the time that would have cost 4 or 5 times as much as ours and yet everyone said that they had had the most fun at ours.

And on a more modern note, one of my SALs got married about 6 years back.  They borrowed $20,000 for the wedding and all up I am guessing that it probably cost $35,000.  All the bells and whistles and 4 months later she burnt the wedding dress and walked out and they still had the cost of the wedding to pay for. 

I understand that it is a special day but I don't think it is worth putting yourself in to debt over.  I truly believe that if a partnership is based on love and respect for each other then all the bells and whistles are unnecessary.  They are not for the couple but to impress the guests.
 

We spent a decent amount - maybe $15 000 7 years ago. We had it, we spent it, we had the unnecessary chair bows, and church flowers, we did stuff to make our guests comfortable. We didn't go into debt and we had our house paid off 4 years later.

It was and remains the absolute best day of my life seven years later, and I don't regret a cent of the cost. My memories of my flowers and setting and photos are much more of a treasure to me than doing anything else with that money would have been.

Having a partnership based on love and respect and a big white wedding are not mutually exclusive.

mcaulir, I am not trying to belittle the experience of others.  Good luck to those who want all the trimmings and can afford them.  Unfortunately, I think that there are too many people out there who spend far more than they can really afford on their weddings. They get carried away with the romance of the idea and then have to live with the consequences afterwards.  And for a lot of them the fairytale doesn't last.

The article was written by Sandra Lee - she knows she's been on Cake Wrecks, right?

wow!

A" about the only thing I spent money on for my wedding was the photographer. I paid $500 30 years ago and have never regretted a cent of it"

Well even if you only spent $500 on the photography, that doesn't mean your wedding came cheap. The family friend had to pay for the cake ingredients and her time. Whoever provided the food paid for that. Wherever you had the event had to pay for the electricity to run the place. And on and on. I do agree with not going into debt for a wedding. I just wanted to make sure you understand your wedding still cost more than $500-- even if it didn't cone out of your pocket.

I'm assuming that appreciative brides - you know the ones that we cater to - will read that article and laugh their A$$es off.  The right people for our market know better!

But that is quite absurd and the writer of the article should be burned with boiling sugar!  Seriously....someone needs to give the author a BIG PIECE of our collective Cake Central subscribers mind.

It's very unfair and unfortunate.  It's almost as if that person isn't even in the wedding industry, just a lay person giving their uneducated and ignorant opinion to budget conscious people...who shop at Walmart!  Let Walmart have them...