There’s quite a bit of content on an average wedding cost in the U.S. In this article we researched the subject as it relates to Canadian weddings.
One of the largest checks that you’ll be able to cut on your wedding day will be the cost of the wedding catering. Food and beverages can definitely eat up the budget and usually accounts for about 40 to 50 percent of the entire wedding budget.
It’s quite unbelievable isn’t it? Think about eating out in a typical restaurant for dinner, the overall cost of medium-size meal for one is roughly 30 dollars for each with tip and tax, not including alcohol.
Consider this number and then multiply by 200 people, it will total to about 6,000 dollars, scary enough right? However, it’ll be more terrifying when you actually add more glasses of wine, tables for dessert, and cocktail hour! The number will be doubled! Catering is not cheap indeed; fortunately there are things that you can do to save on your next catering order.
Saving on Wedding Catering Costs
As we already mentioned, catering is one of the most expensive parts of a wedding. If you want your wedding budget to stay within your means you might want to look at your catering menu a bit more critically.
Facts & Figures
In North America, wedding ceremonies become more special and romantic if the new couples will hire the best wedding planners in its area who are capable of computing the average cost for a well-planned wedding in the stated place.
A well planned wedding in the stated place can satisfy the demands of those individuals who want to get married in America. Conducting a simple Google search for “wedding costs” showed that the average cost of a wedding in the United States is $26,444.
Of course there are weddings that are much more expensive than that. It’s ok when your special day gets expensive when you can afford it and you plan it. However, wedding costs tend to get out of control. So, here’s a few ways to help you calculate, manage and budget your wedding.
According to 412 votes on a forum poll at RedFlagDeals.com titled Total cost of your wedding? most Canadian respondents replied that it’s over $50k. However, looking at the graph, the results are more or less spread along the spectrum, see below.
Unexpected wedding costs
This article from Bridalguide lists 30 Unexpected Wedding Costs Brides Forget to Budget For. Again, planning a wedding is a process with millions of details and it’s easy to overlook things. Make sure you read this article to keep these 30 things in mind.
If you want to have an estimate of what your wedding might cost, feel free to use this cool wedding cost estimator tool at CostofWedding.com. It’s a 3-step questionnaire asking you about your wedding. Please keep in mind that the tool is geared towards U.S. based weddings. We suggest you add more to account for a higher cost number of a Canadian wedding (due to currency difference).
And for those who like all things on one page OR just to present you with a different option for online wedding cost calculator, we suggest you check out this tool at Your Wedding Company. For this one you get to input a tentative budget, then select various elements of a wedding cost and click calculate. The output shows you how much you should spend on each wedding element. Play with it by changing the overall wedding budget and budgets for individual components of your wedding.
The most basic wedding costs
A sample of well-planned wedding in North America is composed of the following services and facilities that are very necessary in its special ceremony:
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A well planned wedding includes wedding transportation. Now, what kinds of vehicles are meant to be rented in this kind of event? In weddings, a limousine is one of the most ideal types of cars that a new couple must rent as their official transportation vehicle from the venue of their wedding ceremony to their honeymoon destination.
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A wedding ceremony in North America becomes official and unbreakable if the new couple has successfully acquired a Marriage License in its area before their wedding schedule.
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Of course, a wedding will never be complete if a special wedding venue and an excellent catering service are not available. A well-planned wedding is something that can give real happiness to a new couple and convenience to all of their visitors. It is not good to let the visitors suffer from hunger and uncomfortable weather condition during a wedding ceremony. Such situation will totally ruin the dream wedding ceremony of a new couple who will exchange vows in each other.
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A well-planned wedding in North America becomes much easier to achieve if the new couple will hire a professional wedding planner who will arrange all the necessary things in the wedding ceremony for them?
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Visitors will not come and the wedding ceremony will never be very exciting for a new couple if invitations are not present. Therefore, it must be provided as a separate form of necessity for the event.
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The attire for a wedding ceremony is not ordinary and it should be very special and elegant to enhance the formal setting of the event.
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A wonderful honeymoon destination, gifts and decorations must be available also in the wedding arrangement to make it perfect.
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And lastly, the cosmetic services for the bride and groom including the form of entertainment for the visitors must be considered also in the planning process for a wedding in North America.
The things that were stated above constitute the expenses that are meant to be paid in order to achieve a well-planned wedding in North America. And once the prices of the stated necessities were summed up, the new couples and wedding planners will find out that the average cost of well-planned wedding in North America is about $28,100.
Now let’s take a deeper dive into Canadian wedding costs.
Real Costs of a Canadian Wedding
Do you want to have a perfect wedding yet with low wedding cost? Then you might consider taking the way Canadian people plan for their wedding planning.
Wedding can be a very important moment in the life of the bride and the groom. Wedding is something that most of women would love to experience.
Ever since you are child maybe you dreamed of being a pretty bride, a perfect wedding and a good music is playing while you are walking down the aisle and the one you love is waiting to you in the altar.
Well, maybe that perfect wedding scenario is a dream of every girl but you must understand that some of those things may not happen in the reality.
Rich people may achieve that king of perfect wedding because they have enough money to spend to have a expensive wedding but those people who do not have enough money to use for the wedding preparation may have a hard time to have a expensive wedding.
You can still have your dream wedding although you only have a limited wedding budget. You can still achieve you dream and perfect wedding without spending too much. Thinking of a low cost wedding budget does not mean that you will deprive your bride to have a memorable wedding day.
People need to be practical and wise on spending money. The wedding is just a celebration that will last for one day but the marriage of the two people may last long.
Many couples must think that sometimes wedding is just the ceremony to make their love unite them but their life after the wedding ceremony is much important that the wedding ceremony.
The Canadian Way
It is amazing to know how Canadian people manage to have a low cost wedding budget without depriving their brides to have a wonderful wedding experience.
According to the TD Canada Trust Report on savings most of the Canadian people use their savings to spend for their wedding. The real cost of Canadian weddings revealed was an average of $32,000 and there expected wedding cost was $27,889 including the honeymoon.
The survey also says that people in the Canada are very practical in terms of spending money. Here are some of the reasons why the real cost of Canadian wedding are low compared to other people:
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They get a comprehensive wedding plan
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They stick to their budget. They try to make a point that they will stick to their budget.
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They hire wedding planners. It may sound costly but what some people may not know is that you can actually save money if you hire a trusted wedding planner because wedding planners have lots of contacts to many wedding stuffs suppliers that may offer discounts and lower cost of wedding stuffs.
- They hire people who they personally know. Musical singers may give you additional expense but if you try to hire some students and freelance worker you may get some discounts.
By now you already know where Canadian and North American wedding costs stand. Although you already took a few notes on ways to save, here’s a few wedding budget ideas that will help you make your wedding a very happy and memorable occasion.
11 Tips to Keep Your Wedding Budget in Control
The wedding is a very important moment in the life of the brides and grooms. It is something that the couple may treasure for the rest of their lives. The wedding is also a very special moment for women. Most of women are dreaming to have a special wedding.
Wedding may sounds costly but you can still achieve the wedding that you dreamed of. Here are some of the tips that may help you to make your special day memorable yet budget friendly.
Set the Wedding Budget
Identify the wedding budget that the couple can afford to spend. If you have a big amount to spend for your dream wedding then you do not need to consider saving but if you are one of the people who are having trouble about budget then you might need some things to consider about your wedding budget. Whatever you wedding budget is, you need to stick on it.
Make a List
You can make a list of all the things that you need to accomplish or buy for the wedding ceremony. List the name of the people you will invite.
The number of the people invited can greatly affect the wedding budget. Remember that more people invited mean more people to eat. Making a list may help you to identify in which part you can save.
Consider the Season and the Price
There are times that flowers will cost higher than the usual cost. It is mainly because of the high demand of the people. You can save money if you will consider the season and the demand of the people. Do not set your wedding day in a season that flowers cost higher.
Avoid the Popular Choices
If you only have a limited amount to prepare for your wedding day then you must not choose some branded and popular things for your wedding ceremony.
Have a Simple Elegant Wedding Ceremony
The wedding is not just about the ceremony it has a deeper meaning to the life of two in love people. If you do not have enough wedding budget then you must just make the wedding simple. A simple four course set of catering menu will do during your wedding reception.
You do not need to spend too much for foods and drinks if you only have few invited people. You can just choose to have an intimate wedding ceremony and invite only the family members of the both parties and close friends of the couple.
Choose the Right Venue
Choose a wedding venue and reception that already have a bit of style and you do not need to put extra decorations. Just make the venue simple yet elegant and clean.
The wedding is not just about the ceremony it is all about marriage and the life of the bride and groom after the wedding celebration. The wedding will be useless if the two people will not make the relationship work well. The bride and groom can still have their dream wedding although with limited wedding budget. They all just have to be practical and learn how to prioritize in spending money for their wedding.
Hire a friend
Know someone who’s handy with a camera or a whiz on the sewing machine? Ask them if they’d like to be a part of things. The reward of seeing/wearing/listening to something created with love is often far greater than that of something professionally done, and the feeling of being surrounded by those who care is sure to pervade.
Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that wedding planning is a complex and intricate process that can affect your friendship during the planning process or after the wedding.
Use family heirlooms
There’s no need to shell out lots of cash on something new when you can use something far more meaningful for free! A grandparent’s wedding band, your mother’s dress (which can always be altered to fit the modern style–just be sure to ask first!), anything that comes from family will add a feeling of loving support and depth to your wedding.
Create your own music
Ditch the DJ and make your own playlist. You’ll have music you’re sure to like and not have to bother paying a stranger to come to your wedding. Plus, making a playlist with your partner can be a fun and bonding experience!
Have a potluck
Ask guests to cook something special for your big day. If you want a fancy meal, try asking them to bring an over the top, mouth-watering dish instead of a wedding gift. Food cooked by loved ones will bring an intimate feeling and guests will feel that they are really a part of things.
Involve family and friends in preparations
Go through the whole process with some loves ones, and you will be surprised how many fantastic, creative, money-saving ideas they will have. Having a team will take a lot of the stress off of you and allow those who care about you to contribute in a more personal way.
Now it’s your turn to share how you approached your wedding planning. Industry reports do get a few things right here and there, but it’s always better to hear your comments on wedding planning budgets in Canada. So, get right to it and share a line or two on your numbers. Thanks in advance!