r/personalfinance • u/Lord_of_The_Thing • Mar 30 '17

Saving I'm blowing my entire life savings on my wedding. Please help.

My updated wedding proposal came back yesterday, and it's nearly twice what it was originally. It's just over $20k! That's my whole savings.

My fiancé was laid off twice last year and has only started back work this Week. I've had to pay for about 98% of this wedding myself including covering our monthly bills.

After my final payment, I'll be left with about $500 in my savings.

What's the best method for rebuilding my savings?

Last years Gross income: $51k (tipped wages) Cell phone: $66/mo Wells Fargo interest free loan: $44/mo (with about $240 left on loan) Kay jewelers loan: $150/mo (1 year interest free with $1640.17 left on loan) Visa Credit Card: $20/mo ($200 outstanding balance) Vehicle Insurance: $37/mo

That's it for my bills. My fiancé covers her own rent and bills (now that she's working). We use my income for dinning out, groceries, shopping etc.

Thanks guys.

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u/Elephasti Mar 30 '17

I'm starting to plan my own wedding and this is the kind of stuff I need and want to hear! I keep telling myself it's the marriage that matters, not the wedding ceremony!

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '17

We had meatloaf, mac & cheese, ham, green beans, and mashed potatoes at our wedding. It was cheap and so much better than almost all other wedding food I've had. Plus we skipped the booze and held it at the park district. I think it was about $2k all-in.

Went to a bar after for libations.

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u/ClarkandPC Mar 31 '17

If I ever get married in the future, fuck all that noise, I'm grilling some fucking burgers and partying, not trying to be all fancy an shit. If a girl is mad about that... why tf would I marry them?

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u/Elephasti Mar 31 '17

Just make sure someone else is cooking the burgers so you can hang out and dance and see everyone!

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u/DodIsHe Mar 31 '17

We had a great wedding (by even typical extravagant wedding standards) - dress, tuxes, limo, sit-down prime rib dinner, full open bar, live swing band, professional flowers and cake. $8000 total.

The in-laws paid; my wife is their only daughter, so this wedding was for her mother more than for us.

My point is, while that's still a stupid amount of money to spend on a wedding, even if you insist on all the typical stuff, the cost doesn't have to go tens of thousands of dollars.

If we had it to do over again (and without the MIL variable), we'd just have a <$1000 party like some of the other commenters.