The feelings you experience during the first few days of your engagement are surreal. They cannot be explained nor described. You are excited, anxious and even a bit scared variable. Weirdly enough, those are the same feelings that rush through the couple once they start discovering the expenses. A wedding is not planned overnight, nor is it cheap. It is a grouping of different components whose prices range from cheap to extremely expensive. According to specialists, and skilled wedding organizers, the costs and expenses of your event should be divided into groups according to their importance.
The first group should contain the essential things for you such as the avenue, décor, technical equipment, the photographer and most importantly the clothes and rings. The second group of expenses should present optional things such as fireworks, additional gifts or performers.
The most important thing to keep in mind, way before you even start calculating, is that the expenses of the wedding are and should be equal to the preset budget. The budget should be exactly how much you are willing to pay plus a few percent more.
When you first planning be sure you are prioritizing you needs and desires. While planning, people tend to drift a bit and end up spending money on things they did not wish for nor needed in the first place. So, start off by making a list. Dodge down on a piece of paper. Talk to the groom, create the list together and make sure that whatever you spend is on something that will make your big day special.
Now, the question remains: How much does a wedding cost?
1. Invitations:
The invitations are one of the most important thing the young couple should think about. They should represent the entire theme and personality of the bride and groom. That in itself means, that the couple could be creative when it comes to them.
They can easily ditch the old typical expensive white or fancy letters and invitations for something more modern like a webpage. You can even go as far as creating your own DIY invitations. The later could cost somewhere around 170 EUR for a wedding expecting seventy guests.
However, if you are into fancy and elegant traditions, you could go with customize invitations that could reach the price of around 7 EUR per piece.
2. The location:
According to wedding planners the location should represent around 30-35% of the budget. The price of a restaurant may vary according to what you have in mind. For instance, an inexpensive wedding for around seventy people could mean a restaurant that costs around 3000 Euros while an expensive location might cost around 11000 EUR, the later one could be a castle, golf club or an exclusive restaurant. Usually the price includes reservation, food and drinks; in some fortunate cases, the restaurant payment may even include the wedding cake.
If the ceremony does not take place in the same location as the celebration, you have to calculate with an additional 70 to 500 EUR for the registry office.
3. The décor:
Another important detail that could prove to be just as expensive is the decoration. The décor is what brings the wedding together. It reflects on the groom and bride. By decorations we mean everything from light to tables to flowers. The decorations should represent around 10%-15% of your budget.
4. Entertainment:
For this too, the couple has to choose whether they want to spend a fortune on it, or simply choose something discrete that would ensure the well disposition and fun of the party. The choice here is made by the initial budget the bride and groom settled upon. You can opt for a cheap yet fun option and prepare the own music playlist, but be ready to spend much time on search.
However, you could hire an entertainer and scoop a little higher. In this case you should be ready to spend around 750 EUR, depending on who you are hiring. Of course, these two options may not be the last out there, some couples go as high as producing an entire entertaining program, of course they end up spending as much as 1200 EUR to impress their guests.
5. Photos and videos:
There are numerous offers out there. They all depend on what you and your partner are looking for. For instance, some couples are lucky enough to find talented beginners, whose talent exceed the title of beginner, who are willing to be your photographer for a small price, all for the sake of creating a portfolio and gaining experience.
Couples who find such people are really lucky, however, there is a downside to them as well. Beginners can’t often guarantee the consistency of the end result, for instance if the weather conditions are not favorable, or if any other crisis arises, they may get lost and may find themselves unable to deliver the desired photos.
You can also hire someone with a bit more experience for an entire photo shoot and reportage for as much as 1200-1500 EUR, or hire an entire team and operators for about 6000 EUR. It all depends on what you want, and what your budget allows.
6. The dress:
Let’s settle something from the beginning. Having your dream dress certainly does not mean you have to go out and spend a fortune on it. There are easy and cheap ways out there that could help you achieve your dreams with a constricted budget. For instance, in the internet or in some shops you can purchase a dress for as little as 500 Euros.
If you are not one to shop online, however, you can venture out and seek salons with average prices such as 1000-1500 EUR.
Let’s not fail to mention the designer dresses whose prices are insane. Such a dress could exceed over 5000 EUR.
7. The suit:
Let’s not forget our wonderful groom. He, too, is a leading star in our story, his suit could range between 400-550 EUR, if we are talking about an average shop. However, just like the bride, he could opt for an expensive version that could cost him even more than 1000 EUR.
The expenses do not stop here, however. We always find other things that should be bought, or e.g. taxi ordered to bring your guests home. That is why, always be sure to have a little extra above the initially settled budget.
It is not easy to plan a wedding; it costs a lot and is indeed stressful. However, if you settle from the beginning what you are looking for, it will surely make things easier.
As a conclusion, here is summary of what different weddings in Austria would nearly cost.
(* Calculated for appr. 70 guests)
Inexpensive: € 5650
- DIY Invitations: € 175
- Average restaurant incl. food and drinks: € 2940
- Hobby photographer for 6 hours: € 500
- Transport for a couple: taxi or a car of friend and relatives: € 30
- Wedding dress: € 450
- Marrige ceremony in the nearest registry office: € 180
- DIY decorations: € 100
- Small wedding cake from the bakery: € 245
- Inexpensive suit for a groom: € 230
- Wedding rings: € 800
- Self-made playlist from the laptop: € 0
Average: € 17940
- Invitations: € 270
- Restaurant having very good reputation incl. food and drinks: € 6300
- Professional photographer for 6-7 hours: € 1400
- Business class car for several hours: € 400
- High-quality wedding dress: € 1200
- Viedeographer with one camera for 6-7 hours: € 1100
- Outdoor ceremony with several small decorations: € 950
- Decoration of the location with some flowers: € 1000
- Wedding cake with individual design: € 430
- High-quality suit for a groom: € 500
- Wedding rings with individual design and engraving: € 1320
- Live music by a band or a local singer: € 1400
- One person as an entertainer: € 750
- Wedding coordinator on the wedding day: € 790
- A hotel room for morning preparation and overnight stay: € 130
Extravagant: € 39250
- Invitations with individual design: € 455
- Expensive restaurant, castle or golf club incl. food and drinks: € 10800
- Highly-experienced photographer with a full-day coverage: € 3000
- Transport: Limusine for 4-6 hours: € 850
- Wedding dress from a designer: € 4200
- Viedeographers with two cameras for the whole day: € 2800
- Outdoor marrige ceremony with expensive decorations: € 1940
- Fully-decorated location with complex floral arrangements: € 1600
- Large wedding cake with many hand-made details: € 600
- High-quality suit for a groom: € 1200
- Wedding rings with diamonds: € 3100
- Live music by a band, DJ or a singer incl. professional light in the location: € 2300
- Show program: € 1200
- Wedding planner and coordinator on the wedding day: € 1890
- Luxury hotel room for morning preparation and overnight stay: € 325
- Different zones on the location: photo, candy bar, cocktail bar: € 1640
- Fireworks: € 1350
