Your wedding! Ah! The most important day in your life! Everything has to be perfect and elegant. Nothing can go wrong. After all, you get married just once! So, you have a plan for what your wedding will look like. From the venue to the flowers to the food, the cake, and, of course, the dress! But more often than not, brides and grooms-to-be end up going overboard with the wedding expenses. Though indulging yourself in a lavish wedding is not a crime, wouldn’t you feel much better if it just costs less? So, to help you plan a cost-effective wedding here’s some information on the average cost of a wedding. Use the tips in this article and you’ll definitely realize how you overestimated the wedding cost.

Average Wedding Cost

A wedding comprises many small and big things, like the venue, flowers, invitations, the wedding dress, wedding decorations, food, etc., etc. Club them all together, and you have a hefty bill waiting to be paid. But don’t worry. Given below are the average costs of each of these ingredients for that perfect wedding. A few bonus tips on reducing those costs have also been thrown in. So, read on and be surprised!

Average Cost of Wedding Venue

The venue is one of the most important decisions that the engaged couple has to make. Renting a perfect site for your wedding could cost you somewhere between $1500-$8000. Wow! Imagine that. Not to mention the heavy bill for drinks and catering services they’ll provide you. So, if you want to reduce the cost of the venue (which will, in turn, reduce the cost of the other things as well), have the wedding in your hometown if you’re a small towner. You can save loads on the venue.

Average Cost of Wedding Flowers

Wedding flowers include the bride’s bouquet, corsages and flowers of the flower girls, the wedding decoration flowers, the bridesmaids’ bouquets, the groom’s boutonnières and also the boutonnières of the groomsmen. The average cost of wedding flowers can be around $600-$700. This includes everything except the decoration flowers. Those may cost you another couple $100. The bride’s bouquet alone can cost about $100-$120. To reduce this cost of wedding flowers, use cheaper but elegant flowers too. For instance, use tulips or carnations instead of orchids, which are quite expensive.

Average Cost of Wedding Decorations

Wedding decorations are probably the best option to save big bucks. Depending on the type of decorations, the average can range from $1500-$5000. Yes, that’s a vast range! But that’s because decoration is probably the most flexible element of a wedding. Meaning if you’ve already overdone your wedding budget with the venue, you can go easy on the decoration (I’m assuming the venue that you spent a bomb on, is so stunning that it does not need much decoration). Or you can select a wedding theme that will not really require very ornate and intricate detaining as far as the decoration is concerned. This can bring your wedding cost really down and you’ll have that money for any emergencies (oh yes, there will be emergencies).

Average Cost of Wedding Food

The one thing that people remember about weddings is the food. The food is like the final call on whether the wedding reception was a grand success or not. But that does not mean you overspend on so much food that no one will eat. The amount spent on food is directly proportional to the number of people attending the wedding. The estimated average number of guests at a wedding does not generally exceed 150. Keeping this as a base, the average amount being spent on food at weddings per plate/head is between $50-$90. Plus the wedding cake. A wedding cake’s average cost is between $500 and $600. Again, this cost depends on the type of food, number of courses and the caterers. If you want to reduce the per plate cost, you can use the following tips.

• Reduce the number of desserts.
• Make a 3 tier wedding cake, but only the layer that you cut can be the actual cake. You can have an extra (same flavor) cake in the kitchen and serve the guests that.
• Don’t keep too much variety at a buffet. People will want to taste everything and it’ll only result in wasted food.
• If 150 people are expected, place an order for 135 plates (if it’s a buffet). No, you don’t need to worry. The food won’t fall short.

Average Cost of Wedding Dress

Yes, you’ll definitely want the most stunning wedding gown for your wedding. You might want it made-to-order for yourself. But did you know that the average cost of a wedding dress is around $2500? Plus further fitting and other service charges. Yes. So, do you still want to have a one-of-a-kind wedding dress, specially designed for you? Why not? Confused? Don’t be. You can visit wedding shops and boutiques when they have their sales, even if it’s months away from your wedding. You can also avail great discounts by shopping online for gorgeous wedding dresses! Another idea is to get the dress’ base made in an inexpensive fabric and using a slightly expensive fabric for the upper layer. Or if you like a dress but it’s too large, get it altered to fit you from a trusted seamstress. It gives a whole new meaning to the world ‘custom-made’ doesn’t it?

Average Cost of Wedding Invitations

It has been estimated that couples spend an average of $500-$700 on wedding invitations alone! That’s a lot! This includes thank-you cards, table place cards and the ceremony program. A great way to save money on wedding invitations is to reduce the number of sheets! Instead of a booklet (yes, that’s what some look like), send your guests a one sheet invite. So in place of 4 expensive sheets, you have to spend just on 1! You can splurge on fancy stationery for these invites! It’ll bring down the printing costs considerably too.

So, if we use the above-mentioned averages, the average cost of a wedding can be said to be as follows:

Item	Average Cost ($)
Venue	1,500-2,500
Flowers	600-700
Decorations	1,500-5,000
Food	10,000-12,000
Cake	500-600
Dress	800-1,500
Invitations	500-700
Total	15,000-23,000

This is just an estimated average cost of a wedding. As you can see, it does not include wedding rings and the honeymoon expenses. They may differ form couple to couple. These were just the general expenses that engaged couples have to incur. You can use the tips mentioned in this article or you can tell us about any ideas of your own to bring down this average wedding cost. Have a happy married life!