Getting married doesn't absolutely have to be terribly expensive. It can even be done for $49 in the Chapel of Love in Vegas. But on the off-chance that you're hoping to get married when you're kind of sober, the wedding budget can be something that couples (and their parents) look out for with dread. The average marrying couple last year spent nearly $30,000 on the average wedding (now to think that 50% of them will do it a second time!). And yes, it's the average married couple that pays for most of this these days. Parents, coming out of the recession, have far less to contribute with. Keeping in mind that everyone's rather pressed for resources these days, this is what you need to know about paying for that wedding budget.
Life today isn't the way it was for Steve Martin in Father of the Bride. In other words, the parents of the bride aren't the wedding ATM machine anymore (and that's a change that's come not a minute too soon). Since it seems to be acceptable these days to consider wedding expenses to be everybody's responsibility, the families involved everyone can pitch in - relatives, friends, everybody.
Let's start with the couple itself; the average marrying couple today is at least 10 years out of college. In other words, they have had enough time to prepare to pony up the cash themselves. Whatever shortfall they find there is, they can encourage family and friends - anyone who comes to the wedding - to gift cash. On either coast, it's quite acceptable for the marrying couple to ask friends and family to write a check instead of getting gift from a wedding registry. Over the rest of the country though, friends and family may need a bit of encouragement to actually do this. Sometimes, people are happier taking care of some parts of the wedding budget - the flowers or the photography or something. And that can be just as good.
Speaking of catering, the food and drinks can be the most expensive part of any wedding. The best way to stick to your wedding budget then would be to cut down on the guest list. You can't do anything about the quality of the food, the cake, the wedding dress or the flowers; what you can do is to keep the quality high but cut down on the quantity. Invite fewer guests, and your wedding is still going to look as festive as ever. You will notice a far smaller bill though. Arrange to have your wedding in the winter or another off-season, and you'll be glad and to see how flexible the vendors are with their pricing.
Everyone wants a grand wedding; but that's no reason to borrow heavily to finance a wedding budget you can't afford. Financial problems happen to be the number one reason why couples quarrel and part. You don't want to put yourself in that kind of position. You would be a lot better off keeping to a small budget and marrying within your means.