Cost of wedding, does this sound ok/normal/ridiculous/rip-off/stop moaning Ian etc?

[Iani]

Hi

Can I ask, my missus to be and I are sorting our wedding out for October, and as I'm in the UK, and she's still working abroad (We fly back to phils together meeting up half way, aww innit romantic, fetch a bucket), we're somewhat reliant on her family finding wedding arrangers.

Her father has offered to get in a sack of rice and a load of pork, and holding a reception at their home to do it on the cheap..........but you only get married once (ok ok, tell that my ex, but let's move extremely quickly on), and it's her first time, and I'd like it to be nice for her.

Well, we've had a few quotes from people her family seem to know - including one who is a family member - and they are all coming out with quotes of a similar starting figure. For absolutely everything - hotel location, photographer, catering for 100 (What the hell, who are her family inviting......the whole village and a goat?), dress, loads of other things - I've had quotes of between 90k pesos and 150k pesos. The latter is near enough 2k in GBP.

The latest planner, he's sent me an e-mail, saying about "ohh the 120k I quoted her sister, it isn't my own arrangement, but I can do you something really special for 150k (Well he would say that wouldn't he! Cheeky git!)

Top and bottom of it is, I'm not stupid, some locals prob think "rich westerner involved".......which is far from the truth, but we've both been saving, and we could manage this.

Can I ask - does 150k sound okish, or is this comedian frankly taking the

I'm not going to lose too much sleep over the extra amount in the grand scheme of things. We're frankly getting no-where for less than 120k, so this is the ballpark figure we don't seem to be able to get away from.

Thanks in advance

[imagine]

well i dont know

but sounds a lot to me, for philippines anyway, but then i guess thered be a shock on what it might cost in uk,

iv no doubt others here thats done it , should know

[imagine]

maybe they will say typicle tight yorkshire man,

[Iani]

Ahh indeedly.

Yes that was my thoughts - I thought would be somewhat cheaper over there, but this is proving very difficult to sort and actually know what to do.

Oh well

[grahamw48]

Average wedding cost in UK is supposedly about £20K , so maybe best be philosophical.

I won't tell what I spent...but it was probably less than a good night out in the Phils...ayup sithee. Even my wedding ring has gone blinkin rusty.

[imagine]

[bigmarco]

It's a difficult one Ian. My initial reaction was £2k for everything including the dress for 100 guests isn't to bad, but perhaps some will disagree.

[imagine]

ouch

[malditako]

sounds cheap to me to be honest...

[grahamw48]

It was a hell of a job hiding from the relations....and then getting out of the country fast.

[London_Manila]

I think her father had the best idea if you want my honest opinion

You are getting married and you want to do it right but that dont mean you cater for everyone who knows her

You her and her parents and some close relatives and spend the money you save on a better honeymoon

[Arthur Little]

It was a hell of a job hiding from the relations....

... I'll bet! All these 'nth degree cousins thrice removed!!!

and then getting out of the country fast.

Too true!!

[Rhose]

Practically that's too expensive!! but if you want the best for your wedding because it happen once in a life time you will spend more than the amount you mentioned. I got married a month ago, I was shocked because of our expenses but my husband told me he wants to give me the best wedding. For info. not only him who paid on our wedding expenses. We have family, relatives, friends and some sponsors who helped us. Our dream garden wedding.. came true. If money matter to you, you should follow the advice of her father

[lastlid]

We didn't use wedding planners. We did it all ourselves. The only help we got was with the marriage (civil wedding) itself which was quite expensive. Everything else we did between us including wedding reception at Island Cove, Cavite, followed by 24 hours with the more immediate family at a spring resort in Laguna and a honeymoon for ourselves in Boracay. I never really totted it up but compared to the UK it was not expensive.

[Steve.r]

I think we spent up to 40k for everything... but maybe we are the exception. We didn't invite the local barangay waifs and strays, just immediate family. Job done. My wife looked beautiful and we both had a great day and evening.
I think 150k is EXTREME

[Terpe]

Usually location will determine the number of people who may actually "turn-up". The number of guests plays a major part in total wedding costs.
But, cutting down on guests is a very very tricky business. Be warned!

Weddings are such personal events that estimating costs has got to be almost impossible.
So I was thinking, maybe giving a view on what I would consider doing it on the "CHEAP" might be a good benchmark.

I've done this just for fun really, so don't take too seriously.

A City Hall civil wedding, with minimum of guests and minimum of neenangs and neenongs as witnesses, followed by a small party at a local restaurant. Let's say 20-25 people.


Documentation costs:-

- CNI about £30 from your local registry office.
- Local version from British Embassy - The cost I have is £65.00 or P4,550 (at Embassy rates)
- NSO CENOMAR is around P415.00 per copy each
- NSO Birth Certificate - (fresh from NSO on latest type of security paper) around P315.00 per copy
- Marriage License typically around P100.00 with some miscellaneous charges around P50.00 and possible Family Planning Seminar around P20.00

You should reckon on allowing some cash for copying etc. Not too much say P500 max

Total = P8315


Wedding costs:-

- Wedding Rings. Plain gold bands could be had for around P6000 for two
- Wedding clothes. Why not consider ready-to-wear wedding dress for her and nice barong for you from a local market (Divisoria) or similar.
You should be able to find something nice for around P6000 for the both of you.
- Reception and wedding cake. As you know people love to eat in the Phils. and nobody will ever forget the food you served.
There's loads of options for a great reception party without overspending or sacrificing food quality. Plenty of restaurants offer special wedding party deals. I can imagine a budget of P10,000
- A nice wedding cake could cost between P2000 - P6000. Alternative but nicely done cake could be had for around P1000 - P2000. Of course eventually it's a non-essential!
- Photographer - How about P1500 - P2500. Or just DIY with the guests
- Flowers/Bouquets - around P1500
- Give-aways. Around P1500 (keep it simple and limited)
- Local transportation - Not essential, but nice if wearing a wedding gown. Air-conditioned taxi(s) or similar to serve everyone on an 'as needed' basis. Lets guess at P1500

Total = P30000

Basically the whole thing for around P38,000

Now factor in any increases in guest numbers and those associated food and drinks costs.
Add in all those non-essential but nice touches and see how the costs increase.

P100k - P150k might sound a lot, but depends what's included in the package. Find out. Do some research.

Personally I would favour engaging a specialist wedding consultant.
Whatever 'extra' costs they charge, should be more than made up by the resulting savings on what they provide.
If they're genuine wedding planners they should have professional connections resulting in discounted prices, as well as some great creative ideas for achieving your dreams on the cheap.

Attempting wedding DIY organising can take a lot of time,research and a lot of 'legwork' and hassles. Not for everyone.
Having a GOOD reliable and professional wedding planner might just be a wise move if you want to push the boat out further than a smallish but nice family wedding event.

Just my tongue in cheek 2 centavos worth on an impossible to answer question.

Important is to enjoy your special day. Good luck

[andy222]

£2000 is more than enough. I spent roughly that and my our wedding was in boracay and that was with flights..
That was last october.

[melovesengland]

I THINK this is about right if your planning to have a big wedding. Dont forget its not just goods in the UK whose prices are rising, plus GBP rate is going down. A very grand wedding in the PI can cost 350k pesos or more.

[lastlid]

Can I ask - does 150k sound okish, or is this comedian frankly taking the

3 Tier Chocolate Wedding Cake : from local cake shop 3850php

http://www.redribbonbakeshop.com.ph/shop/categs.asp


Dress was very cheap. My wife bought this from a market in Manila called Baclaran.
Civil Wedding process 13000php (this was done through an agent and was the only area that we didn't organise directly)
2 vans (minbuses in our language) combined total 4620php plus approximately the same in fuel for 2 days
Large Hot Spring Resort in Laguna for family for 24 hours 5958php
Grocery food for resort outing approximately 3300php
Reception banquet at Island Cove Resort, Cavite (Dinner etc) 16500php for 30 people. We got a funny handshake discount of about 20% through connections. And for a few quid extra the kids got to go in the waterpark for a hour or two.

http://www.islandcovephil.com/meetin...-celebrations/


Rings had already been bought at point of engagement, in the Chinese sector.

Total outlay: 51848php or thereabouts.

We did everything bar the wedding paperwork and processing. I organised and paid for the Laguna Resort, honeymoon in Boracay and Wedding reception myself from the UK, with some help from the wife. My wife took care of the cake, minibuses and wedding dress and we both liaised with the agent on the wedding itself.

Something that helped with the total outlay was that my wife did not expect a lot of money to be spent on the wedding etc. We then followed up with a great week in Boracay at a very nice hotel at what was still cheap compared to UK prices.

http://www.myboracayguide.com/resort...gency-159.html

One regret was that we did our own photography. We got some good photographs from our own camera but a professional would have been better.

[grahamw48]

Not sure whether to feel guilty or smug at this stage.

(No organisers for us...just went down to city hall and booked a wedding appointment. Cost of a couple of jeepney fares )

[lastlid]

Not sure whether to feel guilty or smug at this stage.

(No organisers for us...just went down to city hall and booked a wedding appointment. Cost of a couple of jeepney fares )

Well, yes, it is obvious that it can be done for even less. I felt that we did things a little unconventionally with the Laguna trip, however it was what my wife wanted. But yes, we could have cut it down a lot more, price wise. But the whole thing as it stood worked well. Both of my wife's sisters had organised church wedding packages in the conventional way. Not sure how much they paid. But how we went about it was what my wife wanted.

[grahamw48]

Of course mate....not point-scoring or knocking anyone's way of going about things.

Hopefully we can provide a full range of alternatives and costings...mine being called...'rock-bottom', or 'cheap charlie kuripot' .

[andy222]

If i was in your shoes Iani I would do it as cheap as possible and put the money towards getting her over here. Just my opinion.

[aim_angel]

Wedding prices in Phils depends on how you want it to be.
like you said it will be for 100 people, hotel reception, plus wedding entourage so on ..i think £2K is just right! but after the wedding you have to apply for the visas etc!

goodluck!

[lastlid]

Like I said, both my wife's sisters had full conventional wedding packages in the Philippines with the use of agents. But I don't think they came to anywhere near 2000 quid each. I will ask my wife later.

Just out of interest, I am sitting about 10 feet away from a lady that used to be a wedding planner here on the IOM and she said that typically they could be anything from one thousand pounds to fifty thousand pounds (often not including catering).

[DaveUK]

Two and a half years ago, we got married in a hotel in Cebu after paying them for a wedding package. They provided the food for 75 guests, the service, wedding cake, night in a room, photographer, video footage, etc. That coupled with all the dresses and outfits for the men, I think we spent around £1000.

Admittedly, I wish we'd spent a little more looking back as the photos and video that were created were not great. The video of our wedding was provided to us split across 2 video CD's and looked liked something from an 80's video tape But, at the time, it was all I could afford due to everything else I had outgoing back then! Luckily though, when I look at the wife face to face, she doesn't look like something from an 80's video tape, so I'm still a very happy man!

[lastlid]

If i was in your shoes Iani I would do it as cheap as possible and put the money towards getting her over here. Just my opinion.

Probably a sensible move.

[Moving Forward]

I am making preparations to marry mid September in Paranaque City. It will be a civil wedding with a reception held at a restaurant afterwards. What started out as a small wedding has grown to 100 guests being invited. We bought a wedding package at the restaurant, which is about 45,000 pesos and includes all decorations, cake, souvenirs, PA system. I will be the only westerner there.

The restaurant is booked for only 2 hours at lunch time and we marry in the morning so this event will go very quickly.

The honeymoon will be for one month and I am using it as an excuse to go travelling. After staying in a nice hotel in Manila and a few nights at Boracay we will be backpacking and travelling around the Visayas. Excluding the honeymoon, the cost of the wedding, reception, rings and dress will be around 1400 -1500 pounds.

[lastlid]

I am making preparations to marry mid September in Paranaque City. It will be a civil wedding with a reception held at a restaurant afterwards. What started out as a small wedding has grown to 100 guests being invited. We bought a wedding package at the restaurant, which is about 45,000 pesos and includes all decorations, cake, souvenirs, PA system. I will be the only westerner there.

The restaurant is booked for only 2 hours at lunch time and we marry in the morning so this event will go very quickly.

The honeymoon will be for one month and I am using it as an excuse to go travelling. After staying in a nice hotel in Manila and a few nights at Boracay we will be backpacking and travelling around the Visayas. Excluding the honeymoon, the cost of the wedding, reception, rings and dress will be around 1400 -1500 pounds.

We got married in Paranaque city.....but had the reception in Cavite.

[grahamw48]

I got married at Pasay City Hall and then retreated back to our apartment in Pasay for drinks with a few friends.

I won't bother posting the pics I have of the 'reception', as a semi-conscious bloke spread-eagled on the floor is not a particularly attractive sight.