Weddingbee Blog

Eight-dollars-a-slice cakes. Three hundred dollars for a small hair comb with netting attached. Five thousand dollars for five yards of lace and satin. An average of twenty eight thousand dollars for eight hours of joy.

I love planning our wedding. I loved trying on lots of dresses and walking around venues and scouring photographers’ websites for sugar-lush-amazing eye candy.

I don’t love when you have to “click here for pricing guide”, when you glimpse at that small white tag with a few too many digits, or when the people paying for your wedding give each other that “can-we-make-it-work-for-our-little-girl?” look.

We’re in the worst economic times since the 1930s and everything is going down-down-down-down-down (baby, don’t worry, you are my only) except for unemployment rates… and except for wedding gowns, wedding cakes, wedding jewelry, wedding hair styling, wedding photography, wedding catering and wedding… everything wedding, it seems.

Save for the atypical wedding venue that lowered its rental and catering prices to appeal to the decreased wallet sizes of most brides, the recession has not hit for the Wedding Industrial Complex. Who’s to blame? No one, really—we can place some blame on the wedding contractors for refusing to budge despite hard times, but people still pay their prices, so why lower them? Don’t so many of us find ourselves justifying paying thousands for that amazing photographer with a style that so intimately matches our vision? Don’t many of us set enormous budgets (compared to the typical cost of an outfit for a Saturday night) for one white/ivory/champagne garment? Don’t many of us just. die. when we find the perfect cake or necklace or florist?

Doesn’t it all seem worth it when we close our eyes and piece together all the little images of our wedding that we’ve invested in—that garment, this photographer, that garden/barn/ballroom, those shoes, these earrings, that uplighting, these linens—and get that indescribable-it’s-going-to-be-an-amazing-day feeling? The feeling that I think must look like this:

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We can place some blame ourselves for giving in to this image and the images of other brides we find on these addictive-amazing wedding blogs, but who can blame us for wanting our own slice of self-induced euphoria? We have months, some of us years, to ponder, plan, and purposefully execute our visions and schemes and who can blame us for taking this chance to make it everything we can with what money we and others can spare?

Spending a few luxurious moments with Grandmother Pencils recently, I basked in the shared glory of her beautiful wedding day as she recounted it for me—an early 8 AM wedding mass in a too-big-in-the-bust ivory wedding gown from the only retailer that sold wedding gowns in Baton Rouge at the time, an airy buffet brunch with lots of yummy food and nary a thought given to the war that occurred a few short years before, and a long drive to a balmy Florida coast honeymoon for couple of childhood-friends-turned-married-couple. Back then, as she tells me, there weren’t many options—just requirements. A going away outfit was a requirement. A veil? Necessary. White bouquet? A must. White satin shoes? Called for.

The items may have changed and become broader in design, but the sentiment remains. A ceremony that reflects our beliefs? Required. A dress or ensemble that makes us feel fabulous? Necessary. A rain plan? A must. Epic photos? Called for. Most brides have a plan for their wedding—and are usually willing to go to whatever length necessary and possible to execute it.

Though, I’d love it if my venue offered a recession discount on their chocolate fountain—I’m thinking throwing it in for free sounds good. Anyone else on board with such a recession deal?

Has the recession affected your wedding budget, plan or vision in some way? Have you found vendors that are adjusting given the current economic climate?