Your Dream Wedding--at a Realistic Price
Diane DiMascio and David Berardo pulled off an Italian-style wedding and reception with a four-course menu last summer for $20,000, which included a wedding consultant’s help.
They had hoped to marry in Italy but feared the cost would keep too many loved ones away. So they settled for re-creating Tuscany in their Beverly Hills yard.
Eating was the first priority for the couple’s 50 guests. “That’s all Italians do,” DiMascio explains, laughing. To free up funds for food, consultant Randie Wilder-Pelligrini scaled back on the photography (candid shots only) and flowers (a few tropical arrangements).
On the wedding day, guests dined on pastas, hearty breads, fruits and cheeses at damask-draped tables beneath a trellis swathed in white muslin and Tivoli lights. In lieu of a lavish tiered cake, they devoured tiramisu.
For DiMascio and Berardo, both lawyers, skimping here and there was relatively painless. For the couple with thousands less to spend (the average budget is $8,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Vital Statistics), putting on a wedding often means retiring a lifelong fantasy.
“Most brides want a castle in the clouds with an ocean view when all they can afford is the VFW hall and lasagna,” says Scott Fellows of Locations by Kaycie, a Redondo Beach-based event planner.
But perhaps they can at least have a piece of that dream--a beaded gown, say--if they’re flexible enough to cut corners elsewhere. For instance, scheduling a wedding in the off-season (winter) or on a weekday gives a couple bargaining power. The key, consultants say, is prioritizing.
Last year a couple came to Wilder-Pelligrini, owner of Cordially Invited in Beverly Hills and director of the Assn. of Bridal Consultants for Greater Los Angeles, with $5,000 to spend on an “elegant summer wedding.” She suggested that the bride rent a wedding dress, enlist friends with desktop publishing to print the invitations, and settle for amateur musicians. The result: a Sunday-afternoon ceremony in the rose garden of a Victorian mansion in Pasadena, accompanied by a string quartet and followed by champagne, finger sandwiches and cake.
Recent college graduates Mui Su and Tony Dolim of Torrance set their budget at $25,000, factoring in the cost of observing her Chinese heritage and his American traditions in separate celebrations. On the big day last summer, they had a tea ceremony for Su’s family, an American-style wedding and reception for Dolim’s family, and then an evening banquet for 300.
To allow for the 12-course Chinese meal, the couple cut corners by holding the tea ceremony at Su’s family home and the wedding at a garden. The bride also rented her dress.
Hiring a consultant, whose fee usually amounts to about 15% of the total wedding tab, is one way to navigate the wedding industry, which has annual sales estimated at $18 billion. But an ever-growing crop of resource centers and location services can also help get the job done.
Location consultant and caterer Fellows coordinates functions at 500 locations between San Diego and Santa Barbara. He says a big part of his job is tailoring fantasy to match reality.
“Few dads can afford to fill that horse-drawn carriage fantasy, so our job is to create balance at a wedding,” he says. “And it’s possible to have a very nice wedding without spending a fortune.”
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Where the Money Goes
A couple’s wedding budget, be it $5,000 or $200,000, typically breaks down as follows:
Engagement/wedding rings: 14%
Honeymoon: 14%
Miscellaneous (officiant fees, attendants’ gifts, rehearsal dinner, transporetation, etc.): 8%
Reception (facility, caterer, liquor,etc.): 37%
Photography/videography: 9%
Invitations: 2%
Bride’s/groom’s attire: 8%
Music: 3%
* Source: Wedding consultants.
