Article: One Frugal Bride Reveals Her Secret - The Internet

**Libby** · 05-24-2011, 11:13 PM

This article is about a bride who planned her entire wedding through the internet - for a destination wedding. I was all gung ho reading this as I love reading how others save money but this had me flabbergasted at the end. Clearly her definition of 'frugal' is nowhere near mine!!

Interesting read though - what is frugal for some is definitely not for others.

Frugal bride reveals secret: The Internet - Weddings - TODAY.com

**chevy_chick95** · 05-25-2011, 12:07 AM

wow 30,000 is a lot... very interesting though.

**acidcookie** · 05-25-2011, 01:40 AM

$30,000! Ours was about $7,000 and I know that may still be considered a fair chunk of change. Guess her tips are useful for some.

**mndtrp** · 05-25-2011, 01:50 AM

This would be more helpful knowing what her original cost was going to be, before implementing all of the online changes. We spent less than $4,000 on our wedding, but it wasn't near as fancy as hers.

I don't care for destination weddings, though. Unless, of course, the bride and groom are paying my way. One of the plusses people tout with destination weddings is the weeding out of guests that you don't really want to come anyway. I think this is stupid, in that you could just not inconvenience your family and friends any more than you already are, and just not invite those people in the first place. I get that the wedding is all about the couple, but the couple is expecting their guests to drop everything for that day to make it to the wedding. It is even longer for a destination wedding, plus the cost of flights and hotel/resort stay. Even if my best friends had a destination wedding, it's unlikely the wife and I would go. I doubt we would spend more to see someone else's wedding than we spent on our own. Maybe we are the type of people to be weeded out...

**The Muse** · 05-25-2011, 02:09 AM

I booked my 2000 destination wedding online. It was free with our honeymoon purchase of 3 nights at the resort where we were married.

**beks37** · 05-25-2011, 01:36 PM

Frugal and $30,000 wedding should not be used in the same sentence. I am currently planning a frugal wedding....but not a $30,000 one, more like a $5,000 one.

**xtena** · 05-25-2011, 02:04 PM

Thirty. Thousand. Dollars.

**pollypurebred39** · 05-25-2011, 02:34 PM

They didn't feel they were skimping on a thing! ROFL!!!!

**Libby** · 05-26-2011, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by mndtrp

I don't care for destination weddings, though. Unless, of course, the bride and groom are paying my way. One of the plusses people tout with destination weddings is the weeding out of guests that you don't really want to come anyway. I think this is stupid, in that you could just not inconvenience your family and friends any more than you already are, and just not invite those people in the first place. I get that the wedding is all about the couple, but the couple is expecting their guests to drop everything for that day to make it to the wedding. It is even longer for a destination wedding, plus the cost of flights and hotel/resort stay. Even if my best friends had a destination wedding, it's unlikely the wife and I would go. I doubt we would spend more to see someone else's wedding than we spent on our own. Maybe we are the type of people to be weeded out...

It may be to weed excess people out however those that do go, I'm sure they would count this as their 'vacation' for the year...I know I would. Vacation plus the bonus of attending your friends wedding

Originally Posted by beks37

Frugal and $30,000 wedding should not be used in the same sentence. I am currently planning a frugal wedding....but not a $30,000 one, more like a $5,000 one.

Totally agree! But it would be interesting to see what her non destination wedding would've cost in comparison - like $100k?

My actual wedding is $3,500 approx right now for everything - venue & decor, food, flowers, officiant, bombineres, dress, suit, shoes, hair & make up, license and invites w/postage

("Dad's wedding" is about $4000 - and I hope its not growing

)

**mndtrp** · 05-27-2011, 12:42 AM

Originally Posted by Libby

It may be to weed excess people out however those that do go, I'm sure they would count this as their 'vacation' for the year...I know I would. Vacation plus the bonus of attending your friends wedding

I suppose. Invitations are usually sent out, what, a few months in advance? Even if you know ahead of time, it still seems like it could be a difficult thing to arrange. My wife and I are spending $20,000 on a trip at the end of the year, there is no way we could come up with the money for another vacation. With the way people's finances are getting strained, it seems incredibly selfish to expect your chosen guests to come up with that much extra money.

I guess my wife and I were different. We only invited the people we wanted to be there, so there was no passive weeding out, and we did the wedding so there would be less stress for all parties involved.

**Squidge** · 05-27-2011, 07:31 AM

Originally Posted by Libby

Totally agree! But it would be interesting to see what her non destination wedding would've cost in comparison - like $100k?

Originally Posted by mndtrp

This would be more helpful knowing what her original cost was going to be, before implementing all of the online changes. We spent less than $4,000 on our wedding, but it wasn't near as fancy as hers.

That's what I was thinking because seeing the total of $30,000 by itself is a little shocking for something 'frugal'.