Times are lean, but many brides aren’t blushing about spending thousands of dollars on their upcoming weddings.
“We’re trying to do it under $20,000,” one soon-to-be-Mrs. said Saturday during the Wedding Expo at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall.
That’s for a wedding that will include about 100 guests, said Cristine M. of Tacoma, who will wed Mark O. on July 17. (She declined to give their last names).
Isn’t that a lot of money?
Yes, she admitted.
“But it doesn’t matter. It’s really important. I only want to do it one time.”
Hundreds of brides-to-be and their parents (usually moms) strolled down aisles filled with displays of cakes, catering, dresses, photography, honeymoon destinations and all things wedding. Grooms-to-be accompanied some of the women, but it was more a chick gathering, with sisters and best friends grabbing brochures and taking notes.
Caterers ranged from Famous Dave’s Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que (as cheap as $9 a person with expo discount) to Emerald Cove Catering Co. of Normandy Park (as expensive as $100 per plate for china-set tables, multicourse meal, wine-passing and bartender).
Venues ranging from Lakewold Gardens to Canterwood Golf and Country Club to Emerald Downs and places in between set up shop to attract brides.
Spending $16,000 on a 2010 wedding reception is likely to be around average, Wedding Expo producer Brad Buckles said. And that’s just the reception.
The ring-to-honeymoon tab could run around $20,000 to $25,000, he added. That figure would include rings, dress, bridesmaids dresses, gifts, rehearsal dinner, reception, etc.
But that’s only a guesstimate. Industry experts won’t know for sure how much couples and their parents will spend until the wedding season is well under way.
Two years ago, the average reception price tag “was as high as $25,000,” with total wedding costs around $32,500, Buckles said.
He’s thinking low-end-to-high-end reception-only costs will range from $10,000 to $20,000 this year.
Some brides were thinking low-end Saturday.
Norma Fitzwater, 41, plans to spend around $3,000 on her second wedding.
“Small but elegant,” the Port Orchard woman said of her planned 2011 nuptials.
Others were thinking more grandly.
“I just talked to a bride who was planning on spending about $140 per person” on a $25,000 wedding reception, said Odette D’Aniello, owner of Celebrity Cake Studio of Tacoma.
Emily Whipple, 30, is somewhere in the middle.
The Puyallup woman budgeted around $15,000 (not counting the dress) on her upcoming August wedding to Ricky Ellis at the Temple Theatre in Tacoma.
“We’re really trying to stick with a smaller budget,” she said.
The guest list of 150 will be pared down from the larger numbers Whipple and her family originally wanted.
She wants to provide a memorable celebration of her wedding, “a really great party” for those who attend, she said as she tried on a flowing white dress from Weddings With Joy of Olympia.
The price tag for the gown with the roughed trumpet skirt with asymmetrical flower detail was about average, around $1,000, said store manager Dana Burgess.
“We definitely feel girls are a little bit more timid about their spending” given the economy, Burgess said.
Whipple was a knockout in the dress. She was knocked out by it, too. Wheels spinning in her head, peering into a full-length mirror, deciding, deciding, deciding,
Mom Susan Whipple stood by, beaming.
Saying “I do” to major purchases isn’t easy.
“We’re definitely putting a lot of care and thought into our choices, and getting the most bang for our buck,” Susan Whipple said.
Kris Sherman: 253-597-8659
kris.sherman@thenewstribune.com
