Wedding Cost

I don't know about you guys but mi amor & I had this imaginary # in both of our heads of what our wedding would cost, after all, all we wanted was a nice place, a buffet dinner and be able to provide our guest with an open bar. We soon found out we were way off base, just the cost of the food and drinks was barely in budget. If we would have checked out costofwedding.com we would have realized that the average wedding in our area (West L.A) is $18,511 and $30,852 -This does not include cost for a honeymoon or engagement ring. Every time I think about the budget it really stresses me out, to the point I now understand why some brides just say they are ready to elope!

After we realized we were way off base with the over all budget, we started wondering what was the average cost of items such as cake, centerpieces etc. I found costhelper.com it's a great resource to find out how much anything cost, not only wedding stuff but pretty much anything. In their wedding section they have the info on how much typical wedding related items cost such as wedding dance classes, They tell you what the typical costs are and what they may include and even mention discounts you can get. I found it really helpful, it educated me about what wedding items may cost instead of what I think an item may cost.
What resources do you use to determine how much you are willing to spend on a wedding related item?