Wanted to spend 45 thousand, but it turned out to be 75 thousand rubles. Young couple told about wedding expenses

"Natural diamonds are small and expensive"

The young couple found each other on a dating app on September 20 last year, and for several months they just chatted. Sasha admits: he didn't understand for a long time how the girl felt about him, friends doubted the prospects of their couple. But the young man adhered to the principle of "High risks, high reward" and was sure that Lera was his soulmate.

Soon Lera set a "deadline" for their couple: to date for a maximum of one year and decide what to do next.

Павялічыць

— Everything was going well for us, developing, we discussed family plans incidentally. In May, it was supposed to be six months of our relationship, I thought that maybe on that date Sasha would propose. But he did it on April 1.

He asked me to come to a friend's place, as if something had happened to him. I entered the apartment — I see Sasha standing on the balcony. I went out to him, he got down on one knee with a ring, and I, surprised, said: "Well, how, I'm wearing a sweatshirt." Sasha started to rush me, saying, answer already. I agreed, — the girl smiles.

Alexander brought a blouse with him so that Lera could take a photo not in that same sweatshirt.

Alexander ordered the engagement ring from a jeweler; it cost approximately 3 thousand rubles. However, the deadlines were tight, so he had to rush the master.

— Lera's diamond is one carat, lab-grown.

Natural stones would cost as much as a car, though it's the same stone, atom for atom.

This unjustified overpayment is called a "tax on stupidity". In fact, a custom-made item with such a diamond turns out to be much cheaper than buying from a jewelry chain. I went into jewelry stores out of curiosity, they offered me natural stones — something very small and expensive.

Павялічыць

Another 3 thousand rubles approximately was the cost for a pair of wedding rings.

Left without savings

Wedding preparations were carried out in quite a short time and simultaneously with other important events. Lera was resolving issues with her dismissal, a tour had been purchased, and they wanted to decide on the date and venue of the ceremony before departure.

Therefore, first of all, the young couple found a wedding organizer. Her services cost $950 (about 2800 Belarusian rubles).

— In my head, there was always a story about beauty, a fairytale, scale. I usually organize birthdays very meticulously too, I love all that. And I understood that I wanted to plan the wedding too. And I didn't want to mess up with basic things and contractors.

Organizers know them. Although they didn't help with creative ideas, they managed to provide basic organization. Of course, an organizer is not necessary for all couples; the need for one depends on the scale of the event.

Павялічыць

The initial request to the organizer was to keep it within 45 thousand Belarusian rubles, excluding outfits. In the end, it amounted to about 75 thousand with outfits, and the rings cost another 7.5 thousand. All expenses came from savings on both sides; they didn't have to go into debt.

The couple fixed the payment for the estate, where the main celebration took place — about 7.2 thousand rubles — at the April exchange rate, which allowed them to save 20-30 dollars on the exchange rate difference.

A significantly larger sum was saved thanks to the chosen day for the celebration. It was celebrated on a Sunday, whereas on a Saturday it would have been 3000 rubles more expensive. On the other hand, they had to pay an extra 450 rubles for the bridal suite, as it was not included in the rental price.

The young couple also managed to save on the services of a reels maker, whose work typically costs around 1500 rubles.

For the civil ceremony (ZAGS), they invited a girl whose ad Lera accidentally stumbled upon on a social network. They followed the approach "if it works out, great; if not, oh well, it's free anyway." The next day, a friend, who was interested in working at that location for her own portfolio, filmed at the estate — also for free.

— In general, this is not a cheap pleasure. We initially weren't going to hire a reels maker. All my friends are excellent at filming, so we decided we wouldn't lose anything even if those who film for free don't succeed. And the girls did a great job, we are very satisfied.

"Will the bride be comfortable?"

When asked about how they chose their outfits, the couple laughingly say: "It was a nightmare." Alexander's main requirements were the quality of fabric and tailoring, and the fit. The possibility of wearing the three-piece suit again later became an argument for Lera as to why such an amount was worth spending on a suit at all.

— I wanted a good tuxedo, wool, with silk lapels, all that. Good usually means custom-made. First, the organizers sent me to a store to walk around and look.

It was so bad, words cannot describe it.

I went in to try on a shirt and said: I feel uncomfortable, it's tight. They told me: do you think the bride will be comfortable? In the end, I had a suit tailored. The atelier quoted a sum, something around 2300 rubles.

We went to buy fabric. I took a friend with me, he also went with his fiancée. And I was already ready to buy the fabric, but he said: bring the most expensive one. They brought it, they were lying next to each other, I looked at the more expensive one. The one I had before no longer pleased me. I had to take the expensive one — for 2700 rubles.

Having shirts tailored cost another 500 rubles, as it turned out to be very difficult to find a shirt in the color of the bride's dress. The groom's morning suit cost 140 rubles.

In total, with all accessories, the groom's look cost 6.5 thousand rubles.

The bride chose a dress with a veil from a salon for 4.6 thousand, and had change outfits custom-made — one dress for 1000 rubles, a corset with a skirt for the bachelorette party for 790, and another dress, for the bride's morning, cost 150 rubles.

— Makeup and hair cost 300 dollars, including the trial. Plus another 350 rubles for the girls who styled me on the day of the civil ceremony.

Павялічыць

"Guests refused"

Lera's bachelorette party cost 1100 rubles — for renting a triangular house and a limousine. The rest of the celebration was organized by the bride's friends. Alexander's bachelor party was fully paid for by his friends; the company rode ATVs and grilled meat.

37 guests were invited to the celebration at the estate, although initially more than 50 people were planned. Some immediately warned that they wouldn't be able to come, others refused a few days before the ceremony. Instead of flowers, the bride and groom asked for animal feed. They did not refuse traditional monetary gifts.

As a result, the young couple received $7.2 thousand in gifts.

— That is, a wedding is generally unprofitable, — the young couple agree. — When people start dropping out, you realize that's another minus, it got sadder. But we sat down the day before and estimated: we'll probably get back 7-8 thousand at most. So, we were generally prepared for this. In the morning, we counted the envelopes — we hit our calculations. Everything matched up for us.

Here are just some details of Alexander and Lera's wedding budget (all in rubles)

Павялічыць

— What should not be saved on, if you are planning a wedding, in your opinion?

— On the host, — Alexander answers without hesitation.

— On decor, — Lera declares simultaneously.

The young couple spent up to 10 thousand rubles on venue decorations. They are very satisfied, despite the fact that some relatives thought the place of honor was decorated with some kind of "curtain."

Павялічыць

— There are also separate services like LED screens. It cost about 500 dollars, but we eventually declined. They also wanted to offer us a TV for rent for 300 dollars. And we thought: for 300 dollars, you can just buy it, — the couple recalls. — We ended up doing that with the chocolate fountain. We were also quoted about 300 dollars for one day. So, we bought one for 200 rubles instead.

"The sum stings a little"

Sometimes you hear the opinion that instead of spending on a lavish wedding, it would be better, for example, to fly somewhere.

— To each their own, — the interlocutors don't argue. — We thought about it and decided: a wedding is once in a lifetime. You can fly every year, and more than once. There's still a whole life for travel.

We also went through all stages of the crisis in terms of saying goodbye to money.

First the stage of naivety, when we thought it would be much less. Then denial that it would be so much, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.

Now, summarizing their main ceremony, the couple considers all expenses justified. They had doubted about the organizer — after all, Lera practically came up with almost the entire wedding herself. On the other hand, the organizer saved the young couple from communicating with contractors — lighting, sound, fireworks, special effects. So they decided that they did everything correctly.

— Still, sometimes the amount stings a little — for that money, we could have bought a car, even two, flown on big trips. We could have done many things, but we spent it on one day. Not even on a day, but actually on 9 hours.

Approximately 9 thousand rubles per hour.

We comforted ourselves with the thought that we have a place to live, each of us has a car to drive. It seems we have decent salaries, and we can afford to work for a couple of months for an expensive wedding.

Since April, we haven't had any saved money. When salary came in, we immediately transferred the money to a separate card account called "Wedding". Now we just need to keep working, — conclude Lera and Alexander.

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