Won't help the OP but interesting. Wedding cost upwards of $250,000 dollars.
Wedding North Shore Long Island circa 1980. Reception started Saturday 4:00 PM and ended Sunday 4:00 AM.
A 7 piece band played in corner of a room that had a bar 75 feet long stocked with liquor that would make a liquor store envious. The bar was free. Behind the bar was a salt water fish tank. 550 guests were in attendance. At least 50 waiters circulated the room with food that would make any Arby's lover envious such as jumbo shrimp, lobster tail, lamb chops, ribs and at least 2o other choices . Three types of caviar were placed on side tables throughout the hall as well as incredibly decorated displays of fruits, meats, cheeses, crackers and ice carvings.
Two hours into the reception, the music stops, one of the walls slides apart revealing an even bigger banquet hall with tables set up. The set up includes a water glass, two wine glasses (one each for red and white wine) and a champagne glass. Every glass is filled. The cutlery is gold plated and the china is the real expensive kind you can see through. Every setting had a rose in a small glass container and the centerpieces at each table were equivalent to what would be at the head table of most weddings.
The moment guests sat down attendees, two for every table, came around and placed cloth napkins on the guests laps. Every time a guest left the table they come back to new cloth napkin that was folded to look like a swan. Any glass that became empty was immediately filled by these attendees with the appropriate drink.
If you preferred something other than wine and champagne there was a mini bar for every two tables attended by a bar person. If you couldn't find what you were looking for at these mini bars three of the room's corners had bars with a much larger selection. This was for those people who didn't want to go back to the first hall's bar because they were too tired or soused to walk the 30 to 250 feet necessary to get there.
The fourth corner had a fourteen piece mini orchestra that played the moment people entered the hall. They played dance music. Every 40 minutes they took a break and guests that struggled to hear one another because of their music could engage in conversation while listening to background music played by the 7 piece group from the first hall.
The attendees came around and asked everyone what they wanted for their entrees. The choices were filet mignon, prime rib or fillet of sole. Whether you finished the meal or not the attendees came around and asked if you wanted another helping of the meal you ordered or preferred one of the other choices. You were also allowed to pick from a wide selection of side dishes to go with the main dish. The entree followed several other courses, with sorbets in between, but I was too full from the hors d'oeuvres to remember them. I thought it was a buffet wedding and didn't pace myself. But I managed to put down one rib and some sole as well as a bite or two of my wife's filet.
After the main meal, carts were rolled to each table with a variety of fancy deserts. A cart was placed for each table with another attendant. This was in addition to the wedding cake that was served. Before divided the cake easily had to be .75 Hilton Units tall.
The wedding ring for the bride was a diamond that was 5.25 carrots. Don't know much about the dress but it was a designer gown from NYC. The ring was estimated by some guests to have cost as much as the wedding. The estimates people gave for the wedding were between $125 to 500/guest. I have no clue. I was just bowled over. That put the cost of the wedding somewhere between $70,ooo and $275,000. I imagine the cost today would be at least 4 times those numbers.
This was my cousin's daughter's (my second cousin) wedding. He made his money as an efficiency analyst and this wedding was probably a drop in the bucket for him. Sadly the marriage did not survive a year and my "poor" cousin ended up struggling with anorexia. She was drop dead model gorgeous before this affliction. Money can't buy us everything and certainly this should put to rest the theory regarding rings.
Different wedding: Wedding costs $2250.
Three years earlier my wife and I got married. The wedding cost $2250. Her parents were poor and although we didn't want any money from them her dad insisted on paying $250 for our 5 piece band.
We had our wedding at Eisenhower Park, north shore Long Island from 4pm to 8pm Sunday. They catered the entire affair and the price was incredibly reasonable. The price of $1500 included, hors d'oeuvres, entrees (guests were given an invitation with a choice of chicken (not turkey), fish(not sole) or steak(not filet mignon), the set up for the wedding ceremony, reception tent, flowers and wedding cake. It was a cash bar but we offered free wine and beer. We also payed for the invitations, photographer, wedding dress ($150) and the Justice of the Peace. We had 119 guests.
There were three negatives with our wedding. The first was it was supposed to be a garden wedding but the rain ruined that. The indoors chapel was nice but no where's near as beautiful as those gardens. The second was the Justice of the Peace. We met with her a couple of months earlier and she offered to do the ceremony for $75. We arranged to meet one hour before the ceremony to rehearse. She showed up five minutes before we were supposed to start and wanted to renegotiate the price. I have to say I was a bit woozy regarding everything before this happened. Nothing like an adrenaline rush to get someone grounded. With some persuasion (I'm sure my skull came through my skin and flames shot from the eye sockets) the original negotiated price was maintained. The third was neither my wife nor I managed to eat anything that evening. People were really having a terrific time and we just never had time to eat.
The wedding dress was used several times. First for the ceremony. The other times were when my wife played the character Amy in the play "Company". It was a beautiful gown and I loved that she was able to wear it ten years later for that play. During that play she was pregnant with our son.
My wife and I were together four years before we got married. We got an apartment in New Britain but that wasn't easy. The woman who owned the building was reticent to rent to an unmarried couple. But 44 years later I'm writing this so in spite of "sinning", in spite of us coming from different faiths,in spite of the proposal being a disaster, in spite of the relatively low cost of the wedding. Our marriage has lasted a long time and I can say we still love one another.
The proposal and wedding rings: we went together in search of her engagement ring and our wedding bands. I wanted to get her a bigger diamond. She only wanted a quarter carat. I managed to convince her to get a third carat while we were looking together. On a different day I went back to the jewelers and bought an engagement ring with a diamond that was .57 carats. I had it set in this exquisite band I saw her eyeing when we were at the store but she didn't dare consider. The ring cost a little more than half the wedding but I felt it was worth it.
I'm excited that I'm still going to be able to surprise her. I set up a reservation at a restaurant we both loved but didn't tell her where we were going. She was tired but happy to not have to prepare a meal. However she was so tired she gave me a hard time about going. She drove me so crazy that I ended up telling her my surprise and throwing the box with the ring at her in the car that just so happened to be parked in front of the apartments dumpster. I left her crying in the car. Now if any of you want to ensure a long marriage, this is how you go about doing things.
. She is super straightforward and she said that from date 1, which was great because that was what I was looking for and for she she expressed that later in the first date in several ways.
. Did the reception there with a JOP (Mary Coburn, amazing human). You go upstairs for cocktail hour then come back downstairs for the reception. Couple of hotels in wlaking distance and plenty of places for the after party. Pictures can be taken in the old state house (if its open?) for a small permit fee and an insurance certificate.
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