Even an inexpensive wedding isn't cheap. I had the bright idea of going to Maui and only inviting close friends and family. The ceremony was free, because we did it in a park, and my sister-in-law got ordained for the occasion. The post-ceremony celebration set us back about $5000, because it's Maui, so you can figure it would've been $3500 anywhere else. Nice party, and I don't regret dropping that much cash on one night. I do regret hiring the photographer at $1000/hr. Wife and I got into a big fight about that, and I lost. I wouldn't recommend it when there are apps out there like Wedpix where everyone can upload their photos to a place everyone else can access.

I kinda got bullied into a more traditional reception a month after the ceremony, thus completely defeating the purpose of the Maui wedding. That night cost me about $10,000, my in-laws about $10,000, and my parents about $5,000, more or less (there were about 120 people there, if I remember right). Of that, we probably got about $10,000 back in cash and gifts, so a pretty large net loss. It was a fun party, and I don't regret it, but I'm also not sure I would do it the same were I to do it again. If I had a do over, I would wait until the summer, get a big ass tent in the back yard, hire a caterer and get a few kegs of beer. Probably could have had an equally fun, equally classy party for 1/3 of what we spent to have it at a fancy restaurant/reception hall.

If you can get off at $5,000, I say thank your lucky stars (assuming you have >100 people). My wife thought I would find solace when she found a link about how the average wedding costs like $30,000 these days. I didn't.