Weddings Offer Chance to Splurge Despite Recession

Aug. 13, 2010— -- In a time of battered pensions, rampant unemployment and continuing foreclosures, one industry seems to ride the crest of the recession wave: weddings.

Even in these tough financial times, the dream of the big wedding hasn't gone away. The dress, the cake, the flowers, the band, the photographer: Americans spent $74 billion just to say "I Do" last year.

"I had always dreamed as a little girl of my wedding day," Kristen Patrick said. "I kind of grew up during the Princess Diana era and saw her wedding on TV and the elaborateness of her wedding and the dress and the train. I just always dreamed of this fairy tale elaborate wedding."

Patrick lives in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., with her husband, Alex Mazzatto, a lawyer, and the two gave themselves a budget of $75,000 for their big day, which took them two years to save. As a music teacher who worked part-time as a fitness instructor to help save up the money, Patrick understands how people could judge the wedding's enormous price tag.

"'You could have bought a house with that, you could have done so many other things' [people said], but this is how we chose to spend our money, and we're going to enjoy every bit of the day," Patrick said.

Paying for the Big Wedding Day

Even with what seems like such a large purse, Patrick and Mazzatto had to stretch dollars to meet their dream-wedding expectations. Breaking down the numbers, that $75,000 savings quickly materialized into a $2,500 dress that would have made Princess Diana proud (the train alone cost $500), elaborate flower arrangements, photographers, videographers and much more.

Flowers cost the couple a steep $4,500 -- with Patrick's gorgeous wedding bouquet holding four dozen roses -- and all had to be paid for in cash up front.

"That's the theme of this wedding. Big dress, big flowers," Mazzatto joked.

That's on top of $20,000 spent on jewelry, $1,100 on stationery, $1,500 for the videographer (not including the boudoir photography, which was an additional $500) and $75 for French manicures and pedicures for the bride, her mom and sister -- a steal.