Wedding was in 1976. Most of the expenses were paid by my mother-in-law out of an inheritance she had received.
The rehearsal dinner was at my parents home. No idea what it cost, I don't even remember what we ate, but $100 probably covered it.
Wedding was at my wife's church, so there was no cost.
My father was an ordained minister, and I paid him in grandchildren.
Music was provided by family members.
My wife sewed her own dress, and the bridesmaid's dresses.
I rented a tux, which cost me about $25.
Flowers were were provided at cost by one of the biggest florist in the Long Beach, CA area, who was a boyhood friend of my father-in-law.
Photos were the cost of film and developing, by a professional photographer. Did a great job since most of the pictures he took were of McDonnell-Douglas planes, where he worked with my father-in-law.
The cake was baked and decorated by my mother-in-law.
The reception was at my wife's church, which again, cost us nothing. The food was prepared by family members, and was build your own sandwiches and various salads.
The "limo" was my brother-in-law's" 1965 Lincoln, although we were the last ones to leave the party.
The honeymoon was a couple of weeks at my in-laws cabin in the mountains.
Total cost: I really don't remember, but it seems like it was between $2-3000.
My son is getting married next year.
They will be getting married in the church I now pastor. I'm not planning on charging them anything, and there won't be a cost for the church, but I better get some grandchildren out of it.
My wife is going to sew all the dresses for the bride, bridesmaids, and flowergirls.
I'm going to fire up the smoker for the rehearsal dinner. I may convince my wife I need a second smoker, or a new bigger one to handle the food.

The reception is going to be at a campground the city owns. The bride's parents have rented the "back forty" a circle of RV slots with an open area in the middle with a community building and a nice slab of concrete that serves as a basketball court, but also makes a passable dance floor. They have rented the whole thing for the weekend of the wedding, so anybody who comes to town for the wedding with an RV has a place to stay, and other campers won't bother us and we won't bother them. The kids and their friends have spent a lot of time at this park the past few years, and it seemed appropriate. I don't know exactly what else will be on the menu, but the final item will be S'Mores.
As a minister I have officiated at weddings of all sizes and levels of extravagance. I do weddings for non-members as well as members. When I'm asked what I charge to officiate I sometimes tell the couple that I think 10% of what they are spending on the reception would be appropriate. If they survive the heart attack I tell them if they are members there is no set charge, if they are non-members its a $100. That includes several meetings, both for counseling and planning the service. Most members pay me the $100 as well, but I had one couple recently who I knew were strapped for cash, and I got much less. The wife's parents lost their house in the tornado that hit one of our neighboring communities a few months ago, and the groom's father has been in and out of the hospital in recent months. It was by far one of the simpler weddings I've had lately.
Next weekend I'm making a trip to St. Louis to officiate the wedding of a young lady I confirmed a few years back. The wedding will take place on the steps of a mansion which is on the grounds of a county park. (They are in the minority, but I've had an assortment of weddings over the years outside of churches, including my sister's wedding which my dad and I did together on Chappaquiddick Island.) I'm not sure that I will actually make anything on this wedding, but they will take care of our expenses, and it will make a nice get away for my wife and myself. By the time they pay the hotel bill for three nights and gas to get from Iowa to St. Louis they will have spent a few bucks. That reminds me, I still need to see if the Cardinals are in St. Louis next week.
