Last week millions of people watched while Prince William married his long time girlfriend Kate Middleton in a ceremony that cost millions of dollars. Kate Middleton is now officially royalty…whatever that means.
Would you like to have a Royal Wedding?
For some women their wedding day is the happiest day of their lives, and they want the fantasy fairytale wedding with the big dress and the big cake with the big guest list. But for some other women their wedding day is about spending the rest of their lives with the person they love; it’s about the ceremony, not the spectacle. If having a big Royal Wedding is your dream, you have to keep in mind that money often comes with strings attached.
The Royal Wedding was definitely not Kate and William’s day. They were told where to stand, what to wear, and when to wave. Although my mother did tell me that Kate was “allowed” to design her own dress, I’m sure that her Majesty the Queen had the final say.
The cost of a Royal Wedding
Everyone from MSN to CNN reported on the glamour and glitz of the royal wedding. I personally find the cost of the royal wedding to be totally outrageous. Just because we have money, doesn’t mean that we have to spend it. I also don’t think it’s a good financial idea to spend a lot of money on something that isn’t even what we want. The Royal family spent money on a Royal Wedding only because they are the “Royals”. It is also important to note that the British people indirectly paid for the Royal Wedding through their taxes. I am sure that tax payer money could have been spent on better amenities such as health care and other public services.
CNN reported that the British Royal Wedding ceremony cost $32 million. This was compared with the US “Royal” Wedding of Chelsea Clinton which cost (only) $3.3 million. The average US Wedding costs approximately $27,000. We know from previous DINKS Finance posts that bridal shower gifts can be expensive; but most of us spent a lot less than $27,000 on our own weddings.
Let’s look at some of the other costs of the British Royal Wedding and Chelsea Clintons wedding compared to the average cost of a Wedding in the United States:
BRITISH ROYALS CHELSEA CLINTON AVERAGE US WEDDING
Wedding Cake $80,000 $11,000 $540
Bridal Dress $434,000 $25,000 $1000
Flowers $800,000 $500,000 $2000
What do you give as a gift at a Royal Wedding?
With a guest list full of celebrities, politicians, and world leaders I am curious to know what the young royal couple received as gifts at their Royal Wedding. I would like to know if they received envelopes full of British pounds and other currencies from around the world. Usually wedding gifts are given to a young couple to help them start their life together off on the right financial foot. But what do you give as a wedding gift to a young royal couple who doesn’t need anything, and who needs money even less than that?
What can you give to a young royal couple who is living in Buckingham Palace? While we are discussing the royal couples living arrangements, I personally could not imagine being married into a family and the same day moving in with my father and grandmother in law. What a nightmare!
I would not want my grandmother in law to be the Queen of England. She would always be telling me to wear my hat like this and drink my tea like that…no thank you! I wouldn’t do it for all of the crowns in the world.
Would you like to have a Royal Wedding? If you were a guest at the Royal Wedding what would you give to the young royal couple as a wedding gift?
Photo by Video4Net
Kristina Tahnyak
Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.
I think it’s just as valid to argue that while it was paid for by the taxpayers, almost all of the money went directly back to the British people – they use (almost) exclusively British companies for everything, and their patronage may have saved/created many jobs, not to mention the indirect benefit of the tourism associated with the wedding. Many, many industries and people benefitted.
Both you and Honey make good points. I did want to point out that they requested donations to certain charities in lieu of gifts, and that they will be living in a home near his base, and not a palace…they won’t be having servants.
I’d love to see the numbers on the revenue the wedding generated for the country.
I couldn’t believe how many people showed up and stood in the rain to catch a quick glimpse of a kiss from the Royal Couple, maybe I don’t understand it because I’m not British. I did recently read that the Royal Couple will be living in their own home and not in Buckingham Palace.
I was at the Post Office on Friday and saw that Canadians can send a personal message to the Royal Couple on special wedding postcards. I wonder if our congratulations will really be sent to the Royal Couple, or if they will be sent to The North Pole with all of the letters for Santa Claus.
Yes, belatedly, they did ask for charitable donations instead of gifts.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/16/royal-wedding-donations-charity-presents
The charities included Army Widows, Army Widows Association, various Benevolent funds, the Canadian Coast Guard, the New Zealand government’s Christchurch earthquake appeal, etc.