Jennifer Derrick from Saving Advice has been tagging along with a friend to the bridal shows. Jennifer doesn’t say what city they were shopping in. But for her, it was an eye-opening experience.

A snippet:

At one booth we were cheerfully informed that the average wedding now costs $28,000. The consultant went on to explain that this sum of money would buy you an average wedding. To have a wedding that people will remember and talk about for years, the bride should plan to spend upwards of $35,000. All I could think was, “Holy cow! Thirty-five grand is like two decent cars or a very nice down payment on a house.”

Read the rest here.

I stopped by a Monroe County bridal show a couple of years ago to do interviews for a story, and I didn’t get that message by visiting with the local vendors. But I can certainly see how local brides might get that impression from reading some of the popular national bridal magazines and web sites.

You can have a very lovely wedding on a very small budget. Scroll back through my weddings on a budget archive for some great tips aimed at a local audience.

Previously on weddings on a budget: Bridal expo at St. George’s.

Next on this topic: Flexibility helps a lot.