Getting Married ( The cost)

[jonny5]

Just seeing to all the people who have got married, how much did you pay in total for all?

And if you have a rough breakdown that would be great.

 

TIA

 

[taninthai]

Around 150 bht,,,,,,,,the government office to sign paperwork was 5 minuits away..

 

5 years later 75 bht to get divorced ,different government office was 10 minuits away????
 

we are still great friends having known each other 12 years been divorced for 5 years.

[ezzra]

not so much what does it cost now to get married, rathar the costs for the rest of your life that is matters...

[KhunKenAP]

Cost depends on how much Mama wants to have you marry her daughter.

 

[robblok]

3 minutes ago, ezzra said:

not so much what does it cost now to get married, rathar the costs for the rest of your life that is matters...

 

Sometimes marriage is good and no problems at all, sometimes it costs depends a lot on what kind of girl you choose and how you are yourself. Some guys are hard to live with and really demanding. Same goes for woman, just really depends on your choices.

 

Attract one with your money and you will keep paying forever.

[TSF]

5 minutes ago, ezzra said:

not so much what does it cost now to get married, rathar the costs for the rest of your life that is matters...

I was thinking the same thing. If op is concerned about a few hundred baht fees & charges to get married, he's gonna be in for a hell of a shock after the ink dries on the marriage certificate. ????

[FritsSikkink]

32 minutes ago, KhunKenAP said:

Cost depends on how much Mama wants to have you marry her daughter.

 

Mama got nothing.

[jonny5]

Sorry i tried to edit post but couldn't.

I've been will the GF 15 years , got 3 kids , house , cars etc etc.

 

So thought it was time to get married. 

It will be a village wedding (Korat) , I was looking at the over all cost and breakdowns if possible?

Wedding party, Food, Drinks , pre wedding photos, all that sort of stuff.

Thanks hope that makes it a bit clearer

Edited November 15, 2020 by jonny5

[finnsk]

It could be interesting to see informations about how much money people is using on a traditional thai wedding.

 

What part is paying what, at these thai weddings. It looks that it is very important to show a lot of cash money, and the money must come from the male side, after the wedding the money is going to the female family. I know about a guy who take his money back at the end of the wedding, he never get good friend with his wifes family 555, but maybe a way to keep the costs down.

[robblok]

3 minutes ago, jonny5 said:

Sorry i tried to edit post but couldn't.

I've been will the GF 15 years , got 3 kids , house , cars etc etc.

 

So thought it was time to get married. 

It will be a village wedding (Korat) , I was looking at the over all cost and breakdowns if possible?

Wedding party, Food, Drinks , pre wedding photos, all that sort of stuff.

Thanks hope that makes it a bit clearer

Does it not depend on the number of people you invite the venue you choose and stuff like that. I think you should give an idea about that first.

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, jonny5 said:

Just seeing to all the people who have got married, how much did you pay in total for all?

And if you have a rough breakdown that would be great.

A strange question to ask, it would depend on what you want and what you're lady wants. 

What I remember is only buying the wedding rings and her family paid for the day involving monks, and aft & evening blocking the soy with tables and a stage with a live band. 

Woke up the next morning with a raving headache and of to Ko-Samui for our honeymoon. 

[Peterw42]

Not sure if the OP is asking a catering question or a sinsod question. either way its the same answer as the proverbial piece of string

[EVENKEEL]

9 minutes ago, jonny5 said:

Sorry i tried to edit post but couldn't.

I've been will the GF 15 years , got 3 kids , house , cars etc etc.

 

So thought it was time to get married. 

It will be a village wedding (Korat) , I was looking at the over all cost and breakdowns if possible?

Wedding party, Food, Drinks , pre wedding photos, all that sort of stuff.

Thanks hope that makes it a bit clearer

Even more puzzling because you know better. The cost is endless. Live band, endless booze, cost of a cow and pigs to slaughter. Can hit 200,000bht pretty easy.

[1FinickyOne]

21 minutes ago, jonny5 said:

I've been will the GF 15 years , got 3 kids , house , cars etc etc.

Geez, most people are past ready for the divorce at that time.. so, congratulations.

 

I think your wife will have the answer to all those questions... the cost of a party depends entirely on your choices... I have been to village weddings done on a shoe string and others that were catered and much more elaborate... fireworks, elephants etc... 

[DaLa]

31 minutes ago, jonny5 said:

Sorry i tried to edit post but couldn't.

I've been will the GF 15 years , got 3 kids , house , cars etc etc.

 

So thought it was time to get married. 

It will be a village wedding (Korat) , I was looking at the over all cost and breakdowns if possible?

Wedding party, Food, Drinks , pre wedding photos, all that sort of stuff.

Thanks hope that makes it a bit clearer

I left most of it to the 'soon to be' wife.  She bought a traditional Thai 'wedding' dress for apprx. 5,000, We went shopping in the morning together for flowers etc at the local market , another 5,000.  We then had about 30 people at her mothers house where we provided all the food and drink ..about another 10,000.  The ceremony with monks cost a token gesture. Then the evening meal at a restaurant for about 50 people was a staggering 15,000. The restaurant band were the entertainment and there were a few bottles of cheap whisky in with that. Oh, a 'wedding' cake off the shelf was about 2000.

 

So a cheap day really. Then the money fun started .????

 

PS. forgot , photographer was a friend ..so nil baht, and brother ran a tour company, so transport was Nil baht. Advantages ( and disadvantages of a large family).

Edited November 15, 2020 by DaLa
Missed a part out.

[TSF]

Nobody can answer this because it depends on so many factors...whether you want an upmarket wedding in a flash hotel or a simple village affair, and as others have pointed out how many guests and whether they be drinking Lao Khao or Heineken & Johnny Black. Probably a better way to tackle this is sort out your budget and how many people you want to attend. Subtract things from your budget like special clothing, hire of venue, gold for the bride & other overheads. Then divide the balance by the number of guests to give you an idea of food/drink per head. 

 

In my personal opinion, unless you have money to waste, having a big formal wedding after being together 15 years and having 3 kids is unnecessary. If it was me I'd have the marriage ceremony at the ampur, then with the immediate family members plus a few of your closest friends, go on to a some nice restaurant in Korat city for a lovely dinner & drinks. 

[thaibeachlovers]

17 hours ago, taninthai said:

Around 150 bht,,,,,,,,the government office to sign paperwork was 5 minuits away..

 

5 years later 75 bht to get divorced ,different government office was 10 minuits away????
 

we are still great friends having known each other 12 years been divorced for 5 years.

The main cost is the documentation. Have to pay embassy, translation etc. Those costs vary depending on embassy and whoever does translation.

[thaibeachlovers]

14 hours ago, TSF said:

Nobody can answer this because it depends on so many factors...whether you want an upmarket wedding in a flash hotel or a simple village affair, and as others have pointed out how many guests and whether they be drinking Lao Khao or Heineken & Johnny Black. Probably a better way to tackle this is sort out your budget and how many people you want to attend. Subtract things from your budget like special clothing, hire of venue, gold for the bride & other overheads. Then divide the balance by the number of guests to give you an idea of food/drink per head. 

 

In my personal opinion, unless you have money to waste, having a big formal wedding after being together 15 years and having 3 kids is unnecessary. If it was me I'd have the marriage ceremony at the ampur, then with the immediate family members plus a few of your closest friends, go on to a some nice restaurant in Korat city for a lovely dinner & drinks. 

The question was about cost of marriage, which most would assume the legal side.

In Thailand the ceremony is not a legal part of marriage- only the amphur is legal. It's not even necessary to have a ceremony at all.

[thaibeachlovers]

16 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Mama got nothing.

Mine got 50,000 which I got back, so she ended up with nothing. Perhaps that's why she didn't like me.

[thaibeachlovers]

16 hours ago, jonny5 said:

Sorry i tried to edit post but couldn't.

I've been will the GF 15 years , got 3 kids , house , cars etc etc.

 

So thought it was time to get married. 

It will be a village wedding (Korat) , I was looking at the over all cost and breakdowns if possible?

Wedding party, Food, Drinks , pre wedding photos, all that sort of stuff.

Thanks hope that makes it a bit clearer

That changes my answers previously.

 

You don't HAVE to buy everyone booze or food, so it's entirely whatever you want to spend. The monks will require something of course.

Watch out for those commercial wedding photo companies- my wife got scammed on hers.

 

If you do pay for a flash ceremony you should get money from the guests, but no way to calculate the amount will get.

 

IMO if everything is going OK don't bother. Spend the money on her and the family instead.

Edited November 15, 2020 by thaibeachlovers

[nobodysfriend]

Men are the traditional providers in Thailand , the paying for the thai bride and her relatives just starts with your marriage .

Think about what you will get back for your money .

If you think that this is worth it , go and marry ...

[thaibeachlovers]

2 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

Men are the traditional providers in Thailand , the paying for the thai bride and her relatives just starts with your marriage .

Think about what you will get back for your money .

If you think that this is worth it , go and marry ...

If men could look forward 5 years or so, I reckon the marriage rate would fall by about 70%.

[KKr]

2 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

 

Men are the traditional providers in Thailand.

Oh, I see.

from what I have seen so far, many ladies working and putting children to school, taking care of elderly generation, after the invisible traditional provider did a runner.

 

men in gainful employment and supporting the family of course do exist, but unfortunately it seems many people split up. The official numbers only concern ampheu registered weddings, temple weddings are, as far as I know, not in statistics

[brianthainess]

22 hours ago, jonny5 said:

Sorry i tried to edit post but couldn't.

I've been will the GF 15 years , got 3 kids , house , cars etc etc.

 

So thought it was time to get married. 

It will be a village wedding (Korat) , I was looking at the over all cost and breakdowns if possible?

Wedding party, Food, Drinks , pre wedding photos, all that sort of stuff.

Thanks hope that makes it a bit clearer

getting married was the only thing I found in Thailand that was free. later We paid 20,000 for a new house 'party' catered for about 150 people+ monks and that included a karaoke. If you are lucky your guests will bring  the invitation along with cash inside the envelope, which could bring in a profit.

[CharlieH]

First up venue ? Decide where this party paid by you is going to be. 

 

Last time I did one was in the Garden, got outside caterers, set up 14 tables of 8. Whisky and soft drinks to each table. Stage set up and Band supplied.

Rented costumes/ make-up/ hair for Bride etc.

Photographer & Video

Monks

Party gifts for all attending.

Flowers set up etc etc.

 

Total was around 40k.

 

Hope that gives an indication.

[Pilotman]

We married 23 years ago and had a 2 day blast in the Village.  Cost at that time for food, venue, dancing troop, singing, band, new clothes for the girls of the family, dress for Madam.  over a two day party was approx. 80,000 Baht.  It was a great 2 days and we still remember it in detail now. Mind you, Baht was weak and pound strong in those days. Add a Sin Sot of 70,000 to that cost, which her Papa  refunded to us the next week, less a 20,000 'administrative fee'.  He was a policeman after all. ????

Edited November 16, 2020 by Pilotman

[rumak]

22 hours ago, jonny5 said:

Sorry i tried to edit post but couldn't.

I've been will the GF 15 years , got 3 kids , house , cars etc etc.

 

So thought it was time to get married. 

It will be a village wedding (Korat) , I was looking at the over all cost and breakdowns if possible?

Wedding party, Food, Drinks , pre wedding photos, all that sort of stuff.

Thanks hope that makes it a bit clearer

ok,  let's do the math.    how many people will attend?   how much rice (figure cost).  how many botttles beer ? (figure cost) ..... how many coyote dancers ? (figure cost) ..... how many plates of fatty pork ? (figure cost).......... how much somtam ?  (figure cost) ......... how many fotos ?

 

sorry, getting tired .   take it from here jonny

[Hamus Yaigh]

23 hours ago, jonny5 said:

Wedding party, Food, Drinks , pre wedding photos, all that sort of stuff.

Thanks hope that makes it a bit clearer

It doesn't matter what others have paid, it's what you can afford. Others have paid from a pittance into tens of millions of baht for such events. Depends on your lifestyle and that of your guests. Each guest will make a donation at the party and the sum of these will likely cover the overall costs anyway, they did in my case. You just got to put the time and effort in and repay in kind when someone else ties the knot to remain an acceptable face of society.

[Surelynot]

Marriage is like a hurricane........it all seems very warm, calm and cosy at first.....then suddenly your house has gone.

[thaibeachlovers]

22 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

We married 23 years ago and had a 2 day blast in the Village.  Cost at that time for food, venue, dancing troop, singing, band, new clothes for the girls of the family, dress for Madam.  over a two day party was approx. 80,000 Baht.  It was a great 2 days and we still remember it in detail now. Mind you, Baht was weak and pound strong in those days. Add a Sin Sot of 70,000 to that cost, which her Papa  refunded to us the next week, less a 20,000 'administrative fee'.  He was a policeman after all. ????

80,000 is enough for a new m'bike which is a lot more use than giving the villagers a free feed.