Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 03:53:13 -0500
From: "dapperdobbs" 
Newsgroups: misc.invest.financial-plan
Subject: Re: Budget for wedding
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Les -

The 10% for the ring, I heard. For the wedding, I haven't heard of a
rule of thumb (and no one else posted, that I saw). Weddings in the
past have been to some extent a fanfare or even ostentation - some sign
of family net worth - and it seems a lot of posts here seem to suggest
that. A wedding is, after all, a ceremony. An estimated cost based on
the number of guests struck me as a good answer. Their customary levels
of comfort and habits figure in that, too, as do yours.

If thou art still stuck, pick up a copy of "Miss Manners" (a book on
etiquette). It will serve you well to know the formalities you are
supposed to observe - greetings, introductions, etc. etc. etc. etc.
etc. etc.. - and it may contain a suggestion on ... ahem ...
appropriate levels of hosting. (Don't take the book too seriously -
very few people even know how to spell etiquette these days.)

Having just gotten a divorce, myself, I would suggest a rule of thumb
is that the wedding should not cost more than 10% of the divorce. Since
that may be difficult to estimate, the wedding should ring in at about
3x the bill for the prenuptial agreement.