How Much Did Edward and Bella’s Wedding Cost?
November 16, 2011 in Editorial, Top
As almost all Twilight fans know, “Breaking Dawn Part 1” will be released on Friday. The big moment of the movie will be the wedding; finally Edward and Bella will be together forever. From the scenes that have been leaked through trailers, the wedding looks extravagant complete with streaming flowers and a designer dress. Centives decided to take a look at what the cost of a wedding like that would be. We began by searching through the book for clues about the wedding, and then looked at the trailers from the film to fill in some of the gaps.
The book describes a silvery wedding complete with white blossom garlands and white gossamer ribbons surrounding the ceremony and reception. The scenes from the trailers confirm this vision; as Bella walks down the aisle she is surrounded by her friends and family in a sea of silky beauty.
Let’s start with wedding basics: you need a place for a ceremony and reception. As Edward’s family was paying for the wedding, they took some very cost-friendly cuts. By hosting both parts at the Cullen home, in Forks, Washington, the family is able to save massive amounts of money. In 2010, the average amount spent on ceremony and reception venues combined was $13,517. By having the wedding at home, the Cullen’s decided to put that money to better use. As guests to the wedding drove up to the house, they first saw three miles of Christmas lights hanging from the trees. This was a very expensive touch costing $8,510.88 according to a quote from Home Depot.
But what about the bride herself? In the book she is described as wearing a “fit-and-flare” gown, and clips from the trailer show a dress encrusted with sapphire diamonds. Carolina Herrera designed the wedding gown that Bella wears in the film. Dresses made by the Venezuelan designer retail for around $6,000. By having Edward’s sisters do all of the hair and makeup without professional help, the couple saved a fair amount of money. Bella’s engagement ring was handed down through Edward’s family and so didn’t cost any money. Edward’s ring is never mentioned but on average a gent’s wedding band costs around $600. Right before Bella leaves the dressing room the book describes her slipping on a white garter. Victoria’s Secret sells these for $15.
As Bella walks down towards the aisle, the banisters are shown to be covered with lilacs, orange blossoms, freesia, and roses. The book describes the house as being filled with 20,000 assorted flowers. This is a startling amount and if we assume that the Cullen’s were able to negotiate a low price of just $1 per flower, then the flora alone would cost $20,000. The ceremony itself is small with perhaps 50 guests at the wedding. The satin drapes for the chairs would cost $110.
For the reception the Cullens book a live band to serenade the guests. A live band from the area costs around $1500. And the reception tent could be bought for as little as $210. The “grand cake” described in Breaking Dawn and depicted here would cost $800.
The grand total for this immortal wedding comes out to about $38,000, with flowers taking up more than half of the budget. To put things in perspective wedding planners surveyed by Centives recommend spending 8% of your overall wedding budget on flowers. That said, for a family with infinite access to money, this wedding didn’t cost that much more than the average American wedding which, on average, cost $27,800 in 2010. The Cullens certainly managed to avoid the decadence of Kim Kardashian’s $10 million bash. Perhaps Stephanie Meyer left out details about the wedding that would have racked up the bills. Or perhaps the true value of Edward and Bella’s love could never truly be captured by any earthly celebration, no matter how extravagant.
Follow us on Twitter to keep up with the latest Centives updates.Or head over to our editorials page to view past articles that looked at Rachel Berry’s Life After Glee, Pocahontas’s Prospects for a Nobel Peace Prize, and the Cost of Going to Hogwarts. You can also read our latest series of articles on the Evolution of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart over the years.
How can I have a twilight wedding under a 1000 dollars. I have a dress, and wedding set, all I need is everything thing else!
Also, the priest….
It probably cost more when you take into account the food, chairs, linens.
Great post!
Yes, where is the food and reception decor costs? especially the chiavari chairs and linens??
The wedding planner in me is reeling at this breakdown – I would love to have immortal clients with centuries old bank accounts. Not all of the guests were undead, so they must have spent something on food. They probably spent another $5,000-$8,000 on catering depending on the menu and elaborateness of the wedding meal. They’re Mormon Sparklevamps so I’m going to go ahead and guess that there wasn’t any booze, though so there’s a huge savings. But what about reception decor, a dance floor, lights or heaters, waitstaff, etc etc etc? This is easily a $50,000 wedding which seems downright economical when you can take out ’till death do us part’ in the vows and really mean it.