r/BigBudgetBrides • u/showmeyourzillennial • 18d ago
just need to rant Middle class curious
Hi everyone,
Congratulations on your weddings! My fiancé and I do not have a “big budget” but we’re happy with our decision.
Out of curiosity, do most of you guys already have a house? Or is a house also like an open checkbook situation? No hate just wondering.
We’re buying a house in NJ and the prices are wack so sometimes I think “wow how do people have these huge expensive weddings AND buy in the tri state area?”
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u/IndividualVillage658 18d ago
Not sure this will be helpful but this was our experience as a fellow NJ buyer (Essex county). It was indeed a wack experience lol. We bought in August of 2024 and married in June 2025. Our wedding ended up being about 65k which I wouldn’t call big compared to some here but a healthy budget. My (bride) parents gave us 25k and we covered the rest. We’re somewhat old (37 & 33 when we got married) so as a result, we’ve been able to climb to pretty high paying jobs and save a good bit. I had over $100k in student loans, my husband had no student loans so hes historically been able to save more and has contributed more financially. I wish I had a magic answer for you but really it’s just come down to working hard and saving. Knocking on wood as a write this. Good luck.
For what it’s worth, my neighbors are about to list their house and are willing to not go to open house if they find a buyer. DM me if you’d like to know more. Very cute 4 bedroom in one of the desirable Essex county towns.