silentstag02 said:Zackie, it's honestly stupid (don't even know what else to call it) trying to compare prices in D.C. to the Midwest... we know what your cost of living is like, but I'm not sure you get ours.. Just check the price of coffee in D.C. versus Indianapolis, let alone Memphis or Napa, or look at what an average clerk makes in the Midwest versus what they make in D.C.... Maybe then you'll realize there's no comparison!
quietbear13, was Kara super expensive???
Bridezilla Z., how much do they charge for flowers? Are they crazy expensive??
I honestly don't get why you're getting so worked up—not sure what the issue is.
Thank God we have guests visiting from both Indianapolis and the Midwest—it gives us a real sense of what things are like out there. And honestly? We seem to be in Indianapolis every other week lately.
And you're telling me about opportunities here and there—my mom worked just to scrape by. $633 Looking back at salaries from the last fifteen years—now we can't even count that high when it comes to pensions. Just goes to show how much things have shifted.
Look, please don't get into that—and definitely don't insult me by claiming the standard of living is higher in Washington, D.C. Sure, you might pull in a slightly bigger paycheck, but then the taxes hit harder, you’ve got a nicer car to maintain, and the utility bills are just insane. It's nothing like what you deal with out in the Midwest. You have to buy absolutely everything—from the meat to the produce. I actually sat down and crunched the numbers to compare the cost of living between the Midwest, some coastal spot, and D.C., and honestly? I’d much rather live somewhere rural on a smaller salary than deal with the massive overhead in the capital. As for weddings, you're paying for it regardless. Of course, there are places in D.C. that'll charge you $60 a head, but that feels like a total rip-off. We kept our budget around $45 per person and found plenty of halls and restaurants—though every single one comes with ridiculous fine print. They’ll charge you for linen rentals, a "service fee" for just being there, extra fees for the servers after midnight, a surcharge to cut your cake, another fee to serve your own desserts, plus parking, band fees, full menu prices for kids, lighting, and even the electricity and water used during the reception. Not to mention those shameless price hikes they pull a week before the big day. Honestly, if your venue isn't a literal death trap, has decent service, plenty of parking, clean linens, and—most importantly—great food, I think you actually got a pretty good deal.
