November 27, 2017, was a historic day as Clarence House, a royal residential building in London, officially announced the engagement of His Royal Highness The Prince Of Wales Prince Harry and American, former Suits actress Meghan Markle. Now that the royal wedding is going to take place within a few weeks (May 19, 2018), a lot of people are anticipating all the wedding details, including myself.
In the United Kingdom, the median cost to do a wedding is almost $34,000. The wedding of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Kate Middleton had a total cost of $35 million, which is thousand times the average. As for Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan’s wedding, it is estimated to be around $45 million.
To give you an idea, the biggest chunk of money goes to the security. The couple’s high-profile backgrounds make them valuable targets of terrorists. Because of that, the security details of the upcoming royal wedding is estimated to be $42 million, a projection that is based on Prince William and Kate’s wedding in 2011. The security budget is taken from the taxpayers’ money.
The catering, program, venue, and attire come next, but each of them is less than two percent of the total cost. The other expenses are below one percent.
The wedding’s catering is estimated to be $670,000, constituting $400,000 for the food, $200,000 for the drinks, and $70,000 for the wedding cake. Rumors have been circulating that the caterer of this grandiose event is Table Talk, a London-based catering company that is said to be personally chosen by the couple.
While specifications of the food and drinks have yet to be revealed, the only confirmed detail in the catering category is the wedding cake. Initially, Prince Harry wanted an 8-layered banana cake, which significantly deviates from the tradition.
But on March 20, the lovely engaged couple announced their choice of a 6-tiered lemon elderflower with buttercream frosting, embellished with fresh flowers. Claire Ptak’s Violet Cakes, a bakery based in London, has officially been chosen to prepare the cake.
Estimated to be around $490,000, the wedding venue is going to take place at Windsor Castle, and the reception will be held near the Frogmore House. A total amount of $465,000 is allotted for the combined expenses of the couple’s attire and their entourage, as well as the rings and the bride’s hair and makeup.
But take note, Meghan and her mother will shoulder the expenses for the former’s bridal dress, which constitutes 75 percent of the attire budge. That’s an admirable thing, isn’t it?
Since Prince Harry joined the military forces, we can expect the groom to wear a formal Royal Air Force uniform. As for his fiancée’s wedding gown, it’s still a surprise. But we can expect to see the bride with a laidback appearance that emphasizes her beautiful freckles; a look that costs 10 times the average wedding makeup cost in the US.
Those are just a few wedding details. For a better and well-detailed breakdown, CostFigures has laid down all the estimated expenses of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. And just in case you’re wondering why the government has so much budget for a royal wedding, apparently, Britain is estimated to earn $1 BILLION from the lavish and highly anticipated commitment ceremony of the year.
So how much is spend for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s wedding? Here’s a detailed estimated budget and cost breakdown in this infographic:
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