The Real Costs Of A Wedding in Canada — and How to Handle Them

07/19/23 • 45 min

How much does the average wedding cost? The answer may be higher than you think — and the costs associated with a wedding can be surprising. You might have already budgeted out your wedding, but having the insights of people who’ve been to and planned weddings for several years is invaluable.

In this engaging episode we delve deep into the world of organizing and budgeting for significant life events, specifically weddings. We are joined by Amanda Cowley, founder, head planner and designer of Amanda Kelly Events. She also happens to be the wedding planner for Cadeem’s wedding. Jaye Simpson is also joining us today. She is a senior underwriter for a leading insurance company based in Toronto and the proud owner of Jaye’s Boutique–a go-to source for custom crafted delights perfect for celebrating life's greatest milestones.

Tune in if you or anyone you know are planning a big event, particularly weddings. And if the average wedding cost seems too high for you, this episode can help you figure out a way to manage your finances better.

Three Reasons to Listen to This Episode

Learn how to effectively manage external pressures and align them with your budget and event vision.
Discover the importance of financial planning in staging successful life events.
Understand how to address surprise costs and ensuring value for money.

Resources

Guests:
About Amanda Cowley

Amanda Cowley is the founder of Amanda Cowley Planning + Design. They do extensive work for couples aiming to have wonderful weddings and celebrations to truly honor that special moment.

Visit her website, or follow her on Instagram.

About Jaye Simpson

Jaye Simpson is an entrepreneur and started her own business, Jaye’s Boutique, which caters to wedding crafts.

Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Enjoyed this Episode?

If you did, subscribe and share it with your friends!

Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning in, leave us a review.

Have any questions? If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, send us an email at [email protected]!

Thanks for tuning in! You can find us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify! You can also follow us on Instagram, TikTok or Twitter for more clips and updates or visit our website.

Three Reasons to Listen to This Episode

Learn how to effectively manage external pressures and align them with your budget and event vision.
Discover the importance of financial planning in staging successful life events.
Understand how to address surprise costs and ensuring value for money.

Resources

Guests:
About Amanda Cowley

Amanda Cowley is the founder of Amanda Cowley Planning + Design. They do extensive work for couples aiming to have wonderful weddings and celebrations to truly honor that special moment.

Visit her website, or follow her on Instagram.

About Jaye Simpson

Jaye Simpson is an entrepreneur and started her own business, Jaye’s Boutique, which caters to wedding crafts.

Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Enjoyed this Episode?

If you did, subscribe and share it with your friends!

Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning in, leave us a review.

Have any questions? If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, send us an email at [email protected]!

Previous Episode

To Tip Or Not To Tip? A Debate on Tipping Culture in Canada

Episode Summary
Tipping culture is a significant part of the restaurant experience — especially in North America. However, tipping isn’t universal — some places charge service fees while others disallow tips entirely. And really, do customers enjoy tipping? Is it an effective and fair wage structure? Let’s find out.

In this intriguing episode of Half Banked, we delve into tipping culture. We also look at the burgeoning trend of tip creep, a controversial phenomenon that's causing ripples in the North American restaurant industry. We interview Marc Cohen, a Montreal-based restaurant owner, and Sam, an Ontario-based server. These two are on the frontlines of the service industry. Their unique perspectives reveal the intricate workings of the tipping culture as they grapple with the rising pressure on patrons to tip.

Tune in for a dive into tipping culture — and find out how both sides, server and restaurant owner, see it.

Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:
1. Learn how to navigate the rising trend of tip creep and understand its impact on both businesses and consumers
2. Discover unfiltered insights from both the server and business owner's perspective about the increasing pressure to tip.
3. Understand the options aside from tipping culture and how they could reshape the North American hospitality industry.

Resources

Visit the official site of Lawrence, Larry’s, and Boucherie Lawrence.
Follow Marc Cohen on Instagram

Enjoyed this Episode?

If you did, subscribe and share it with your friends!

Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning in, leave us a review.

Have any questions? If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, send us an email at [email protected]!

Next Episode

Personal Finance Gets Personal — A Surprise Q&A with Cadeem Lalor and Bethan Moorcraft

This week on Half Banked, we decided to have a little fun. Or at least the producers did.
As we near the end of Season 1, we wanted to take a break from the grind of interviewing experts and dissecting the latest in personal finance news and topics. So we decided to it was our hosts to take a turn in the hot seat.
Who are the people behind the voices you hear every week? This week on Half Banked, the show’s producers turn the tables on Bethan and Cadeem to ask them some big money questions that haven't been discussed on the podcast yet. At random. With no prep. From their quirkiest financial habits to what they would do with a million dollars, Cadeem and Bethan have gamely agreed to play along with their producers' antics and give their honest, unprepared answers and thoughts on various money matters.
So sit back and enjoy as we get personal about personal finance at their expense.

Enjoyed this Episode?

If you did, subscribe and share it with your friends!

Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning in, leave us a review.

Have any questions? If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, send us an email at [email protected]!

Half Banked - The Real Costs Of A Wedding in Canada — and How to Handle Them

Transcript

Amanda: The friction tends to be mostly with those outside factors. The parents, especially if they're very hands on and if what they're contributing is a large portion and they just want to make sure that it's going to the right places and being used wisely.

I feel like there have been many times where I've kind of had to step outside of my role as a planner and step in as like, a moderator. And you do it with love and you do it with all the experience in the world, and