The dreaded bill arrives. Your parents are perspiring as they write out cheques for your big day. Possibly, it is you and your new spouse who are scribbling each large sum and realising that, despite your happiness, you have blown a massive hole in your finances.

Weddings make memories for a lifetime but their increasing cost is making even t he most generous parents and enthusiastic couples sweat. Family Money has examined prices for the three biggest outlays: the reception, wedding attire and the photographer.

Receptions can range from an intimate affair held in a home or restaurant to the more traditional sit-down meal for 100 or more in a local hotel, country house or event venue. Whichever way, the reception usually accounts for 50 per cent of the wedding budget.

Hotels offer several menus in a variety of price ranges. Some venues include a complimentary bridal suite, champagne toast, or newlywed breakfast.

These set menu prices can be deceiving as they do not include alcohol which can often increase a bill by between 50 and 100 per cent. Stocking the bar with your own alcohol is rarely an option as most venues charge exorbitant corkage fees. Bar extensions may also cost several hundred pounds.

The best advice if you are organising a wedding is to ensure that you know what you are getting into from the beginning. Find out what is not included and get an estimated figure of these costs from the reception venue. Some places charge for room hire. Including all these elements in the estimated cost of the reception will ensure there are no surprises.

For example, a wedding with 100 guests and a set menu of £30 (€38.09) per person begins at £3,000. After adding £2,000 for alcohol, £200 for the bar extension and £150 for evening food it totals a whopping £5,350. This is before the band, photographer, flowers, attire, transport, cake, invites, stationery, church fees, honeymoon and service charges are added into the equation.

Price varies greatly according to the standard of venue chosen. Not surprisingly, Dublin receptions are the most expensive, closely followed by Galway and other big cities. Dublin city-centre hotels range in price from £30 to almost £50 per person excluding alcohol.

Menus at the Conrad International Hotel range from £31.50 to £48.00 plus 15 per cent service charge. Included are room hire, flowers, menus, place cards, table plan, couple's overnight accommodation and champagne breakfast.

The Berkeley Court's menus are all the same price, £40.00 plus 15 per cent service charge. Inclusions are the same as the Conrad.

In other parts of the city, prices range from £23 to £32 depending on venue.

The newly-refurbished Clontarf Castle offers a five-course menu from £25 to £31 not including alcohol or the bridal suite. There is no service charge.

Menu prices at Sutton Castle are similar but include bridal suite, champagne reception for the wedding party, tea, coffee and flowers. The service charge is at the discretion of the couple. Like many hotels, Sutton Castle offers a mid-week special from Monday to Wednesday.

Moving just beyond the city limits may not necessarily reduce the price as fine country homes come at a premium.

In Wicklow, the recently refurbished Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry begins at £31.50 but service charges vary. This price does not include the room hire charges which range from £1,250 for a marquee to £3,000 for the ballroom. Therefore, hiring the ballroom for 100 guests would start at £61.50 per person.

West of the city, menus at Setanta House Hotel in Celbridge run from £19.95 to £27 including many extras.

In Galway, the Park Lodge Hotel, Spiddal, ranges from £16 to £20 including tea and coffee, bridal suite and flowers. There is no service charge.

Topping this city's scale are places like Glenlo Abbey Hotel in Bushypark, Galway where prices begin at £25 plus service charge. The bridal suite is included for receptions with more than 50 guests. The couple's breakfast or champagne is included.

In the midlands and the south reception costs are significantly lower. The Prince of Wales Hotel in Athlone charges between £15 and £18 per person, with free accommodation for the couple, function-room hire, red carpet, complimentary champagne for the wedding party, menus and flowers. The Abbey Hotel in Roscommon offers similar prices.

Ballybunion Golf Hotel and The Listowel Arms have menus ranging from £12 to £20 with the entire range of previously mentioned extras included plus a voucher for two free dinners on the couple's anniversary.

Wedding attire can be another substantial expense. The average price of the bride's gown is £700-£920 while a veil may cost between £83 and £95, tiaras from £40-£100, shoes £50-£68 and a garter £6-£7. This totals between £879£1,190.

Bridesmaids' dresses range between £175-£206 and a flower-girl's dress may set you back £100 plus shoes for £20-£25.

Many bridal shops stock dresses in an extensive range of prices. Newly opened Michelle Charlesworth in Malahide has dresses from £120 to £1,130, veils from £60 and tiaras from £40-£180. Bridal departments in larger shops like Brown Thomas also offer something in a price range for everyone.

If you have your heart set on a designer dress, many shops now offer nearly new dresses at a fraction of their original price, says Ms Kim McGuire, author of the Irish Wedding Book and columnist with Irish Wed-ding and New Home magazine.

It is the norm for men to hire their outfits for the day. Black Tie shops in Dublin generally charge £50£70 depending on the chosen options. Other shops may have lower prices but a smaller selection so it is best to shop around.

The total average for wedding attire including the wedding party is between £1,189 and £1,491.

Once you have the venue and the attire, you need someone to record the event. Professional photographers charge £600-£750 for the privilege.

Dublin photographers' starting prices range from £695 to £965. Elsewhere, photographer's pricing structures are different so it is important to know exactly what you want in advance to develop an estimate for your budget. Lafayette Photography on Burgh Quay in Dublin charges £385 for the photographer plus £10 each for the first 20 prints and £8 each for subsequent prints. If you want 20 prints of your wedding day it will cost £585. A wedding album costs approximately £385 so the minimum price for 20 prints in an album is £970.

Photogenic in Glasthule charges £965 for an album with up to 30 prints in 10 X 8 format. The most expensive option is £1,595 including a handmade album with 60 different size prints and coverage beginning at the bride's house.

Frank Gavin in Dorset Street begins with a 40-photo, mixed-size album at £695 and ends with £2,225 for an 80-photo album, parents' albums and framed portraits.

Elsewhere, price are lower. In Navan, John Quirke charges £475 for 24 large-format photos. Limerick's Eamonn Andrews Photography begins with £450 for a 24-picture album but the average customer spends £600.

Price ranges in the north-west begin lower than on the east coast. Starting prices range from £350 for a 20-page album at Photofast in Sligo to £580 for a 24 page 10 [X] 8 album at Donohue Studios in Letterkenny.

Some photographers will not sell wedding prints without an album. Other photographers will provide wedding prints only. In this case, it is worth waiting to buy an album abroad or source a more reasonably priced one in Ireland. Photographers say archival quality albums and paper are best because they are low in acidity and will preserve the photographs for generations to come.

Professional photographers should tell you how the film, paper and developing processes they use affects the prints' over time. Although wedding photographs are expensive, they are meant to last a lifetime and should be treated as a long-term investment.