One in three say they can't afford to get married as cost rises to £27,000

[twiddler]

Cost a cousin $50k and he doesn't regret it. He brought together a fractured family of about 100 including children and now we're planning a summer reunion. I'd do it too, but I'd suspect that being able to make 400 guests all feel at home would be a tiresome task since our personalities are so different. So, it depends on what it's worth to you. I see no reason to bash the people in the survey for being financially responsible enough to realize that they can't afford their dreams.

[Stormspark]

So they can afford to get married, but they can't afford to have an extravagant wedding ceremony. I don't see a reason to care.

This. The amount of money people pay for weddings is ridiculous. My sister paid over 50k for hers. When my ex and I got married, it cost about $100 (getting licenses, etc, and we picked up some burgers and hot dogs to cook on the grill in the back yard and had a few friends over).

[Symphonic]

more like one in three blame money as a reason to not get married, when really they just don't want to get married (because you don't even HAVE to have a venue to get married) My wife and I had a reception and fed all our guests dinner, and had the place from 2 PM to 10 PM, and we didn't exceed 4,000 dollars for dress, flowers, pictures, dinner for everyone... But we didn't have alcohol or anything... I think that's what makes it cost so much for other people.

[wheresmywoft]

I think it definitely has something to do with culture.

Mine cost more than the quoted average.

Several hundred people attended from around the world. Great chance to bring the families together. And to see people from far off places that we wouldn't be able to visit for some time due to us needing to make the rounds to various countries to pay respects to the grandparents.

At the end of the day, the wedding was covered by the gifts given.

And the only real cost to me and the missus was the months spent planning.

[Jotaux]

Just elope, go on a cruise, and then have the captain marry you. You can go on an 8 day carribbean cruise for $1,200CAD for 2 people.


My cousin wants to spend 100k on her wedding which I think is crazy. Think about how much farther ahead you can be in life with a 100k down payment on a house.

[Ornerybear]

this is because people are doing it wrong. People need to learn to operate within their budget and have realistic expectations.

Then again that requires creativity and critical thinking and most people dont have any...

also i think i paid $20 in clerk fees for my marriage license. so really thats all it costs.

[Cosmic Janitor]

My cousin wants to spend 100k on her wedding which I think is crazy. Think about how much farther ahead you can be in life with a 100k down payment on a house.

What a waste of money. Given the average length of marriage these days your cousin could probably have 1 high class prostite a week for 4 years. :P

Jokes aside, I'd have to be filthy rich to spend even half of that on a party that most people don't even want to attend in the first place. Even if it was pocket change the disconnect betwen value/money is just so vast, well I hope he is more than filthy rich .

[Jotaux]

What a waste of money. Given the average length of marriage these days your cousin could probably have 1 high class prostite a week for 4 years. :P

Jokes aside, I'd have to be filthy rich to spend even half of that on a party that most people don't even want to attend in the first place. Even if it was pocket change the disconnect betwen value/money is just so vast, well I hope he is more than filthy rich .

Yeah, I think its ridiculous. She wants a traditional indian wedding in a temple and everything (these things are like a week long party) even though I don't think she has ever set foot in a temple. Hell, we went to a christian sunday school when I was younger.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Yeah, I think its ridiculous. She wants a traditional indian wedding in a temple and everything (these things are like a week long party) even though I don't think she has ever set foot in a temple. Hell, we went to a christian sunday school when I was younger.

Is she at least of indian descent? Otherwise that is like all the red flags in the world rising to me, because that sounds like his future weekends will be spend with esotheric bongo-drumming courses with her favorite shaman .

[TITAN308]

Article title is bullshit as worded.

10 years ago me and my wife paid I think $50 for a marriage license at the local county court house. Our wedding consisted of a large dinner party. I think total out of pocket expense was about $200, including the license.

Title should be labeled, "People who are unable to manage their money and spend realistically based on their income can't afford to get married."

[Jotaux]

Is she at least of indian descent? Otherwise that is like all the red flags in the world rising to me, because that sounds like his future weekends will be spend with esotheric bongo-drumming courses with her favorite shaman .

Yeah, my dad's side of the family is all from India. She was born and grew up here though and like I said we went to sunday school together. I didn't last long there, asked too many questions.

[Jetstream]

Time for a tradition shift!

Ideal wedding in my estimation: Private thing to get the legal shite done, small catered party for friends that we don't tell the caterers is a wedding so they don't gouge :P

$27000? Try a few hundred!

Edit: oh and that tens-of-thousands-of-dollars pricetag? That's the down payment on a house, people. Y'know, if you're smart.

- - - Updated - - -

To be fair, part of the original reason for that was that if you can't set aside 2 months of income, you probably aren't financially stable enough to be getting married.

No. It wasn't. The original reason for 2 months salary is the DeBeers cartel deciding it'd like to get more money out of consumers, so they made that an ad campaign.

The engagement ring itself was an uncommon tradition until the 30s. This is all DeBeers marketing.

[Fahrenheit]

My wife's and my wedding cost about $35k (honeymoon was about $6k) about 9 years ago. I would have rather gone cheaper, but she wanted the full shebang. So 27 seems about normal.

[Jetstream]

I gotta ask, are you not the OP?

As a note: OP means "original post" as well as "original poster."

[Lenonis]

My bad, I should have specified some more. It was a court house wedding with the celebration at my in-laws' house which reduced the cost by quite a bit. Also in Eastern Europe, so I imagine things in general are less expensive than America (rings, food, drinks etc)

Ahhhh, it makes a lot more sense now. Good for you!

[Deleted]

I love how Tennisace keeps jumping opinions

[Rudkobing]

One in three statistics are made up.

[Tennis]

£500, for what is supposed to be a one off event, isn't all that difficult to afford for most couples in Britain. It equates to less than 1% of two combined average salaries.

Fake thread title.

The article brings up the figure of 27 K. A lot more than the 500 you are mentioning.

[Theodarzna]

Time for a tradition shift!

Ideal wedding in my estimation: Private thing to get the legal shite done, small catered party for friends that we don't tell the caterers is a wedding so they don't gouge :P

$27000? Try a few hundred!

Edit: oh and that tens-of-thousands-of-dollars pricetag? That's the down payment on a house, people. Y'know, if you're smart.

No. It wasn't. The original reason for 2 months salary is the DeBeers cartel deciding it'd like to get more money out of consumers, so they made that an ad campaign.

The engagement ring itself was an uncommon tradition until the 30s. This is all DeBeers marketing.

Me and my fiancee are getting married in a forest clearing, with about 40 people invited to attend and an outdoor bonfire party held afterwards. He gave me a fairly inexpensive silver ring with peridot in it and I gave him the same. So far I see no reason why people spend more than 1000 dollars on a wedding.

[Tennis]

I've been with the same guy for 12 years, we haven't married for 1 reason, insurance. We live in the U.S. and our combined income would take mine away, leaving me no way to pay for my expensive meds. We are in that weird in-between.

That's pretty disturbing. He could basically just pack up and leave tomorrow and you'd have nothing to show for your relationship. Marriage is the apex of love.