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

[Tennis]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/b...ts-27-000.html

The spiraling cost of a wedding is putting many people off getting married and new research suggests that one in six couples have decided not to because it's too expensive.

This proportion rose to one in three for younger couples, those aged 18 to 24 - the so called 'millennials'.

The cost of getting married in a registry office or church is typically not more than £500, but when you add in the extra costs of the wedding day including the venue, transport, catering and outfits, the average cost is now £27,000, according to the wedding planning website Bridebook.


Along with cost, there are other reasons given for shunning marriage and the wedding day and in a survey from travel company The Big Domain. Of those who said they would not get married, 44 per cent said it was because they didn't believe in marriage while 33 per cent said it was overrated.

The company asked 2,000 people their views on getting married and the costs of a wedding.

When asked what would cost the most on the wedding day, 43 per cent chose the venue, 40 per cent the catering, 35 per cent the honeymoon and 28 per cent the wedding dress.

The research also showed that 60 per cent of couples expected to pay for the wedding day themselves while 30 per cent expected the bride’s parents to pay and 18 per cent thought the groom’s parents should pay for it.

Of those asked, the average amount people thought their wedding guests should spend on gifts was £24 per person.

A quarter said they thought people should spend £20 per person while 26 per cent said they didn’t want their guests to spend any money on the wedding presents.

Ouch! How are couples who are a few years removed from university supposed to afford this? While paying off student loans and providing for appropriate accomodation.

[Puupi]

Getting married =/= wedding.

When the idiots figure that out, the problem stops existing.

[Deleted]

What you see is people saying they can't afford to get married. What I think is happening the women were asked and they weren't the types to consider an ascetic private ceremony with subsequent private events that can be performed on the cheap with reasonable amount of community help.

[Rennadrel]

If you spend that much on a god damn wedding, you deserve to be poor.

[Tennis]

Getting married =/= wedding.

When the idiots figure that out, the problem stops existing.

That doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. I can't believe how much some of these people are spending. For the banquet hall, the professional photographer, the DJ, the food, the cake, the invitations etc etc

[bladeXcrasher]

Oh the outrage, what will we do to fix this!?!?

[Captain N]

Nothing to see here. People can get married if they so choose, but they're not going to be able to afford the big wedding portrayed in movies.

[Mad_Murdock]

Ouch! How are couples who are a few years removed from university supposed to afford this? While paying off student loans and providing for appropriate accomodation.

I make a pretty good salary. When I went to get married, I gave the wife a budget of 12K to include her ring. You get the wedding you can afford, not the wedding someone in the wedding industry says you are supposed to have. Weddings are a luxury item not a life necessity. This is just silly first world problem, people have invented for themselves.

That doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. I can't believe how much some of these people are spending. For the banquet hall, the professional photographer, the DJ, the food, the cake, the invitations etc etc

The Jewelery industry has convinced people they need to spend "at least" two months salary for a ring. A Co-worker, spent $23K on a stupid ring, because he wanted to show her she was worth more than the basic recommendation

[Spectral]

My wedding cost a couple hundred bucks for a license and officiant. I think my wife might have spent about $40-50 on a dress. I suppose we spent like $5K on her ring, which isn't trivial, but that wasn't really necessary.

If people can't afford the big bucks, it really doesn't hurt anything to go cheap. If they can afford the big bucks, what's it to me?

[Tennis]

Oh the outrage, what will we do to fix this!?!?

You tell me bud. Are you encouraging this mindset or speaking out against it?

[Deleted]

Change your title, newspaper, the article is about wedding costs, not marriage.

[Elim Garak]

Weddings are so last millennium. Marriage is a social contract for financial benefits. Weddings have nothing to do with it. IF you want the benifits - go register. If you want a wedding with that then go buy one. Can't afford? Fuck you.

[Deleted]

I make a pretty good salary. When I went to get married, I gave the wife a budget of 12K to include her ring. You get the wedding you can afford, not the wedding someone in the wedding industry says you are supposed to have. Weddings are a luxury item not a life necessity. This is just silly first world problem, people have invented for themselves.

Pretty much this. Me and my girlfriend prefer a small wedding and invest the rest of the money on our house and a special honeymoon.

[Lenonis]

How stupid. If you can't afford a wedding then just get the paperwork done and have the ceremony when you can afford it.

Or better yet, use your brain and figure out how to have one for cheaper. I had two friends get married who were far from wealthy and they leaned on their friends to help, had a roof top wedding at an artist studio that was very modest. And you know what? Everyone had a blast and said it was an amazing wedding.

I went to another wedding that cost six figures. There was an ice sculpture of the couple. 11 piece band, food galore. They got divorced 10 years later -- and it would have been sooner but she was worried about how much the family paid for the wedding.

[Tennis]

Weddings are so last millennium. Marriage is a social contract for financial benefits. Weddings have nothing to do with it. IF you want the benifits - go register. If you want a wedding with that then go buy one. Can't afford? Fuck you.

So last millennium to you maybe but most successful people get married. Deal with it.

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Change your title, newspaper, the article is about wedding costs, not marriage.

True but it's not like that will fit in the title.

[Celista]

How much money a couple spends on a wedding is for me a good indicator of narcissistic traits and/or lacking cognitive skills. I don't care if their parents said that they'll pay for it all or whether or not the couple can afford it, I can afford to buy 10k worth of flamingo shit but that doesn't make it a good investment. You don't need to spend a ton of money to have a wedding where all your friends and family can attend.

The worst part is that you're socially coerced into spending money on friend's weddings...destination/vacation weddings are so horrendously expensive for guests, who have to buy presents for the bride and groom on top of airfare/hotel/etc. The more friends you have, the more expensive this gets.

With a 50% overall divorce rate you can have a nice cheap wedding on the beach or a state park somewhere and have some lasting memories.

[Jonnusthegreat]

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.

Basically the end of the thread.

[Chrno]

Getting married in holland costs like 400euro. On some days it's even free (here it's on a wednesday, gues the day i got married lol !!)

I then celebrated my wedding on a friday and it costed us arround 10k ... it kinda depends how you do things ...

[Spectral]

I went to another wedding that cost six figures. There was an ice sculpture of the couple. 11 piece band, food galore. They got divorced 10 years later -- and it would have been sooner but she was worried about how much the family paid for the wedding.

This is pretty unsurprising. Maybe I'm an asshole, but when I see things like that, all I can think is, "boy, these people sure are trying super hard to show everyone how in love they are". My experience is that people that are ostentatious in their affection generally aren't as stable of people.

[ro9ue]

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.

Only took the 2nd post to totally destroy the OP.