Weddings .......

Weddings are big business now and there is a lot of pressure from those businesses to make the couple feel they have to do everything that is available.
The best wedding I've been to was my son's second one - very much DIY with everyone chipping in to help and provide food and garden flowers - and lots of decorations second hand from Facebook which were promptly resold afterwards

I agree - sometimes it is the simplest weddings which are actually the most enjoyable. I think nowadays so much of it is all for show - for social media - and some couples have forgotten that it's not all about the 'big day'.

There was a recent thread on there about how much people were expecting as monetary presents. That was an eye opener, with people stating they felt £150+ per person to be the minimum!

My DS friend had an abroad stag do which cost a fortune. The wedding was also abroad and was a 3 day event with a dress code for each day. Fortunately my son has a dinner suit, but lots of his friends didn’t and so had that as an added expense. Travel from the airport to the villa required car hire and all drinks had to be purchased from the venue. DS said it cost him a fortune. Weddings now are all about instagram, not joyous occasions.

I know friends who have children who have had these massive weddings.
Two have split up after only months & are still paying off their weddings.
One couple has had a huge, expensive wedding but they rent!
Each to their own I suppose!

DGS2 due to marry next year, not a particularly big wedding but nothing else is talked about, I reckon we shall all be exhausted before we get there! DH and I married in 3 months from engagement, so glad we did

Dontcallmelove

There was a recent thread on there about how much people were expecting as monetary presents. That was an eye opener, with people stating they felt £150+ per person to be the minimum!

My DS friend had an abroad stag do which cost a fortune. The wedding was also abroad and was a 3 day event with a dress code for each day. Fortunately my son has a dinner suit, but lots of his friends didn’t and so had that as an added expense. Travel from the airport to the villa required car hire and all drinks had to be purchased from the venue. DS said it cost him a fortune. Weddings now are all about instagram, not joyous occasions.

I dont think it’s fair to expect friends to fork out for these expensive dos. If they are somewhat involved with the wedding then they are going to feel the pressure to attend these stag & hen dos.

It is sometimes said that the more extravagant the wedding, the sooner the couple will split up.

I find it odd that people prioritise spending on a wedding rather than on a home.

I’m very much in the each to their own camp.

This thread, often re-occurring will bring the usual comments of wasting money etc, but in reality, most of us here were probably married in the ‘70’s, when even a lavish wedding was quite simple and low cost, compared to today’s hospitality. By the way, mine was modest - registry office, followed by a meal at a local Hotel for 30, from where we left for a 3 night honeymoon in Windermere.
I know couples who have had simple weddings and taken cash from their parents instead. Other parents have paid out thousands for lavish weddings, as that’s what the couple wanted. DD1 and her then fiancé wanted to pay for her second wedding themselves, which we respected, but did give them a decent sum as a wedding gift. DD2’s out laws insisted on sharing the cost of that wedding, which meant we could also include the cost of their honeymoon in Malta.

We might have our options, but in reality, it’s not our choice?