Who should pay for your wedding?
As you plan your wedding spend, you need the answer to a key question: who is going to pay for your wedding?
If it’s your deep-pocketed parents, your wedding spend may be higher than what you and your betrothed could afford if you’re paying for it alone.
On the other hand, if the two of you are older with well-established careers, you may be comfortable enough to enjoy a wedding spend without scrimping much.
The Knot surveyed 13,000 couples who got married last year to determine who paid for their weddings. Here is what they found out:
√ The bride’s parents paid for 44.5% of the weddings.
√ The bride and groom paid for the wedding themselves 41.1% of the time.
√ The groom’s parents paid the wedding 12.7% of the time.
√ Other persons paid for their wedding in 1.79% of these weddings.
Pros & Cons
There are pros and cons to having parents handle the wedding spend. On the pro side, they may have deeper pockets which allows you to more fully indulge your wedding dreams.
On the other hand, parents can then exercise more control over who gets invited. You’ve heard about these conflicts a dozen times. The daughter has to cut some of her friends from the guest list to accommodate Mom and Dad’s old friends and business associates.
As you plan your wedding spend, keep this in mind.
Traditional wedding protocols have evolved over the years as to whom should pay for your wedding. For example, here are items and services the bride and her family typically pay for:
- church/synagogue/ceremony location
- organist and musicians
- wedding gown, veil, accessories, trousseau
- flowers, bouquets, corsages for attendants
- photography and videography
- engagement party
- professional wedding services
- groom’s ring
- stationary
- transportation
Here are the items and services the groom and his family typically pay for:
- marriage license and officiant fee
- grooms attire
- bride’s bouquet
- boutonnieres for men
- corsages for mothers and grandmothers
- honeymoon
- rehearsal dinner
- DJ and/or band
- liquor
- bride’s rings
Miscellaneous expenses
And then there are some miscellaneous expenses others pay for such as:
√ your attendants pay for their own clothing and shoes
√ your maid or matron of honor hosts the bridal shower and bachelorette party
√ by the same token, the best man and groomsmen host the bachelor party
Who is responsible for your wedding spend? As you can see above, tradition and reality don’t always align. Your situation is unique, except for one single factor: entertainment makes the event. Don’t ever scrimp there!
And for dance floor-packing entertainment, DJ Delights is your go-to DJ entertainment company specializing in weddings. Learn more without obligation. Or give us a call at 1-800-331-3341. We love questions!