I’ve watched my fair share of “Rich Bride, Poor Bride” shows, and the overwhelming majority of guys are the cheap ones on the show, whereas the women tend to want to spend extravagantly for their special day.
Men, I totally understand why you’re so ‘cheap’ for a wedding!
If it makes any of you feel any better, as a woman, I have skipped this whole marriage + wedding thing and went straight to having a baby, which was what I really wanted and dreamed about in life, not some big day where I am stuffed into a big white poofy dress.
YOU HAVEN’T BEEN BRAINWASHED SINCE YOUNG
Disney movies targeted towards little girls tend to always center around romance, and there is no better film than Cinderella that embodies this, or basically any royal wedding that hits the papers.
Many a little girl has been swept up into this indoctrination from the time we first see a hint of pink, glitter, sparkles and designing our perfect wedding ring and dress.
I was not immune to this!
I remember drawing out a perfect white dress, designing rings.. bla bla bla.
I do not know what went wrong between the time I was 5, into big white dresses and unicorns to having skipped all of that and wanting to avoid all of it by the time I hit my mid-20s.
IT IS A LOT OF MONEY FOR A SINGLE DAY – around $30,000!
Average cost of a wedding in the U.S.: $28,082
…and it was $65,000 on average in New York.
Average cost of wedding in Canada: $23,330
Aside from buying a house, a car (where you actually get something tangible at the end), $30,000 for a memory is a lot of money.
WHERE DOES ALL THE MONEY GO FOR ONE DAY?
For me, I see that $30,000 as a hefty amount of money that could go to so many better things. I just can’t justify the cost of a wedding even to myself.
| CATEGORY | AMOUNT | PERCENTAGE |
| Attire & Accessories | $1,600 | 5.40% |
| Beauty & Spa | $130 | 0.44% |
| Entertainment | $1,300 | 4.38% |
| Flowers & Decorations | $1,800 | 6.07% |
| Gifts & Favors | $800 | 2.70% |
| Invitations | $800 | 2.70% |
| Jewelry | $4,500 | 15.18% |
| Photography & Video | $2,800 | 9.44% |
| Planner Consultant | $1,250 | 4.22% |
| Transportation | $400 | 1.35% |
| Venue, Catering & Rentals | $10,500 | 35.41% |
| Marriage License | $70 | 0.24% |
| Honeymoon | $3,700 | 12.48% |
| TOTAL | $29,650 |
And all that stuff above is considered necessary, by the way.
PARENTS ARE NO LONGER ON THE HOOK TO PAY
In the past, parents paid for all of this.
Then again, they may not have paid for a big bash or a party, they probably just went to the church, got married with whatever was available there as decoration and so on, and then had a simple dinner at a quiet venue, where your family members made the cake and provided the food.
If your parents were willing to pay for a wedding, of course you’d get married!! You’d get to keep all the money and gifts that come your way, but no cash went out from your pocket for the day.
When it’s you paying, it becomes a hard pill to swallow when you’re trying to start your life.
Maybe you want to buy a house, move to another city, buy a car, have kids.. it all costs money and then you have to also pay for the big day all on your own?
DOES ANYONE REALLY REMEMBER THEIR WEDDING DAY IN DETAIL, YEARS LATER?
If you ever listen to videos of people talking about what they spent on their wedding 10, 20, 30 years ago, many can’t even remember what cake they had, what the colours were, the invitations, the dress..
They honestly can’t remember a damn thing.
All they remember is what happened on the day — they got married — and any mishaps or things that were funny or awkward that happened.
Does anyone really remember anything else?
More to the point, does anyone really re-watch their $2000 wedding videos?
I can see looking at wedding photos once in a while, but for me it is akin to video taping the birth of children — who is going to watch that video again!?
(Yes, you can be 100% sure there will be no videotape that exists of any birthing going on in my world.)
HAVE THE BEST WEDDING EVER, BUT THINK ABOUT WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN THE END
All that said, it can be of great comfort to spend on a wedding because ultimately, it is an ‘experience’ akin to traveling where you spend a lot of money on a day that means a lot to you.
…. but all I am saying is to think hard about what you really want to get out of it in the end, and for me, that would be to be married at the end of the day and joining your life with someone else.
Anyway, it sounds odd but as a woman I am happy I skipped all of that.
I’m not against marriage or weddings, and I think it’s great that people are so happy when they do get married, engaged and have the best wedding in the world but I am just not one of those folks.
