wedding money worries?

Question

why is it that people pay £1000'S to get married, then end up in dept, for it to end in a divorce a few years later, mine cost me about £600 12 years ago i had the church,dress, bridemaids and party, it was a wonderfull day, i never got in to any dept and im still happerly married.

Answer 1

Some people over exaggerate on their buying and spend to much for a wedding and when they get through the wedding they think about the money they wasted which can cause stress which can lead into a divorce.

Answer 2

The reason is that people think that the more money you spend, the better the day. It's as simple as that. People simply like to put on a good show, be elaborate, rise up and above the Joneses ..... and all for what? A second mortgage! No wonder so many marriages end in debt and divorce! Yes, it is all fine if you have the money and can afford to splash out ... the problem comes when you borrow to do it. Did I read somewhere that the average wedding costs £12000? I got married in 1980 at a cost of £180 and it was a great day .... most expensive was the photographer but the photos for memories were worth every penny. But as they say, you pays your money and you takes your choice!

Answer 3

I agree My wedding cost just under $1,000 and that was without having to rent the church or a hall, my church lets us use the buildings for weddings at no cost. The major expense that I had was the pictures and the backdrops and centerpieces. After it was all said and done, I realized that I would have rather used that money for a real nice honeymoon or something. Now that I am no longer married, I have said that at my next wedding, I will spend even less than that and just have a real simple reception, more of an open house really. When I hear of people spending $10,000 or more on their weddings it just makes me cringe. However, I don't know what the cost of a church, the minister and a reception hall would be, since I had none of those expenses.

The most important thing is the covenants and vows that the husband and wife are making. They should spend more time focused on that rather than the party after.

Answer 4

Yes, a lot of pluses & minuses here.The course of true love never runs smooth so they say,thank goodness,communication is important in any contract or whatever you wish to call it.My first marriage cost in those days the earth & yes it lasted less than a year the second we did on a shoestring budget & it lasted 10 the next one is a cross between the two but,the difference here is we actually love each other,& if it was possible we would probally stay as we are but, laws in certain countries require that you have to be married if you wish to do certain things i.e. start a family so to not upset the locals we are getting married in less than four weeks & the cost well it`s reasonable without breaking the bank in today`s climate & we both made the decisions on all that is taking place.

Answer 5

Most of the time it's because they want to be seen to be better than their neighbours. Marriage is about commitment, Weddings are about showing off!
I married 35 years ago, A registry Office, a few friends and family and a low key reception, Even then it was Cheap. We spent money on setting up our home instead! And YES we are still HAPPILY MARRIED!
If you start out married life in debt it puts so much strain on the relationship it's no wonder they fall apart so quickly!
If you have the money have the wedding you want but if it means going into debt find a cheaper alternative!

Answer 6

Here in the united states the wedding industry is one of the biggest and most expensive. I would say that a lot of people dont do the research they have to in order to get the best deals out there. My husband and I spend a little over 10k for our wedding, but it looked like we spend a lot more. I put a lot of thought into my wedding. There are a lot of wedding vendors who hike up prices so much that you do spend thousands without realizing what you have just done and it's too late to cancel. Money problems is one of the biggest issues that causes a divorce in couples. I know that my husband and I have had debt in the past, but we worked hard to pay it off and worked together as a team. Very important.

Answer 7

You're forgetting about inflation. Twelve years is still a difference in inflation.

I agree that weddings are becoming more and more expensive, but I do NOT agree that the more money you spend the less you will spend married.

My aunt was married for $200 nearly 30 years ago. Her marriage lasted 5 years. My cousin had a wedding costing over $20,000 and that was 18 years ago. Guess what? They are still together.

So you ask why?

You are talking about a society who focuses on weddings. Thankfully my wedding was carefully chosen and constructed, and it didn't cost us an arm and a leg. We were honest with ourselves and our budget.

There's a difference between overspending and budgetting.

Answer 8

I really don't know why people have to go all out for the expensive weddings either, I thought you were showing your love and commitment to each other and not having a fashion show to impress your friends, we are the same as you, we got married almost 22 years ago, my dress was beautiful and cost £50 in the sale, we were lucky enough to have good contributions from our moms and a friend of ours who's a master baker made our cake, all in all our wedding cost us the huge sum of £350, we saved it all ourselves and didn't get into debt over it either, starting out in marriage is hard enough without adding debt to it as well isn't it, we too are still very happily married, I married my hubby because I love and adore him and not for a fancy wedding.

Answer 9

Mine cost around the same 17 years ago. We had the church, nice outfit, wedding breakfast, evening event, stayed in hotel overnight with all 4 of our children and a honey moon in Devon for all of us. One of my sons re-used his page boys outfit from his dad's wedding. A friend of my ex-husbands who was a professional wedding photographer took our photographs in exchange for an invite for him and his wife - and we got the photos at cost! I just held a bible with a small spray of roses on a silk bookmark.

One of my son's went for the grand occasion, top hats and tails, but they were determined not to get into debt and saving for it was the making of them - after the wedding they continued to plow the same into saving for the deposit on a house.

But I think the best one was a friend of mine who was a stay at home mum with 4 children and a fiancee who didn't earn much. She hadn't long been going to church with the children when she was telling us that her dream was a church wedding as she hadn't married in church the first time around - but there was no way they could afford it. So a group of us came up with a cunning plan.

We asked the vicar for the hall for free for a reception and he not only agreed but didnt charge any fee for his services. We guided her to a charity shop for a dress, a friend put together some flowers for her, another friend made her a cake, the occasion was thrown open to anyone who wanted to come provided they brought food for the reception. Someone rigged up some music so we could dance and it was also all organised so quickly - it swept her off her feet.

She said what fantastic new friends she had found, she had everyone she wanted around her and a great day into the bargain - everyone who attended said they felt real joy being able to be party to laying on the whole event.

Answer 10

girl 12 years ago £600 was a lot of money. my wedding cost about £50 for the licence the taxi to the venue and the breakfast at a Wimpy