Part of the issue is that the wedding market it just outrageous. The average cost of a wedding or attending one is out of control. The industry has done a good job marketing it. Social media "keeping up with the joneses" or comparisons is not helping either.
It adds yet another piece of pressure so I'm not surprised that less people are jumping head first into it.
"The economic contract of marriage has shifted, and now young people are looking for financial stability before the wedding"
This is just an excuse. Nobody ever had financial stability before a wedding in the past. Everyone I know had parents and grandparents that were dirt poor when they got married (including my own).
I've been hearing about financial woes since 2000. I remember in 2005, people were complaining about how impossible it was for a single person to get an apartment. I got one this year on a below-average salary in a nice city.
In 2015, I remember hearing it was impossible to buy a house by anyone that isn't a boomer. I bought a house later this year (I'm not a boomer).
Even now, I keep hearing about people sending 900 resumes out (which doesn't make sense, if you are only looking for jobs in your industry) and only receiving a few call backs. I was looking for extra work earlier in the year and I sent out 20 resumes and got 10 call backs.
I just got done paying for my wedding. It was 3 years ago. Was the second one, first one was during Covid and we just went to a beach in pt. Reyes and did it for free. Having done the two, one for free w/ close friends, one w/ catering and a hotel and everything that I paid 60k for… don’t waste your money. Unless this is literally so disposable you think of the money like pocket change, it’s not worth it. My favorite photos are the beach wedding, my memories are the beach wedding. We had more fun, it was unscripted and spontaneous, I had more time with my favorite people, and I had more time with my wife to enjoy it.
If I could go back, I would save the 60k and just invest it in our home, our retirement, our savings. You don’t need a lavish party to show off, your friends don’t care. You won’t care. Skip it
My wife was a wedding coordinator for many years and we were both aghast at how anything dubbed "wedding" was magically 10x normal cost. I used to joke that wedding water would be next. Then some crafty bastard ran with the idea and started selling bottled water labeled for the events! I can't complain my joke turned into someone's side hustle but on the other hand we eloped and I don't regret it.
Saw a friend's recent wedding video. It appears she hired a professional documentary film crew? Like there were multiple angles of the same events, Hollywood level production values etc.
It also seemed like she went down a checklist of "What to do in your wedding": the newlywed's funny walkout dance, throwing the bouquet, coastal scenery in the background.
The effect was to smack you over the head with "either her or his family is rich". Maybe that was the intended message?
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[ 4.4 ms ] story [ 29.6 ms ] threadIt adds yet another piece of pressure so I'm not surprised that less people are jumping head first into it.
This is just an excuse. Nobody ever had financial stability before a wedding in the past. Everyone I know had parents and grandparents that were dirt poor when they got married (including my own).
I've been hearing about financial woes since 2000. I remember in 2005, people were complaining about how impossible it was for a single person to get an apartment. I got one this year on a below-average salary in a nice city.
In 2015, I remember hearing it was impossible to buy a house by anyone that isn't a boomer. I bought a house later this year (I'm not a boomer).
Even now, I keep hearing about people sending 900 resumes out (which doesn't make sense, if you are only looking for jobs in your industry) and only receiving a few call backs. I was looking for extra work earlier in the year and I sent out 20 resumes and got 10 call backs.
If I could go back, I would save the 60k and just invest it in our home, our retirement, our savings. You don’t need a lavish party to show off, your friends don’t care. You won’t care. Skip it
It also seemed like she went down a checklist of "What to do in your wedding": the newlywed's funny walkout dance, throwing the bouquet, coastal scenery in the background.
The effect was to smack you over the head with "either her or his family is rich". Maybe that was the intended message?
And possibly relevant: she shared it on LinkedIn.
Or they took out a 60k to 200k loan for a party