In current time, Who pays what for a wedding?

Within reason is it split 50/50 or Brides pay for wedding reception groom rehearsal dinner and alcohol bill ? How is it hashed out happily! It seem like very awkward process where feelings can be hurt for a long time.

$50 to the Justice of the Peace in Vegas. In and out, 20 minute adventure.

Traditionally groom paid for ceremony, bride’s family the reception. I can’t think of a single couple I know that went this way. Except my parents.

This is an IMHO problem.

Generally you just want everyone to be on board early and treat it as a shared responsibility. With a good dose of “from each according to their ability”.

So much depends on culture, expectations, faith, age and so on.

There have been parents that offered their kids the option of a fabulous wedding or the down payment on a house. Focusses the mind in a big way. Nobody took the wedding.

IMHO weddings have become a vastly blown out problem with an unlimited variety of people looking to extract money from the occasion. It shouldn’t be so.

I think of late with non-teen brides. Both parties working. Maybe even cohabitation. The couple covers the biggest part. Parents can help or not. As needs must.

You romantic you.

Why would weddings be anything different than any other occasion in life?

When we got married, a long time ago, my in-laws gave us a budget. We did the same for our daughters. Go over, pay, go under, keep the difference. My younger daughter had 50 people at her wedding, the biggest wedding in 3 generations.

I believe the couple and their respective families should share the cost. There should also be a large and prominently placed donation box at the reception to help offset the cost of the honeymoon or divorce, whichever comes first.

Different people believe different things, but if the OP is asking about a consensus—what most people believe or expect or understand—I don’t think there is one nowadays, although there may be within specific (sub)cultures.

Actually there should be two. One labeled “honeymoon” and one labeled “divorce.” With envelopes for folks to attach their name to their donation. The honeymoon money won’t be spent. If the divorce happens within e.g. 3 years the divorce donees win all the money in the honeymoon box to be distributed pro-rata and vice versa if there’s no divorce.

Call it crowd-sourcing the over/under on it being a successful marriage. :grin:

More seriously, the best answer is

And at the same time a good dose of “If you want to be extravagant, do it with your own money, not somebody else’s.” Or seen from the other side, “There’s a big gap between how much more I can pay for and how much less I’m willing to pay for.”

I’d also point out that socio-economic status is an aspect of culture.

My daughter and her fiancé eloped to Las Vegas (due to COVID). Unbeknownst to her, I had $$ set aside for her wedding so I sent her a card and check. She was surprised and then shocked to get a second card/check from my gf.

By not having a traditional wedding, they were able to buy their first house.

Traditionally in the US, and still true among a certain subset of the population is:

  1. Bride’s parents pay for the ceremony and the reception including venue, flowers, wedding dress, photographer, food, alcohol, entertainment, limo, bridesmaids dresses, etc. with the exception of the groom paying for the groomsmen’s tuxes, etc.

  2. Groom’s parents pay for the rehearsal dinner, including venue, food, drinks, flowers if any, etc.

  3. Groom pays for the honeymoon and the rings

But I believe things are much more fluid in these modern times.

My wife and I paid for everything for our son and daughter-in-law’s wedding as her parents said they weren’t paying for anything, even though they showed up and enjoyed themselves immensely.

My wife’s parents gave her a budget and I matched it and my wife planned everything for our own wedding.

I paid for both. The latter was more expensive than the former, even when including the wedding costs.

We paid for it all ourselves, we’re well established in our careers. My folks wanted to contribute so they took care of the rehearsal dinner.

In my case, I was married at the courthouse in front of the judge both times. Couldn’t see the point of it all(for me).

For my kids, well the two who went down the family path, I paid for nice, but not extravagant ring sets. One boy is now divorced and the other couple have elected living together in bliss instead of marriage.

but how are guests going to interpret this? Am I attending a “friend/family” wedding or paying for my meal like a restaurant?