Who stumps up for weddings??!
Who stumps up for weddings??
I'm getting married but my partner and I are not sure how to approach the icky subject of whether our parents want to help us out financially - what's the protocol here?
Answers:
It depends on the couple and their families. Some couples want to pay for the entire thing themselves and have complete control over events. Some parents may expect a say in the wedding plans if they contribute, you'd have to weigh up if it was worth it or not.
From what I can gather from friends and my own wedding, these days most engaged couples, if their parents can afford it, go thirds on the cost of the wedding with both sets of parents.
It's best to get this topic out of the way early so you can plan your budget around how much you will have to spend. Maybe a family meeting with either set of parents or an initial prompting in conversation will get the ball rolling.
The bride's family used to pay for most of the costs, but weddings are so expensive now that the couple getting married pays.
There's high society rules, and then there's regular people rules. HS rules get into bride's family pays for reception and bride's flowers, grooms family pays for rehersal dinner and boutennieres. It's involved! Do a search for wedding ettiquette and you'll find a breakdown. My family gave us a lump sum to work with and my husband's family paid for our reception food. It was the luck of the draw there, my family didn't have a lot to work with, so they gave us what they could and my husband's family lived where our wedding was going to be - so they handled the meal since we weren't there.