Planning a wedding is an event in itself, but who pays for what? It's helpful to have a firm budget in place to keep spending on track. This is especially true as the cost of a wedding can be a financial burden for some, reaching an average of $33,000 in the United States in 2024. That's a $4,000 increase from 2023. Keep in mind that average costs for venues, caterers, planners, and enterꦦtainment will widely vary by location.

As you undertake 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:wedding planning, figuring out how you'll pay for 𝔉your wedding is an important part of keeping the event happy and stress-free. How you handle these discussions can shape future family relationships for a long time af𒁃terward. And of course, there's the effect on your budget during the first years of your marriage. Here's what you need to think about and what to do next.

What Traditional Wedding Etiquett♑e Says About Who Pays

The norm has been for the bride's family to cover wedding expenses. This tradition comes from the tradition of a dowry. This ancient custom, which dates back to the Roman Empire, was a gesture from the bride's family to offset the cost of her living expenses.

"The notion of the bride's family paying for the wedding evolved from the tradition of a dowry, where the bride's family transferred property or money to the husband or husband's family upon marriage," says , a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:certified financial planner (CFP) at Rea🌞l Life Planning in the greater New York a🥂rea.

Though this rule isn't set in stone, it's one that many couples have chosen to follow over the centuries. The groom's family, meanwhile, has traditionally picked up the tab for the rehearsal dinner, honeymoon, and/or alcohol for the reception. The groom himself may be expected to pay for a variety of expenses, including:

• Engagement and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:wedding rings
• Marriage license and officiant
• Groomsmen's gifts
• Wedding day gift for the bride
• Corsages, boutonnieres, and the bride's bouquet

This may be tradition, says Meyer, but the traditional model is evolving. "As couples modernize wedding planning and are getting married later after establishing careers, more of them are paying all—or a substantial portion—of the costs of their own weddings," she says. "Who pays for what is more flexible."

How to Divide Wedding Expenses

The sooner you discuss who pays for what for a wedding, the better. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Saving for a wedding takes time and some financial strategizing.

"My suggestion for engaged couples is to communicate early and discuss the details," says Christian Stewart, founder and lead financial coach. "Don't assume that anyone will pay for anything, even if they promised you something."

With that in mind, these tips can help you decide how best to split up wed✅ding costs.

Start With Your Budget

No matter who's funding the wedding, you need to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:have a budget in place as the first step, Stewart says. Creating your budget may mean prioritizing certain costs over others to make sure the total expense is realistic. A joint 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Brides-Investopedia wedding survey found that couples budget about $20,000 for a weddiꦜng, on 🉐average.

For example, if it's important to have a specific venue for the ceremony or reception, you may need to make a trade-off elsewhere in your budget, such as the flowers or decorations. Meyer sℱays couples should begin with a budget they can afford first, then approach their families about ꧑helping with some of the costs.

That way, if neither set of parents can or wants to help financially with wedding costs, the couple can still manage the expenses on their own withou🍒t sacrificing the most important elements of their wedding vision.

"Put together a clear budget with low, medium, and high options," Meyer says. "The low budget is what you can pay for yourselves as a couple without going broke or into significant debt. The medium option is a reasonable compromise and assumes some parental financial involvement. The high option is for when either/both sets of parents want to invite many of their own guests and are willing to contribute enough to cover the costs—and you’re willing to have that kind of wedding."

This brings up another good point: Couples who pay for their wedding have the most s꧅ay over the kind of wedding they have.

Determine What Is Reasonable

Having an 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:overall wedding budget in place for the wedding is an important step, but there's something else you need to do next. When you've established what your families will (or won't) contribute to the wedding 🦩costs, you need to decide how you as a couple will divvy up your share of the expenses.

This is where things can get trickier if one of you makes significantly more than the other—or one of you is working on 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:paying down a si💛zable amo🍌unt of debt. Stewart and her husband decided to split all of the costs as much as possible when they planned their wedding. Stewart pulled money from her savings account to reserve the venue, and her future husband worked overtime to contribute additional funds to a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:joint account 🦋they'd established for wedding expenses. According to the Brides-Investopedia wedding survey, 48% of those actively planning their weddings already share joint financial accounts.

But that type of sharing arrangement may not be ideal for you, so it's important to decide what constitutes an equitable split. A simple way to do this is to compare incomes. If you earn half of what your future spouse does, it might naturally make sense for them to contribute more money to the wedding.

Just make sure that you talk it through thoroughly to make sure you're both comfortable with the arrangement. You don't want to start off your marriage with any lingering resentment because the person who paid more for the wedding feels overburdened by it. In that scenario, Meyer and Stewart both agree that it's better to instead scale the wedding down to make it affordable for both of you.

The Brides-Investopedia wedding survey found that nearly nine out of 10 respondents said they've put off at least one major financial priority to pay for their wedding, such as 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:saving for a home, starting or grow🍌ing a family, and saving fo👍r retirement.

Are There Different Rules for Same-Sex Couples?

Prior year reports suggest that these couples may be more likely to handle their own wedding costs due toಞ a lack of financial support from their families. That can change the family aspect of planning the financing for a wedding, but when it comes to determining who shares costs as a couple, the guidelines are essentially the same.

LGBTQ+ couples can opt for a 50/50 split or divide expenses differently, based on their incomes, savings, and ability to pay. The things to cover include setting up a joint wedding savings account and discussing together whether to use loans or credit cards to pay.

The Bottom Line

Deciding who pays what for wedding expenses shouldn't be a source of stress. Working together as a couple to set your budget and discuss wedding costs with your respective families can help you find an arrangement that works for everyone. What you decide should reflect your personal and financial values. In many cases, cultural traditions and individual family traditions decide who pays for what when it comes to weddings.