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Original poster

How much would you pay to go to a destination wedding?

189 replies

Ohyasss · 15/08/2023 19:51

Average income, 4 people (2dcs, dh and I) We avoid summer hols and normally steal time around half term and a few days into term. Only one dc is in primary other is nursery. Invited to a wedding smack bang school hols (next yr)

how much would you pay?

im currently balking at the cost as it’s double what we spend on our naice summer (not school hols).

OP posts:
Seeingadistance · 15/08/2023 20:34

Brefugee · 15/08/2023 19:52

Nothing. I would decline such an invitation.

Ditto.

Changedmymindtoday22 · 15/08/2023 20:37

Now that I have DC, I wouldn’t dream of going to a destination wedding. The reviews of one are always meh.
cold food at the wedding, too hot, bad accommodation, etc etc.
I definitely wouldn’t go if they only new each other 8 months. Send a nice gift and book yourself a trip you would actually enjoy

BungleandGeorge · 15/08/2023 20:39

You’ve booked somewhere else and don’t have enough budget for 2 holidays so
uts not really relevant. You don’t want to go you don’t need an excuse to decline

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Childcare & nursery Weddings
BeeBelle16 · 15/08/2023 20:39

Omg please share how you booked WDW for 4k it's always coming in at 10k+ for me and I'm a family of 3!!

In regards to destination wedding we have been to one before paid around 5k middle of summer holidays and similar kind of place you describe however we have also been invited to others and declined with no qualms, people who get married abroad know everyone invited won't come!

ManchesterLu · 15/08/2023 20:41

At the moment, we wouldn't go, as we just can't spare anything.
It would always have to be a decision of whether we could afford it. We wouldn't just go 'for the wedding' though, we'd make it our holiday for that year.

DahliaMacNamara · 15/08/2023 20:41

Nah, wouldn't go. Couldn't afford it, whoever was getting married. Anyone likely to invite me would know that already. I'm sure they wouldn't miss me that much, so I wouldn't be agonising over it.

Paq · 15/08/2023 20:43

I would also pay £0. Cannot abide the cheek of them.

WhisperingHi · 15/08/2023 20:44

Same as a previous poster. Before kids, I'd have spent up to £4k on a beautiful destination wedding (and have made a holiday around it).

Now, with kids, I honestly wouldn't go either unless it happened to fit our wants or if it was a family member (but even then, I'd likely just go for a few days).

Absolute max I'd spend for the family is £4k as that's probably a typical summer holiday cost for a family of 4.

Original poster
Ohyasss · 15/08/2023 20:45

BeeBelle16 · 15/08/2023 20:39

Omg please share how you booked WDW for 4k it's always coming in at 10k+ for me and I'm a family of 3!!

In regards to destination wedding we have been to one before paid around 5k middle of summer holidays and similar kind of place you describe however we have also been invited to others and declined with no qualms, people who get married abroad know everyone invited won't come!

I’ll PM you!

OP posts:
MrsKwazi · 15/08/2023 20:45

Have read all your posts - i’d politely decline and send a nice card and a bottle of champagne.

ItsNotRocketSalad · 15/08/2023 20:46

Exactly £0

WhisperingHi · 15/08/2023 20:48

What does WDW stand for?!

Kay286 · 15/08/2023 20:49

Ohyasss · 15/08/2023 20:45

I’ll PM you!

Show quote history

I’m wondering the same seems cheap . Can’t include tickets surely ?

Ohmylovejune · 15/08/2023 20:49

Only my kids and one of those is more likely to elope and the other remain unmarried as she hates being centre of attention, both would prefer a house deposit to a wedding, but he's a single child of a Mum who loves white weddings - suspect they'll avoid the confrontation by not going there!

Original poster
Ohyasss · 15/08/2023 20:49

Kay286 · 15/08/2023 20:49

I’m wondering the same seems cheap . Can’t include tickets surely ?

Show quote history

Of course it does :)

OP posts:
xLMCx · 15/08/2023 20:52

Depends on who it is and how close you are to them really. My best friend married her partner of 10 years in Mexico and there was absolutely no way I was going to miss that. £3k for me, hubby and 1.5 year old at the time. Everything was included and we didn't have to pay for a single thing including milk bottles for the little one. Was a big chunk out of the savings but 100% worth seeing her and her hubby so happy! My hubby and little one were also very happy with the pool, amenities and beach so it was a win win all round!

TotalDramarama · 15/08/2023 20:53

£0 here too! I don't go to destination weddings anymore as it was just getting too annoying and expensive. We went to a few. The last one was when we had an 18mo and there was a heatwave. It was hell on earth tbh. The bride and groom are usually so distracted by their big day that they don't really notice not-so-close friends being there or not, so don't imagine they're too bothered when I decline.

If a very close friend had their heart set on a destination wedding, I would go on my own. Same for a sibling. We don't have a lot of money spare and tend to spend about £600 on a UK cottage when we go on holiday, so there's no way I'd pay £5k for a holiday I hadn't even picked myself.

If we had a lot of money though, I'd go and have a lovely time, but it isn't realistic

LemonLymanDotCom · 15/08/2023 20:53

Maireas · 15/08/2023 20:24

Yes, I think if you're on your own, it's different. For a family, it must be a stretch.

100% this.
I went to NZ for a wedding. Not exactly destination as that was where the groom was from, but I went without hesitation as B&G were great friends and turned it into a 3 week holiday. But it was just me, no dependents & none back home. If I had to pay for 4 of us to go, it would have been a different matter probably.

Comefromaway · 15/08/2023 20:55

Nothing unless it was a sibling then I would probably go up to about £800. But I don’t have a passport even.

MolkosTeenageAngst · 15/08/2023 20:57

Unless I’m choosing the destination I wouldn’t see it as a destination wedding, it’s just an inconveniently located wedding. I wouldn’t want to spend much more than I would on attending a UK wedding and would take the extra money needed for flights out of what I would normally give as a gift. I wouldn’t go if the cost meant I had to forgo anything that I would enjoy more. I suppose only exception might be a sibling or my best friend.

SmirnoffIceIsNice · 15/08/2023 20:58

If my brother had had a destination wedding I'd probably have gone (depending on destination), but anyone else I wouldn't go. Don't have funds to go to abroad outside of annual holiday.

Polis · 15/08/2023 21:00

It depends on whether it is somewhere I want to go. A colleague invited me to her wedding in China and was actively planning to go until I realised that I couldn’t guarantee to get back in time for a family event.

Yetisrus29 · 15/08/2023 21:01

I went to two last year, my brother's and my best friend's I wouldn't have missed either. It really depends on who's getting married and what they mean to me. Both were small, intimate weddings.

soupmaker · 15/08/2023 21:05

Exactly £0. I absolutely love a wedding but no way would I spend £1000s on getting to a destination wedding. Not even for my best friend, let alone someone who's now more of a casual pal. I actually think it's the ultimate in selfish nonsense to expect people to attend a destination wedding unless it's all paid for by the people getting married.

InThisMultiverse · 15/08/2023 21:12

£100-150 on a gift. I’d typically spend less on a wedding gift but after listing the savings I’d be making on flights, airport parking, hotel, transfers/hire car, new clothes, eating out, etc. by not going to the destination wedding, I’d probably be feeling a bit flush.