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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is a wedding day worth it?

163 replies

CallieCat19 · 25/10/2019 13:48

Hi,
Posting on here for traffic

Just wondering what people thoughts on their wedding day was really, is it worth the money?

Like most girls I’ve been imagining what my wedding would be like since I was little but now I’m older I’m wondering if it’s worth all the money? I’d feel so guilty spending thousands of pounds on a day when there’s so much more important things the money could go on. But then if I didn’t have a wedding day I think I would feel a bit sad because it’s what I always imagined.
Any thoughts?

OP posts:
KellyHall · 25/10/2019 23:54

It's always worth getting married, if that's what you both feel is right for you!

My first wedding was in a church, very traditional but not overly expensive as we were still quite young. Lots of family made things for it.

My second wedding was a smaller ceremony but cost more because dh and 8 of our friends/family all travelled abroad so we could marry on a warm beach. This one also included a two week holiday/honeymoon as most countries have a minimum residency period before you're allowed to get married. We then had a huge party/bbq in a friend's garden when we were back - we bought everything from the local market and budget supermarkets, friends lent us a big bbq to use so this wasn't too expensive either.

Knittedbear · 26/10/2019 00:01

Our wedding cost a few hundred pounds and I don't regret it at all.

Registry office, meal for 8 of us, night in a nice hotel. I don't feel any less married because we didn't have a big day. I wouldn't want to spend thousands on one day.

It's a personal choice, I'm sure plenty of people would tell you their wedding day was the best day of their life.

But then I've never been one of those people who dreamt about my wedding day in fact the whole idea stresses me out.

GrumpyHoonMain · 26/10/2019 00:08

Yes it is worth it.

RachelEllenR · 26/10/2019 00:09

Ours was worth it. Really was once in a lifetime and the memories are fantastic.

Wasabiprawns · 26/10/2019 00:24

We spent more on my ring than the wedding (3.5k for ring about. 500 for wedding ). Big events just aren’t us and being the centre of attention would be horrible for me. We had a great meal with close friends and had a lovely time. There are no rules, people think that much for a ring is disgusting but I love my ring and I think it was money well spent

MiniMum97 · 26/10/2019 01:10

I had a big expensive wedding having said I would never do that. It was amazing. One if the best days of my life. Definitely worth it.

WhatsInAName19 · 26/10/2019 08:26

We got married abroad with 10 or so close family guests. It cost us around 6k including a ten day holiday, definitely better than 25k for 12 hours!

Whereas I think having all our family and close friends there made the huge spend totally worthwhile. Couldn't think of anything worse than having to exclude people I care about and then essentially spending my honeymoon on holiday with my in-laws. Horses for courses 🤷🏽‍♀️

Noroof · 26/10/2019 08:30

We had a lovely small wedding...it cost 3k. And even now I think that something even less would have been nice... like a hotel and spa or a weekend away with just our parents and siblings
So glad I didn't spend thousands

Aozora13 · 26/10/2019 10:29

My wedding was brilliant. Cost around £12k but was in an amazing venue, great food and just a lovely, fun day with all our family and friends. It was a lot of money to spend on 1 day but my parents and MIL chipped in, we could afford it and we didn’t go overboard on extras (eg my entire outfit was

yellowallpaper · 26/10/2019 10:37

I opted for a quiet registry office wedding and a small party. Arranged in 10 days. Never regretted it. I hate all that stress and being the centre of attention. Horses for courses though. If you enjoy all that fuss and have a lovely day, then good for you. Hopefully rich parents too.

JustADancer · 14/06/2026 14:34

Mrsmememe · 25/10/2019 13:57

My first wedding (aged 23) cost over £25k. Parents paid. It lasted 3 years before now ex husband cheated. It was a nice day but now I think what I could have done with that money instead it makes me cringe.

I got married last year to the most amazing man, we went to a hotel with just the kids and our parents, ceremony, afternoon tea, 2 night stay with spa and dinners. Cost under £3k. I wouldn’t have wished for anything else.

This sounds so lovely.

Echobelly · 14/06/2026 14:53

We had a 180-guest wedding, bit different from most people these days as we're Jewish and our parents still paid for most of it. I somehow had no idea before we got married that most people paid most themselves these days, despite the fact I barely had any Jewish friends before I married, I just didn't know much about weddings.

As per Jewish tradition, a lot of the guest were our parents' friends but TBH as that's what we'd both grown up expecting, it's just normal and I honestly didn't mind seeing as parents were paying and I liked that we were confirming our commitment in front of a chain of people connected with us and our families. Would have been something smaller and less ambitious had we been paying ourselves, but I'm happy with what we had. The size was less stress that it being 2 hours from home, as DH was very set on a rural wedding (I'd have just had something in London were it just up to me!)

BackforGood · 14/06/2026 15:06

Z O M B I E T H R E A D

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