Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Weddings

Chat to other Mumsnetters on our Wedding forum.

Would you expect someone else to pay for your wedding ?

42 replies

Starlightexpress1 · 17/08/2020 21:29

How did you pay for your wedding ? When you got engaged did you assume that family members would be helping out or assisting with costs ? Or did you just think you would have to save and pay for the whole lot as a couple ?

OP posts:
HoldUpALightFprMe · 07/09/2020 08:52

We are paying for ours, my parents paid for my dress and we are sort of assuming a sum of money from his parents but certainly not expecting it or relying on it!

ApolloandDaphne · 07/09/2020 08:54

My parents paid for our wedding but it was in 1985 and it was pretty much expected they would pay. They gave us £1000 which pretty much paid for everything except my dress so my DM added extra for that (£165). My PIL paid for all the flowers and gave us a cash gift which we used to furnish our new home.

We saved money for our DDs weddings however DD1 has opted to have money now for a house deposit rather than a wedding which seems sensible. She and her DP will pay for their own wedding if they choose to get married in the future. DD2 is not anywhere near thinking about wedding or houses!

Hailtomyteeth · 07/09/2020 08:58

Dd married immediately after graduating, so I paid. If they'd been older, working, and living together for years I'd have paid for something, the dress, the cake, whatever. To be fair, the wedding came in under budget and was probably the best financial investment I've ever made!

RatInADollhouse · 07/09/2020 09:05

I’m American so by tradition my parents paid the whole thing, except that DH’s parents paid for the rehearsal dinner. It was actually a lot more extravagant than I would have done. DH and I absolutely loved it but it was a lot of money and we could maybe have used it for things like fixing up our house and paying down our student debt. But my mum didn’t get to have a big wedding and she had been waiting years to plan mine. It was my parents’ money to spend and they could afford it. All these years later DH and I have ended up alright so no complaints.

Jackparlabane · 07/09/2020 09:18

We were planning to pay, found venue and all that we could afford.
Then my parents offered our dream venue and catering, swearing blind they wouldn't interfere. So we leapt at the chance, keeping our place for the evening.

We should have just said no (or asked for the money and no other involvement, which would have been the same thing). Way too much stress. It was beautiful, but my best memories are of the pub in the evening.

user1493413286 · 07/09/2020 09:25

I was hopeful our parents would contribute something although I didn’t expect it and they gave far more than I expected

RoseTintedAtuin · 07/09/2020 09:34

We paid for it but my DM paid for my wedding dress

Okki · 07/09/2020 09:52

My parents paid for my dress and a third of the wedding, we paid a third and DH's parents paid a third. We had an agreed budget beforehand which we didn't go over. My Dad was expecting to pay for the whole thing as that was the 'done' thing. Think he was glad he didn't have to 😁

Elbels · 08/09/2020 09:43

I assumed we'd be paying for it all, turns out my parents have been saving for both my sister and my weddings for years. I would never expect them to do so but I'm so lucky that they are. My PiL haven't offered anything but did pay for part of my BiL's wedding.

Honeyroar · 08/09/2020 09:50

My mum bought my dress and my dad paid for the daytime reception (which was only for 25 people, so a few hundred). Other than that we paid for everything. It was a fairly low key wedding and we spent about £5k all in all. I think it’s wrong to expect parents to pay in this day and age.

Toddlerteaplease · 09/09/2020 17:15

My parents are paying for my sisters and said they will do the same for mine.
Plus also paying for my accommodation and outfit.

user1487194234 · 13/09/2020 21:51

We fully expected to pay for our wedding but our parents wouldn't hear of it and paid for it
They didn't interfere at all ,and it was a great day
We ended up with an amazing honeymoon xSmile

Nesski · 21/11/2020 08:30

So I come from a Chinese background and traditionally it's the groom's parents that pay for everything so I didn't get offered anything from my parents, my brother's would have theirs paid for in full; but that's because it's all for show to invite every man and his dog in the village to celebrate the wedding of their son.

We paid for it as we knew that we would control all aspects of the wedding (who comes) and the pre-wedding dinner; we could afford it anyway. My mum would have still invited all her friends as traditionally the groom should allocate X amount of spaces for the bride's family/guests. It's also tradition for the groom's family to give a dowry to the bride's family, I stopped that conversation when it was first brought up and told my parents that I am not a pig being sold at a market Grin

In the end, my parents gave us their in the form of cash (3% total) as well as jewelry and his parents are not wealthy so no expectations at all, they still gave us some money which really annoyed us so we are finding ways to gradually sneak it back to their house!

After many arguments of gender inequality (to which there are many in my family) my sister is getting a 10k cash contribution from my parents and she is accepting in spite of their views Smile and her other half the same (because his parents want and can afford to).

KittenCalledBob · 21/11/2020 08:35

My parents gave us a substantial amount and my PILs also contributed. DH and I paid for the rest. We didn't expect family help but we were very happy and grateful to accept it!

We'll be hoping to help our DC with theirs when/if the time comes.

ThatIsNotMyUsername · 21/11/2020 08:38

Absolutely not. But dad paid the bill (my mum and sister were doing the organising as we were living at the other end of the country). Then he gave us an envelope of cash as we went on our honeymoon.

MsSquiz · 21/11/2020 08:40

We didn't expect anyone to pay or even contribute. But both PIL and my DM offered to contribute the same amount, so they each paid a third, and we paid a third

TheDetectiveBadge · 21/11/2020 08:54

No. We expected to pay for our wedding ourselves, and we did. We did get money as gifts from a lot of people, a couple of whom were very generous, and we used that to book a honeymoon.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page