Fact or Crap: $592 avg cost to ATTEND a wedding?!

theartistformerlyknownas

Did ya'll see this one?

Tying the Knot Loosens Wallets

Average cost for guests to attend surges to $592, up 75% from two years ago

http://about.americanexpress.com/news/pr/2014/tying-knot-loosens-wallets.aspx

Seems like absolute malarkey to me! That would mean you AND your SO bought an entirely new outfit for every single wedding, and airfare and hotel for every single wedding. That's crazy.

PS a friend of mine posted this on FB, apologizing in advance to the wedding guests at his wedding this summer, which is really a PPD since he married his baby momma before the lil nugget was born LAST summer... so of course Snarky Lolo had to comment "I thought you already got married." Teehee.

manateehugger

I can't get your link to work, but anyway:

If it's a wedding I have to travel to, that sounds a little low even. Getting two domestic round trip plane tickets for $400 over a weekend would be a steal; tack on hotel rooms, gifts, meals, cab rides, and yeah, it adds up very quickly. 

I can't see the article, but keep in mind, this is an average, not a median, so the data they are using could be very skewed. 

smalfrie19

I have NEVER purchased a new outfit to got to a wedding. I pull something out of my closet.

afox007

The last wedding FI and I attended ended up costing us MAYBE $300 including the gift. That is with me including gas, motel room, food on the drive, and me needing a new dress since I had nothing to wear. 

The wedding before that I spent maybe $100 bucks since it was just gas and a gift. I think that average has to do with the increase in DWs. 

phira

It really, REALLY depends. It recently cost us about $400 (total, between two of us) to attend a wedding because we had to rent a car, stay at a hotel, and buy a gift (and I bought a dress). It's going to cost us about $1000 ($500 each) to attend my cousin's wedding this fall because we have to pay for a flight, a rental car, and multiple nights at a hotel (and a gift).

However, for another cousin's wedding, we're basically paying for the gift and, like, a cab ride home afterwards, so that's easily $100 tops.

theartistformerlyknownas

PDKH said:

I can't get your link to work, but anyway:

If it's a wedding I have to travel to, that sounds a little low even. Getting two domestic round trip plane tickets for $400 over a weekend would be a steal; tack on hotel rooms, gifts, meals, cab rides, and yeah, it adds up very quickly. 

I can't see the article, but keep in mind, this is an average, not a median, so the data they are using could be very skewed. 

It's per person, not per couple. The travel and accommodations portion was $308 each, so $616 per couple makes it a little more do-able. The tickets for my friend's wedding in CO were $200-something apiece.

I know - I work in analytics - but STILL. Maybe I'm not realizing how many weddings are DWs nowadays to jack the average up by that much? Still seems crazy to me. The vast majority of my guests will be in town, so they'll be spending at most $20 or so on gas and a $99 hotel room.

I tried editing the link; does it work now?

lyndausvi

Sounds about right to me.   

People do not live in their hometowns as much anymore, so there are often OOT guests.

Even if you do live in your hometown  DW are on the rise.  Making everyone travel.

Add it an outfit here and there, shower gift, wedding gift.  Yeah, I can see that.

Some regions and/or social groups will be less, others higher.   I've spent over $5K to attend a wedding before.   I have one in the fall that will be close to that number also.

jenna8984

I have only been to one destination wedding. It was free because we had a trip booked then a medical emergency happened and we had to cancel. Since we had trip insurance (always recommend) we got all our money back and used it to attend the DW. Otherwise we would not have gone.

All the local weddings we attend are about $10 in gas and $75 in gift. I have so many dresses and never anywhere to wear them so I love the chance to pull something out of my closet.

Swazzle

Every wedding I've ever attended has been at least an hour from where I live but I've never needed airfare there. H and I almost always get a hotel room for the night. I don't usually have to buy something new to wear. When you add up a shower gift, wedding gift, and hotel room, I'd say we spend about $500-$600 for the two of us to attend a wedding, even without needing flights. For reference, I live in NJ. 

manateehugger

lolo883 said:

PDKH said:

I can't get your link to work, but anyway:

If it's a wedding I have to travel to, that sounds a little low even. Getting two domestic round trip plane tickets for $400 over a weekend would be a steal; tack on hotel rooms, gifts, meals, cab rides, and yeah, it adds up very quickly. 

I can't see the article, but keep in mind, this is an average, not a median, so the data they are using could be very skewed. 

It's per person, not per couple. The travel and accommodations portion was $308 each, so $616 per couple makes it a little more do-able. The tickets for my friend's wedding in CO were $200-something apiece.

I know - I work in analytics - but STILL. Maybe I'm not realizing how many weddings are DWs nowadays to jack the average up by that much? Still seems crazy to me. The vast majority of my guests will be in town, so they'll be spending at most $20 or so on gas and a $99 hotel room.

I tried editing the link; does it work now?

Oh woops. But yeah, even per person, this doesn't sound crazy high. Flights alone will eat up the bulk of that. We don't live in our hometown anymore, but most of the weddings we attend are there. So yep, we fly in and out all the time. We are having our own wedding in our hometown. 

$99 hotel room in our city over the summer would also be a steal. The cheapest and still acceptable hotel I could find for our guests was still $120 before tax in our city over the summer.

jenna8984

@swazzle I have heard New York and New Jersey people on here say that it's very common to give a gift of $300-500. Where I'm from hardly anyone does more than $50-100.

Swazzle

@jenna8984 - H and I usually give about $250-$300 (cash) from the both of us as a wedding gift and I generally spend around $50 on a physical/boxed gift for the shower. If it's someone we're very close to (ie a sibling or something) and we can afford it then we might give more. 

It's always so interesting to me to hear how different various parts of the country are!

theartistformerlyknownas

Swazzle said:

@jenna8984 - H and I usually give about $250-$300 (cash) from the both of us as a wedding gift and I generally spend around $50 on a physical/boxed gift for the shower. If it's someone we're very close to (ie a sibling or something) and we can afford it then we might give more. 

It's always so interesting to me to hear how different various parts of the country are!

Wow that is interesting. I spend about the same on a shower gift (usually $50-75), but typically the norm among my friends and family is $100 cash for a wedding gift; $200-250 if it's family.

larrygaga

I'll spend no more than 50 on an outfit, unless I'm in the wedding. I live far away from everyone, so gas is about 140 round trip. Hotel another 130. Gift about 50.

So even someone who is OOT for every wedding doesn't spend that much. 

I live in Detroit so nobody has money. 

phira

We don't usually spend more than $50 on the gift (between the two of us), although right now, our combined incomes, our wedding expenses, our cost of living, and our student loans mean that we really can't spend more than that.

stef42188

I saw that Jezebel covered that story (link) and I believe it is at least that much, but I am from a New England state. Gifts are in the $300+ range up here, and ~$50-100 for shower gift. Every wedding for our friends so far has been out of state (everyone seems to have a mini-DW like in Boston or NYC), requiring a hotel room, which is another $150+ per night, plus gas to the mini-DW city. I often wear something I already own, but I usually get a blowout ($50) because my hair is difficult, to put it mildly. Obviously some expenses (hair, new outfit, etc) are optional by the guest, but they do factor into the total cost. 

NYCBruin

Sounds about right if not low.  Most of the weddings we attend our out of town. Not because they are destination weddings, but because we have friends and family spread across the country.  Just airfare and hotel alone can run close to $1000 sometimes depending on the location and time of year.

natswild

maybe they're basing their costs on Canada...flights here are EXPENSIVE!  cost me $300 to fly from Calgary to Edmonton, about 300 km (200 milesish?).  If I want to fly relatively close to home, it's about $1000, and it's only 1400 km (800 milesish?), so flying to go to a wedding, that would definitely be on the low side, and hotels usually range in the $125-250 range, never mind anything else.  It would definitely be low here! And for a DW, airfares are usually $1200-3000.  Definitely a pain in the ass here.  Also, even if just driving, our gas here ranges from $1.25-1.50/liter, so $5-6/gallon.

sarahufl

I go to A LOT of weddings. At least 3-5 a year for the past several years with 8 on the books for this year (including my own). This estimate seems roughly accurate to me.

We have spent considerably more (DW in Mexico at an all-inclusive cost us thousands) and considerably less (wedding next weekend that involves us using our already paid for unlimited metro cards).

theartistformerlyknownas

larrygaga said:

I'll spend no more than 50 on an outfit, unless I'm in the wedding. I live far away from everyone, so gas is about 140 round trip. Hotel another 130. Gift about 50.

So even someone who is OOT for every wedding doesn't spend that much. 

I live in Detroit so nobody has money. 

Hey neighbor, me too! 

HisGirlFriday13

I have never flown anywhere for a wedding, so I can't comment on the airfare prices, but when DH and I went to a friend's wedding (in CT, and we live in PA) last September, it was $99 for the hotel room (room block), I spent $100 on a wedding gift, and we drove, so it was gas + food up and back (another $150, probably). That's $350 right there.

Oh, and I bought new shoes for the wedding, but I needed new black pumps anyway, so it's not like I bought them ONLY for the wedding. They were $30.

OTOH, we're attending a friend's wedding at the end of May that'll cost us less than $100, probably, unless you factor in the round of golf DH and the groom are playing for the groom's bachelor party.

KeptInStitches

The last wedding I attended cost me under $75 but was in my town. The last OOT wedding was cheaper than it should have been because then-BF and I were able to stay with my parents. But I seem to remember gas being pretty high then - somewhere around $4 / gal? (High for my area, at least.) That one probably cost us ... $250 just to attend, and I was a BM so start adding the cost of the dress, the alterations (as much as the damn dress), the undergarments (I still have that strapless bra as punishment for when I don't do laundry enough), the dyed-to-match silver shoes, etc. That wedding probably all told cost close to $1000.

Tami87

For a recent local wedding we spent about $115 on staying in the hotel (we probably should have just driven home, but I was in the wedding party and there was an after party so we decided to just stay at the hotel), $100 on a wedding gift, $50 on the shower gift, maybe $25 on gas and of course my bridesmaid dress. So not counting the bridesmaid dress that's about $300 for a couple or $150 each. Although for single guests some may not know anyone they can split a hotel room with. Oh and I didn't even consider what we spent at the bachleor/bachelorette parties and buying drinks to help host the shower. So I don't think that number is too crazy for an average, especially considering that was within an 1 hour drive wedding.

However, many weddings we attend additionally require air fare because we have family and friends all over the country. That usually also means 2 nights at a hotel and renting a car. Plus a gift. It can definitely add up!

larrygaga

I'll spend no more than 50 on an outfit, unless I'm in the wedding. I live far away from everyone, so gas is about 140 round trip. Hotel another 130. Gift about 50.

So even someone who is OOT for every wedding doesn't spend that much. 

lolo883 said:

larrygaga said:

I'll spend no more than 50 on an outfit, unless I'm in the wedding. I live far away from everyone, so gas is about 140 round trip. Hotel another 130. Gift about 50.

So even someone who is OOT for every wedding doesn't spend that much. 

I live in Detroit so nobody has money. 

Hey neighbor, me too! 

Heyyyy! lol. 

SammiNJonni

Last wedding I attended was FI's cousins. $300 round trip airfare each, his parents got a mulit bedroom suite and didn't make us chip in for that or rental car, $300 wedding gift, a new outfit had recently lost weight and didn't have anything that fit $50. If we had to pay for the hotel and rental car for the weekend it would have been probably an extra $400.

ETA: All his family weddings are in Long Island we live in FL.

Sugargirl1019

lolo883 said:

larrygaga said:

I'll spend no more than 50 on an outfit, unless I'm in the wedding. I live far away from everyone, so gas is about 140 round trip. Hotel another 130. Gift about 50.

So even someone who is OOT for every wedding doesn't spend that much. 

I live in Detroit so nobody has money. 

Hey neighbor, me too! 
---------------box------------------

Omg rehab addict

bethsmiles

I've never spent anywhere near that to attend a wedding but every wedding I've gone to has been local so no need to account for travel or a hotel. Usually I spend about $150 - 200 on a wedding depending on if I'm buying a new outfit and how much I'm giving as a gift.

I can see how costs would get up to almost $600 if I were traveling to a wedding.

FiancB

Sounds about right to me. Most of the weddings we've attended have been back at FI's home so we drive four hours and need a tank of gas, sometimes a hotel room, I usually rent a dress for around $45, and then we end up going out to eat a time or two, and often have a cash bar, and usually give a gift worth $50-100. 

So we've spent around $300 per wedding, and that's without plane tickets which run at least another $300 if you have far to go at all. Plus FI's been in most of them so then he has tux rental etc to deal with. 

I'm surprised it's not higher, really.  You'd think going to DWs would push up the average way up. 

PrettyGirlLost

PDKH said:

I can't get your link to work, but anyway:

If it's a wedding I have to travel to, that sounds a little low even. Getting two domestic round trip plane tickets for $400 over a weekend would be a steal; tack on hotel rooms, gifts, meals, cab rides, and yeah, it adds up very quickly. 

I can't see the article, but keep in mind, this is an average, not a median, so the data they are using could be very skewed. 

I agree, that is very low for an OOT wedding.  Last fall it cost us $1000 in airfare alone to fly to a wedding.

theartistformerlyknownas

PrettyGirlLost said:

PDKH said:

I can't get your link to work, but anyway:

If it's a wedding I have to travel to, that sounds a little low even. Getting two domestic round trip plane tickets for $400 over a weekend would be a steal; tack on hotel rooms, gifts, meals, cab rides, and yeah, it adds up very quickly. 

I can't see the article, but keep in mind, this is an average, not a median, so the data they are using could be very skewed. 

I agree, that is very low for an OOT wedding.  Last fall it cost us $1000 in airfare alone to fly to a wedding.

Yeah I agree it's low for a D/OOT wedding... but maybe 1 out of 5 weddings that I attend (probably fewer) require travel, so at least for me it wouldn't raise the average by that much. FI and I as a couple probably average $250 on local weddings, which make up the lion's share of our attendance.

Note too that the study did not include shower gifts in the total, just travel, attire and gift (plus a few random dollars that I guessed might be tips or valet at improperly hosted events).

jenna8984

How close do you guys have to be to someone to spend 500-1000 on travel? I personally wouldn't spend that to attend unless it was my sibling or best friend. I was invited to one last year across the country that would have cost around 500 (stay with friends) and I declined. But you guys all sound like you go to these at the drop of a hat...