Who traditionally pays???

babyhina1

I'm just wondering who pays for the church and reception site. FI and I are paying for ours but I'm curious if its traditionally the brides parents or the couple.

handfast4me

The bride's parents used to pay for most of the reception expenses, when women traditionally didn't work outside the home, and after the dowry became passe.  That WAS sort of the dowry, in a sense.  However, the groom pays they pastor. I don't remember about the church.  But in 2009, all bets are off, and there's an entire mix of things that happen now.  There's also a link on The Knot about who pays for what, although I don't remember where.  Grooms parents pay for the RD, and the bride's bouquet, and a few other things, as I recall.

Leah&Christian09

Traditionally, as in back in the day when women didn't work, the couple got married in the bride's family church. Presumably, they would pay for any church expenses, though I think it was rare back then that a church would charge an active member for a wedding. I think the groom's family would take care of a tip for the preacher.

phoeny_moonstar

I have no idea what tradition states, but we paid for our ceremony almost 100% our selves.

asbecker

Although this is my 2nd wedding and the groom's first we are planning to pay for everything ourselves. My mom paid for part of my dress but neither my parents nor his parents can really afford to help us so we are going with more untraditional venues to save some money. A local university that also has a chapel is our choice to save a few hundred $$$ and not have any food minimums.