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

FutureMrsN3312 · April 2014

jenna8984 said:

@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.

I'm in the same boat as @swazzle I'm from NJ too. A wedding gift is usually $300-400. Plus a shower gift. Usually $50. I try not to buy a new dress for every wedding we go to. But sometimes that's hard. Last year I had 4 weddings within the same circle. I didn't want to keep wearing the same thing. I try to start looking ahead of time and look for good sales.

It all adds up quickly.

lyndausvi · April 2014

jenna8984 said:

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...

.

We live far from family and friends so I'm more than willing to spend the money to attend their weddings. Good way to see everyone and catch up. Assuming it fits in our work schedules and it's not some random 15th cousin-once-removed I have only seen one once we try to attend.

SmileDamnit · April 2014

We have a very small guest list (all family), but most of them will be spending quite a bit to attend the wedding because of the location (...90%, including us, are OOT).

Airfare - around $400/pp (gas is nearly the same as those driving have a 950+ mile trip)

Rental car - ??

Hotel - $150/night (peak tourist season on the lake so rates are hiked, even within the small block we have reserved)

Luckily, it's not a financial hardship for any of them and we usually do a big ol family vacation every couple years so this has kind of morphed into that ~ pretty sure most of them are more excited to be going to the lake than they are to see us get hitched

PrettyGirlLost · April 2014

lolo883 said:

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).

All of the past 5 weddings I have been to have been OOT

PrettyGirlLost · April 2014

jenna8984 said:

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...

Last fall it was FI's sister's wedding and we were both in the WP, this March it was FI's cousin, later this summer it's a close friend of FI.

If we didn't have the money/time, we'd decline, especially since we are saving for our own wedding. I was honestly surprised FI wanted to go to the friend's wedding this summer.

ei34 · April 2014

That sounds about right to me. Hubby and I give around $350 or so as a wedding gift (that's a pretty standard wedding gift from a couple our age in my area), another $50 on a shower gift, and if we're getting a hotel room, that's another $150-200. <--these are all calculations for a local (within 1 hour drive) wedding, forget about a DW.
I have plenty of dresses and hubby has two suits and plenty of shirts and ties so there's one saved expense at least

singinchick13 · April 2014

That sounds pretty accurate to me. It probably also takes into account people in the wedding party, as they likely spend more (on average) on attire than other guests. We live in Canada (Ottawa) and a wedding gift from a couple our age (mid twenties) is usually $100-$200 depending how close we are to the couple. Also a LOT of weddings around us have cash bars, and depending on the venue, pay parking.

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

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