We’re homeless, but had a killer wedding, man!
Everyone knows weddings can run up a pretty big tab. Do you know how much though?
In 2020, the average cost of a wedding in the United States is $20,300, a decrease of 4,400 compared to 2019. This is an Average. What is surprising to me is that I have come across this figure within the same glance of reading that 61% of Americans are now paycheque to paycheque. Now maybe only the 39% are getting married, could be… but how on earth are people affording these expensive wedding bills?
Or perhaps a better question is, how can one be so irresponsible to think that a 20K celebratory party is a good financial decision when they are obviously unprepared to spend this amount. Isn’t this the worst start to one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make?
The reception costs the most, accounting for about 65% of the costs, followed by the engagement ring, the reception band, the photographer and the florists.
In 2022, this average has bumped up to 30,000 USD for a country-wide average. This chart is taken from 2023 with some obvious increases in costs relative to just 3 years earlier. Regardless of the average, or the state, the point stands, it’s a lot of freakin’ money. For reference, an all-inclusive 4.5* resort in Mexico for 60-100 people ranges from 6000-10,000 USD–and these are nice resorts!
Want to read more about Mexico? Lots to come! Here’s one to get you in the mood ¡MEXICO!
For you precious metal geeks out there… 30,000 USD put into silver now (at spot) will buy you 41 KILOS of silver [Click here to realize why that’s a huge deal!]. Not very sexy though. I’m not suggesting someone do this, but should it even matter? If a couple wishes to remain together shouldn’t they be planning for their future rather than mortgaging one night?
Are American couples totally missing the point? Is the sense of self-entitlement, self-worth and narcissistic tendencies so engrained in the psyche of the average person where anything less than a 30K night is out of the question? It’s hard to see how this trend will continue with quite literally ‘flip of the coin’ odds with your marriage ending in divorce. Anecdotally I know of marriages that have stayed together due to religious reasons and their formal commitment from their vows. Although, according to a recent survey early on this year (2023), love and companionship are the primary reasons that motivate marriage–plus a kick ass party, I guess.
I’m reminded of a recent interview where a woman asks two other women (aged 25-30 I’d say) how much should a guy spend on an engagement ring? To which one instinctively responded 10X ones income (yep, whatever 100% of ones income amounts to be, a factor of TEN greater than this). Her nodding friend jived in and said “Yea I mean at least six figures” to which the other agreed. These answers were replicated by two other women who expected 100,000 dollars for their engagement ring.
I’m not a diamond miner, but a 100,000 dollar rock is quite rare to find in nature but for an American sipping on Starbucks outside of a Guess store “Yea, it’s kind of like, important, so like, I deserve it”
The monster of consumerism has totally engulfed the expectation of the American population with men and women totally living beyond their means. This is how credit card debt adds up to 1 Trillion (news as of June 2023) I suppose!
Is the cost of living simply way out of whack? Are people only getting married for having the best party rather than a life-long commitment to one individual or are expectations wildly out of control with respect to living standards?
Something tells me things are going to come back to reality sooner than later.
#StayOnTheBall
