Why These Millennial Brides Say A Wedding Isn't Worth The Money

The wedding industry often sells couples a fantasy: This is the best, happiest or most important day of your life. It's how some couples justify spending tens of thousands of dollars on one day. But millennials and Gen Z are increasingly questioning whether a traditional wedding is worth the money.

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Why These Millennial Brides Say A Wedding Isn't Worth The Money

[lorenamelghem]

My bestie got married at the courthouse, they both invited their closest friends (15), we had a fantastic lunch together and the next day she and her husband started their adventure with a 6 week honeymoon!! 🤩😍 #lifegoals.

[javajoe]

Imagine the vacation you and your spouse can have for $28k (or even half that) and not for just 1 day. Now *that* would be memorable.

[anomalily]

Spent about $120 on our wedding, and that was mostly the cost of the marriage certificate. Feel great about the money saved.

[navelgaming]

Recently, one of my coworkers went to buy a wedding ring. When he told the salesman that his budget for a ring was $6000, the salesman's response was "Man, do you even love this girl?"
It seems to me there's a lot of pressure to spend more on your wedding than you can actually afford.

[rhythmicelegance]

Weddings seem rather embarrassing in a way. Not everyone wants such special moments displayed for others to observe.

[jbivphotography]

As a wedding photographer, I TOTALLY stand behind the message of this video. Something that's been lost over time I feel like is the pomp and circumstance of weddings. Having to have everything be perfect and paying so much for your guests generally leaves couples missing out on exactly what they wanted. Just to have a good time. I'm ALL FOR smaller weddings and eloping. I did it myself. It makes more sense depending on your financial situation. Also, as long as you have great photos for memories and your closest friends and family it doesn't really need to be so big. Half the time I'd say 80% of the guest only show up to eat and dance and then leave.

[nataliej]

My husband and I got married in our apartment in 2020 mostly due to Covid shutting things down. We took pictures in a nice location. We spent about $1500 total including my dress and photos. We saved a ton of money we were able to buy our first home and went on a honeymoon and spent a week traveling Europe. I think it was the right call considering what we gained in the end. People need to do what is right for them, not because of familial pressure.

[pink_sparrow_]

My husband and I got married in 2019. Every time we started putting the guest list together or looking at venues we would both get overwhelmed. We got a call in September 2019 that a friend couldn’t use their ocean front time share on Maui and we were welcome to use it. We jumped on it and decided to elope. Had two weeks to plan and it was just the two of us. It was perfect and since we didn’t have a wedding we were able to splurge on excursions and make the most out of our trip.

[BlueBass]

Wedding photographer here 🙋🏻‍♀️ I always cringe when I hear couples not feeling comfortable being honest and open about their wedding plans for fear of being taken advantage of. I personally charge the same price for a wedding vs an engagement vs a birthday party vs whatever. Choose vendors who are transparent with you.

[Renesmeecarliecullon]

My parents went to the courthouse to get married. My mom never regretted it. My mom once was a brides maid at her sisters wedding and she said her sister was so stressed that it looked like she wasn’t enjoying the experience. My mom decided she’d rather just go to the courthouse when she got married. My parents have been together for more than 20 years. One of their friends took their advice and did the same thing, a courthouse wedding and then a small get together at the house afterwards, they loved it and have been together for over 10 years. Honestly i’d rather just go to the courthouse. I’d rather use 30, 000 to buy a house or something big to use with my future husband

[paulinasol]

If I could redo my wedding, my husband and I would elope. To this day I regret spending thousands of dollars on a day that was over in a blink of an eye and caused me unnecessary stress.

[christinekeefe]

We eloped. We'll be married 25 years in August. We wanted a marriage, not a wedding. Zero regrets, and I could see at least our oldest daughter and her boyfriend following suit.

[TheGooglySmoog]

Our wedding cost $12k but we had the cash for it. It was an amazing day to start off an amazing marriage. We had about 110 guests and a wonderful time. Did we go into debt? Not at all. My advice do what YOU want and what you can afford.

[brianhenderson]

My wife and I got married at her place of business with about 20 friends. Total cost was $200, love my wife with all my heart.

[Christina-dsqk]

Covid saved our marriage, we used the money my parents gifted me to buy a house before the housing market skyrocketed in 2020/ 2021. Thankful for my home and the husband I have!!!

[luraanyanwu]

Our wedding was definitely for everyone else. If you're considering a traditional wedding, I recommend considering if this is what you really want deep in your soul. You can do a really cute elopement for a fraction of the cost. I was stressed the whole time

[ftby]

This is my last year as a wedding photographer. I’ve fallen out of love with shooting them. I used to love it but something’s happened and I just see them as silly now. The amount of brides that are so stressed about the dumbest things is just one of many reasons why I’m burnt out. Wedding tax from a photographers point is justified for many reasons. We photograph from 10 am to 11pm. Even if there’s a wedding planner we are planning the day and being asked to do a lot more than just photograph the day. We’re day of psychiatrist for stressful brides/mothers. Ask any videographer, they just document the day and sit in our shadow. We bring 20k worth of gear that’s moved from getting ready to church to reception, we’re shooting detail shots, family, wedding party the list is vast. Thousands of images and at least 8-16 hours of editing. I’m leaving out a ton of other things, having a solid/talented second shooter, having backup photographers in case we get Covid. This list goes on and on and I’m glad to be finished.

[Windthroughcedars]

Did a small wedding about 10 years ago for $5, 000. It was one of the happiest days of my life.

[clarajankowiak]

Wedding planner's assistant and wedding photographer here!🙋🏼‍♀ I've worked countless weddings with budgets ranging from $75k to $1 million. At the end of the day, it's just one day and SO many details are overlooked/under appreciated by guests. The wedding goes by so fast! If you can afford it and want it, I say go for it! Otherwise, it's not worth putting yourself in financial strain for.

[mahoganydrive]

My wedding WAS one of the happiest days of my life. It was worth it. No regrets. I enjoyed the planning. I felt like a queen. Everyone we love together in one place. It makes me smile every time I think about it. But we stuck to a budget reasonable for us and paid CASH money.