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Do folks need to work a part-time job or take out a second mortgage to enjoy wedding festivities?

Thank God for Jesus I made it through my own wedding (three years and counting). Lord only knows how much money they require, even if you scale down, which is one of the reasons why we had an extended engagement. Beautiful day and no debt.

As happy as I am to be out of the clear when it comes to wedding-related costs, who the heck knew guests had to save a pretty penny to attend special events?

Reports are surfacing that 45 percent of guests–including bridesmaids and groomsmen–are saying no to bachelor and bachelorette parties. Y’all do the math, that’s almost half of the folks invited! I can’t imagine being a bride and getting phone calls from friends and family saying they couldn’t come to my events. Perhaps this will be a wake-up call for those planning weddings: the main reason why people are backing out is due to financial reasons.

The Google Consumer Surveys finds a third of party attendees shell out more than $850 just to enjoy a bachelor or bachelorette party. Most of those costs go towards food and drink, entertainment, airfare and hotels. If you think those who back out are being unreasonable, you’re forgetting another financial factor to this puzzle: you still have to pay to attend the wedding. MarketWatch says the average wedding guest will spend close to $675 this year to attend the actual wedding day.

Do you have over $1,500 to dedicate to someone else’s wedding, not including attire and other needs if you’re in the wedding party?

I sure don’t.

Having been a bride, I’m trying to see this from both sides as some brides (and grooms) get mad to the point of kicking folks out of their wedding party. While these parties are typically the responsibility of the maid of honor and best man, that doesn’t mean a bride or groom doesn’t give their two cents.

My bachelorette party was actually a traditional tea at a quaint Manhattan tea room. I didn’t plan it myself (luckily I had two creative ladies taking the helm), but did have some here and there input. When it came to my bridal shower however, I did pay for the venue rental because I didn’t want both ladies to overextend themselves financially. Even though attendees paid for themselves, doing things locally seemed to keep financial costs affordable for everyone’s budget.

Does this mean I would shake my head at folks who want to go to Vegas or some far away destination? Definitely not. It would be great to have a girls’ trip abroad, but I personally didn’t want that because it comes with higher costs. Sure you can be money savvy by using a few Groupon or Living Social deals, but overall, someone who needs to save for airfare and a hotel room for your wedding might not want to do so for a bachelorette party. Can you really get mad if one of your bridesmaids can’t attend?

I think a simple solution to this growing money burden is to have a little more communication between the wedding party and guests. Perhaps the maid of honor and best man can brainstorm with others involved in the wedding and consider options that are financially doable for everyone.

Do you think it’s wrong to skip out on wedding events because they’re too pricey?

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