Couples Who Spend Over This Amount On Their Wedding Are More Likely To Get Divorced, Finds Study
t.max / Shutterstock Having a dream wedding often comes with a hefty price tag, but there's more reason to curb your spending when it comes to your big day than just keeping yourself out of debt. According to research, the less you spend, the higher the odds your marriage will actually stand the test of time.
Having a big, extravagant wedding is often portrayed as the ideal. Spend however much you need to have the perfect day, then live happily ever after. It turns out that the amount you spend on your wedding is an important factor in your marriage — but maybe not in the way you'd think. When it comes to how much you spend on your wedding, less actually is more in the long run.
According to research, couples who spend more than $20K on a wedding are more likely to get divorced.
It might seem counterintuitive, but a budget wedding could be the superior option. That's because a 2014 study found that the more couples spent on their big day, the shorter their marriage was likely to last.
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Among women participating in the study, the risk of divorce was 3.5 times higher for couples who spent more than $20K than for those who spent between $5K and $10K. The researchers also stated that their evidence suggests that weddings with high attendance but relatively low costs are associated with lower divorce rates.
In today’s wedding culture, where the “necessities” include destination locations, bachelor and bachelorette parties, photo booths, videographers, and lavish post-wedding brunches, creating a relatively inexpensive wedding definitely requires you to be creative in your planning.
With a little creativity and elbow grease, it's possible to keep wedding costs low.
A few years ago, I exchanged “I do’s” with my husband in the sunroom of my parents’ home. The best part (besides marrying my soulmate, of course) was that we didn’t break the bank. The DIY touches, such as the wedding cake my mother decorated with flowers in my basement and the lace ribbon I hot-glued to my hand-arranged bouquet two minutes before I walked down the “aisle” (aka the living room), made the day feel genuine, special, and utterly real.
Twenty guests witnessed my husband and me make the most serious commitment of our lives. It was intimate and lovely. But most importantly, I didn’t allow myself to feel inferior for doing things my own way on my wedding day.
I skipped the frivolous expenses I initially felt pressured to include — from the influence of the stunning images on Pinterest that left me drooling, or the fact that I was 28 and everyone around me was getting married with cookie-cutter or boring nuptials, no expenses spared.
When it comes to your wedding, your relationship is what’s most important.
With seven wedding invites this year and traditional bridesmaids' duties, I’ve never once regretted my unconventional wedding decision. Data from The Knot says that an average wedding has 117 guests and costs an average of $256 per guest — a little less than $30,000, in total. Remember that this only accounts for the cost of the reception. The average cost of an entire wedding is somewhere around $35,000, although that number varies greatly based on location.
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You should question what’s truly important to you without the hoopla created by people outside of your relationship. For the majority of people in their 20s and early 30s, a huge wedding is likely irresponsible. Millennials crave instant gratification. We want things now! We don’t really think through the consequences.
What happened to financial responsibility, like paying off your debt? Hello, enormous school loans. It’s not sexy to be conscious about spending limits during wedding planning, but making wise decisions will provide you and your partner more financial freedom down the road.
If you’re just putting on a big show because everyone else is, or if you feel pressure to impress people, I urge you to step back and look at the big picture. This event is made to honor the bond between you and your new husband. Your relationship is what’s most important.
Samantha Burns is a licensed counselor, dating coach, and the love guru behind the free worksheet Reframing My Negative Thoughts About Love.
