Mother worries son’s dream wedding will send him broke

Weddings are certainly more expensive than what they use to be, and old-fashion backyard weddings are a thing of the past.

One woman, who’s worried about her son’s out of hand wedding expenses has ignited debate among fellow parents. The concerned mother took to online forum Gransnet to ask for advice. She wrote: “My son and his fiance are planning on getting married next year. I understand the pressures these days to have the dream wedding day with all frills but I think it’s getting out of hand and I don’t know how to warn them without upsetting anyone.”

She said both sets of parents are contributing an amount but the bride and groom will put down the bulk of it.  “They have decent jobs but I know aren’t on massive salaries and in slow-moving industries when it comes to promotions. Was reading this article today on how the average wedding is now over £30k [AU$53,000] and I’m worried they are heading in that direction.

“My son’s jokingly said they’re racking up the debt and credit cards and he’ll have to take on weekend jobs. It’s all very well, they’re in love and I know it’s not my place but would you stand by while your son made some fairly life-limiting decisions?”

Readers were quick to offer advice, with many suggesting since her son and his fiance were paying for most, it would be best to stay quiet.

One user wrote: “Really difficult, I think our generation were perhaps more frugal than the younger generation. If you are contributing what you planned then it’s up to them if they want to put it on cards.”

Another added: “I wouldn’t say anything. It’s their money and their wedding. Everyone has their own spending priorities and this is clearly theirs.”

And a third wrote: “Depends on how good your relationship with them is. I think I would have to sound a warning note in this case. It all seems to be getting competitive, the whole wedding,hen and stag weekends, getting married abroad etc. The emphasis seems to be the wedding and not the marriage.”

Read more: Should parents pay for their child’s wedding?

And weddings are a lot more expensive than what they were 40 years ago. As an example, a 1974 wedding that cost $2,095, would now in fact cost $47,286, BuzzFeed reported. And, according to Bride to Be Magazine, on average, Australian couples spent, a ridiculous $65,482, in 2015 for their wedding, which is a lot of money for an event.

What do you think? What was your wedding like?