The High Cost of Wedding Bells
Last year, nearly three-fourths of all US wedding-related spending occurred between May and October. With nearly six thousand weddings a day, it should come as no surprise that the $48 Billion dollar wedding industry is as large as it is. The graphic below illustrates where and how this spending takes place:
(click image to enlarge)
Categories: Infographics
I’m in the industry. When I first started, about 6 years ago, I thought is was kind of cool and that it was nice to be a part of someones special day. After my first summer I quickly realized how absurd and meaningless these events really are.
In that first sumer I was taking pictures of the wedding wrings nested in silk cloth with some natural light kissing the edges. Out of no where the brides sister pops up behind me and starts ranting bout how the groom cheeped out on her sister by not going for the more expense rings and that the engagement ring was an even worst atrocity. I kept my mouth shut and let her ramble while I took more pictures. After about a minute the bride to be walks in, over hearing her sisters rant. The bride quickly joined in and started bashing her own rings to the point where she began to cry about it. Her reasoning being that it could be a sign the he doesn’t love her enough, that he isn’t willing to sacrifice enough, and he doesn’t care enough to make this the most special day either of them will ever have. I wanted to say how about the day you have your first kid I think that tops a party any day, but I didn’t think that it was my place to say anything.
By the way when I told the party planner about my experience she let me in on a little secret. The party planners father is also the Jeweler that sold the groom the rings. In total over $20K for the matching bands (which are a one-off design, something this jeweler specializes in) and another $45k for the engagement ring (again a one-off design with a huge rock). What the hell was this chick b****ing about.
Those numbers are staggering!
I don’t see one dime in here for the ceremony….(yes, I’m an officiant….). Without one of us, it’s just a big expensive party, yet the search for an officiant is very often the last thing couples plan for, and an expense that they just didn’t put in the line item budget.
I agree; things are out of hand when the favors (unnecessary) cost more than the officiant (vital).
Very good point! At least one of us here at Permuto has a relative who officiates at weddings, so we know how important that role is, not to mention that it’s something a couple should budget for. The officiant is actually included in the venue/catering numbers in the data we used.