Georgina Childs, 30, has had enough of forking out as a result of being a wedding guest.
The PR account manager from Woodford, Essex, got herself into £2,000 of debt and had to move back in with her with parents after attending 20 weddings and 12 hen dos in four years.
She says: “I shudder when the invite arrives. I wish I could say no — but how do you tell your friends you just don’t think their wedding is within your budget?
Since the summer of 2014, Georgina has spent £6,465 on weddings and £2,785 on hen dos — for a grand total of £9,250.
“from 2014, invites started arriving thick and fast. My calendar was getting booked up and money was pouring out. I started to panic. It felt like all the other guests could afford things like staying in a nice hotel or chipping in for the joint gift and I couldn’t.
“There was a pressure to keep up. By 2016, the only way to do that was to put hotel costs and drinks on a credit card. But I struggled to pay it off. I kept adding hotel reservations, train bookings and flights.
“In November last year, I had £1,550 on a credit card and was £800 into my overdraft. I tried to keep costs down by booking Airbnbs and borrowing outfits but it still kept increasing.”
Georgina has also been a bridesmaid seven times.
She says: “The trouble with being a bridesmaid is the cost shoots up.
As well as the ceremonies, Georgina has been on 12 hen dos, five in London, two in Spain and the rest around the UK.
“That’s what I was paying in rent each month.” It’s little wonder, then, Georgina has taken the drastic step of moving out of her London home and back in with her parents to save money.
She says: “In the end, something had to give. There was only one day a month when my bank balance was in the black. I had no life.
“Even when I arrived at my parents’ there were two new invites waiting for me. I’d love to set a limit of only attending one or two weddings a year, just to give my bank balance a chance to recover.
“But that won’t happen any time soon — only half of my friends are hitched. You can’t ever say to someone ‘No, thanks’.
The PR account manager from Woodford, Essex, got herself into £2,000 of debt and had to move back in with her with parents after attending 20 weddings and 12 hen dos in four years.
She says: “I shudder when the invite arrives. I wish I could say no — but how do you tell your friends you just don’t think their wedding is within your budget?
Since the summer of 2014, Georgina has spent £6,465 on weddings and £2,785 on hen dos — for a grand total of £9,250.
“from 2014, invites started arriving thick and fast. My calendar was getting booked up and money was pouring out. I started to panic. It felt like all the other guests could afford things like staying in a nice hotel or chipping in for the joint gift and I couldn’t.
“There was a pressure to keep up. By 2016, the only way to do that was to put hotel costs and drinks on a credit card. But I struggled to pay it off. I kept adding hotel reservations, train bookings and flights.
“In November last year, I had £1,550 on a credit card and was £800 into my overdraft. I tried to keep costs down by booking Airbnbs and borrowing outfits but it still kept increasing.”
Georgina has also been a bridesmaid seven times.
She says: “The trouble with being a bridesmaid is the cost shoots up.
As well as the ceremonies, Georgina has been on 12 hen dos, five in London, two in Spain and the rest around the UK.
“That’s what I was paying in rent each month.” It’s little wonder, then, Georgina has taken the drastic step of moving out of her London home and back in with her parents to save money.
She says: “In the end, something had to give. There was only one day a month when my bank balance was in the black. I had no life.
“Even when I arrived at my parents’ there were two new invites waiting for me. I’d love to set a limit of only attending one or two weddings a year, just to give my bank balance a chance to recover.
“But that won’t happen any time soon — only half of my friends are hitched. You can’t ever say to someone ‘No, thanks’.
这参加婚礼都参加出债务出来了，但是感觉自己没那么烧钱啊...大家也是参加一次婚礼就买一件礼服么？
看照片她每次都穿一套不同的礼服，知道钱少就不能节约点么？
真正的好朋友，能来参加婚礼就很好了，还管你穿什么，她这个就是为了面子吧。
外地飞来的给包了酒店…
我一个亲戚在欧洲结婚，她是ABC，因为是亲戚我飞过去参加了，本来以为能来的都得是特别亲的亲戚朋友，结果没想到！大概200个人从美国和欧洲各地飞过去参加她的婚礼！而且绝大多数人就是为了参加婚礼，不是像我这种还顺便旅个游的。都是自己掏机票旅馆。我不由感慨她这人缘真是太好了。
不是猜的，两个去二手店买的，一个已经有一条那个颜色的，另一个我借了一条我当伴娘时候的裙子给她。我们有把裙子都拿到一起看看颜色是不是对的上，当然知道多少钱了。
我们伴郎们伴娘们的礼服都是量身定制，所有开销都是我们出的，整个婚礼没有让他们出一分钱，我觉得这是应该的，人家婚礼前婚礼中花时间帮忙已经很感激了，虽然是好朋友也不该take them for granted。结果我们的伴郎伴娘们自己私下都说好了每人给了个巨大的红包
呃。。。。。人家说20美元居然也有人来抠着问的
美国这边买二手不挺常见的么，而且有很多wedding非常casual，穿个一般般的裙子也够了啊
或者借别人的裙子花20干洗，等等等。。。
诶。。。
是呀，这是什么破习俗？我一对很好的中国朋友邀请我去参加他们女儿的婚礼。虽然我跟这对夫妻有交情，但我从来都没见过他们家女儿一面，而且在遥远的美东，机票就要五六百刀，还要请假，送了份礼果断回绝。
场地费+酒席。美国结婚是新婚夫妇的娘家出。
Somewhere I read the typical wedding cost is $20k+. That's not a small amount for average Joes.
不明白。
我身边美国朋友结婚都是把伴娘的裙子买好的。如果异地发请柬，机票住宿都报包了。
送礼物是自己的乐意，多少都ok。其他的费用，谁脸那么大？自己结个婚还要别人破财。。。
我认识的几个如果新娘指定伴娘的礼服，那都是新娘家包的，说老实话，很多伴娘礼服是没有机会再用的。
也认识几个伴娘礼服让人家自己解决的，那种的话，新娘就是要求个很大路的颜色，或者让几个伴娘自己协调下颜色，有一个婚礼俩伴娘穿得是黑色小礼服，款式没有任何相关性。
新娘都不收伴娘礼物，还要回赠礼物的。