The Real Cost of an Expensive Wedding

Ah, love. Can there really be anything more beautiful and irrational? Yes, it’s called a wedding. Here is the real cost of an expensive wedding!

For the record, I’m not married and have no plans to marry in the near future.

But I do know plenty of people who are or at least were married at some point…

People blow tens of thousands of dollars on the wedding each year and all the rituals leading up to it.

I find that all quite ridiculous.

Moreover, there is a hidden cost to these weddings that most people never see.

The Total Cost of a Wedding

Personally, I don’t find much value in the institution of marriage but you may think differently.

Even so, from a financial point of view, a wedding is a good way to drive a hole in your wallet.

As of 2022, the national average cost of wedding was $30,000, but jumps to $36,000 when you include the engagement ring.

I think it is even more ridiculous when you considered the high divorce rate.

I couldn’t imagine investing $36,000 in something that has a 50% chance of failing.

Furthermore, you now have the state involved in your relationship and should the marriage fail, the courts can dictate the terms (especially if you don’t have a legal prenuptial agreement in effect).

If you’re a man, you can lose much more of your assets as the state almost always favors the woman during the divorce. But that is for another topic.

Despite the high cost, nearly half of all Americans are going into debt to pay for their wedding.

Hate to tell you this, but starting off a marriage in debt does not bode well for the future.

The True Cost of Wedding: What Most Don’t See

So, people spend an average cost of $30,000 to $36,000 (with ring) for a wedding even going far into debt for that one “special” magical day.

But they are missing what that wedding truly cost them.

What if you invested that $30,000 instead? For example, stock market has returned an average of roughly 10% over the last century.

After 30 years, that $30K would have grown to $523,482 in wealth!

Did that wedding just cost you over half a million in lost wealth? Yes! What if you invested that $36,000 instead?

After 30 years, that $36K would have grown to $628,178 in wealth!

In fact, your potential wealth could be much more if your received dividends and reinvested them for 30 years.

Sure, there is no 100% guarantee, but I would argue there is much higher guarantee in the stock market then the marriage lasting 30 years.

Conclusion

There is the real cost of an expensive wedding!

If you have the financial ability and means to afford an expensive wedding then by all means, have your fun if you choose.

But let’s face it, most people do not and yet they continue to spend absorbent amounts of money on a wedding.

In 1985, my grandfather spent $50,000 on my mother’s wedding to my father (the stories I was told was that my grandfather made a lot of money in the 1980’s).

That $50K in 1985 is equal to $138,481 in today’s money.

Sadly, that marriage ended in divorce in late 1990’s, but I guess it served it’s purpose in that I was born, lol.

(I could have been born without it too)

But had we opted for a less expensive wedding and instead invested the $50K in the stock market, that would have grown to about $1,174,727 today.

A lot of future family money problems and financial stress could have been avoided if he did that.

So, what do you think? Would you spend tens of thousands on a wedding? Let me know in the comments below!

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