Wedding Expense Etiquette — Who Traditionally Pays For What?

If you have wondered about Wedding Expense Etiquette and are not sure who traditionally pays for everything that goes into making a wedding a day that no one will ever forget.

Wed­dings are glo­ri­ous occa­sions and I for one love it when I get an invite. If it’s a close friend get­ting mar­ried or an acquain­tance, it really doesn’t mat­ter because I know I can get dressed up to ‘the nines,’ which is some­thing every girl loves to do. I always look for­ward to see­ing what the bride is wear­ing because it brings back mem­o­ries of my own wed­ding and how won­der­ful I felt on the day. But who pays for what, and what is wed­ding expense etiquette?

(Related: Are You Financially Ready To Say “I Do”).

Wed­ding Expense Etiquette

Tra­di­tion­ally the bride’s fam­ily pays for the cer­e­mony, whether it’s a church wed­ding or a reg­istry and it is nor­mally their duty to pay for the wed­ding recep­tion too. This includes all the flow­ers at both venues. The bride’s fam­ily also foots the bill for her beau­ti­ful wed­ding gown. This includes all the acces­sories she needs to look gor­geous on the day. The bride’s par­ents also pay for the brides­maids’ bou­quets and the cor­sages for grand­moth­ers.

How­ever, it is the groom’s job to pay for the bride’s wed­ding bou­quet as well as the mother’s cor­sages. He also gets to pay for his best man’s ‘Bou­ton­nières,’ not for­get­ting the ush­ers, of course.

Prepar­ing For the Big Day – Who pays for the Invites?

One of the things I enjoyed most when I was get­ting ready for my wed­ding was choos­ing the invi­ta­tions and wed­ding pro­grams. This lovely task falls to the bride and is paid for by her fam­ily. I got to choose some gor­geous nap­kins and table cloths for the recep­tion as well, and my par­ents were very good about the whole thing. They gave me free rein to choose exactly what I liked. But then this is all part of the joy of get­ting mar­ried, you get very spoilt for a few months, and I loved it but then who wouldn’t?

The wed­ding cake and the pho­tog­ra­pher are also tra­di­tion­ally paid for by the bride’s fam­ily. The really per­sonal things and the two most impor­tant ones are paid for by the bride and groom them­selves, and these are the wed­ding rings. Other gifts for the brides­maids and the best man, as well as ush­ers, are paid for by the bride and groom respec­tively. The wed­ding car is organ­ised and paid for by the groom who also pays for the mar­riage license, and I might add the won­der­ful roman­tic hon­ey­moon.

If you enjoyed this post, please con­sider leav­ing a com­ment or like it.

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Iskra Banović( Editor-in-Chief )

I’m Iskra Banović, editor of Blufashion and the voice behind its fashion, beauty, and lifestyle stories. Fashion, beauty, and lifestyle are my playground, but I’m just as likely to share the messy side of it all, like the time I tested a “must-have” skincare gadget and ended up with glitter stuck in my hair. I love turning trends and everyday finds into something useful (and fun) for real people.

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