Couple Backs Out As They Couldn't Afford Spending $10k For Family Member's Wedding, Seeks Advice On What To Do

"For us, it's a huge amount of money"

Maryjane

• Published in Interesting
• January 19, 2024

If you've ever been to a wedding, you are aware of how expensive it can be to attend. There are many things to think about, including clothing and lodging.

It's important to know the typical cost of being a wedding guest because you'll need to budget some money. This amount might help you estimate how much you'll need to spend, make a sensible budget, and set priorities appropriately.

Of course, it's easier said than done to create and adhere to a budget. The location, style of the wedding, and guest's relationship to the couple are some of the variables that affect the average cost of being a wedding guest. 

OP's sister just got engaged, but there's no wedding date yet. The OP and her partner live on a different continent, and attending the wedding would cost $10k+ on flights, cars, and food, amongst other things.

They personally are not excited to go because of the high cost. You see, the OP and her partner only just started to save for a house down payment.

Not just that, they are looking forward to having a baby in the upcoming year, so they don't have much savings at the moment. OP's MIL told her partner to simply start saving for it, but for them, it's a huge amount of money.

Keep scrolling down to read the full story so you can know how best to advise the OP.

The headline

The story

OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the AH:

1. the action would be me not wanting to pay 10k to attend a family wedding 2)in some people's eyes you attend a wedding no matter what regardless whether you have the money or not.

The comments from Redditors roll in...

Ticket prices

Breaking the bank

Digging out options

Sending a gift

The OP tries to explain more in an update

Since some people started calling me a liar and started demanding I tell them where I live because I'm clearly lying about the flights. Please read my post again. I said 10k for everything, which will include flights. I don't need to itemise this trip for people to believe me.

The calculation is correct, no it's not business class. And it's not a destination wedding. We'd be going back to our country, so we'd definitely would need to stay at least 10 days, catch up with family and friends and bring gifts too (would be expected).

Even if it was 5k, which it's not, it's still a lot of money for us. Please don't get hung up on the 10k, just so you can call me a liar.

Setting a budget

Saving for a nice gift

Guilt tripping might set in

Other travel options

Having other targets

Many Redditors couldn't bring themselves to believe that a flight, without housing, and a gift amounts to 10k+. Other Redditors said that if they had that kind of money, they surely wouldn't be spending it on a one day event as that kind of money could go towards a down payment for a house.

At the end of it all, the OP was declared not the AH.

Maryjane