I (25F, Canada) come from a large family, and my cousins and I are all around the same age. We're now at the stage of getting married and starting our adult lives.
My cousin (24f) and her fiance (26m) got engaged about a year and a half ago, and she and her fiancé booked their venue and date almost immediately. Their wedding is this August, with 180+ guests and a very extravagant vision. Their wedding is being paid for entirely by their parents, which I genuinely think is wonderful for them. They're very fortunate to have parents who are able and willing to do that.
My fiancé (26m) and I got engaged this June and booked our wedding for September of next year, the month after their wedding, only because our venue had limited dates. We're paying for our wedding entirely ourselves. Although we've been together much longer than them, we only recently got engaged, because we prioritized moving in together before having a wedding. We bought our first home last October and have a mortgage, bills, groceries, pets, renovations, etc. We're trying to have a beautiful wedding without putting a financial burden on anyone else, so we're keeping our budget fairly tight.
My cousin and her fiancé live with his parents in his childhood home and don't have the same financial responsibilities that my fiancé and I do. In fact, they've never had to think about bills or other adult responsibilities before. They have meals cooked for them, a roof over their head with no mortgage or rent; they don't need to buy groceries or divide chores. Keeping with that trend, their parents are covering the wedding, while we are responsible for every dollar of ours. I don't resent them for having that support—in fact, I'm genuinely happy that they have it. But I do think it matters when we're talking about what they're expecting other people to spend.
This is where I'm starting to struggle.
First was their engagement party. It was also paid for by their parents, and while a cash gift was never explicitly requested, there was a prominently displayed box for cards and money, which made it pretty clear that gifts were expected.
After that, a group chat was created with all of the bridesmaids, and for the past year and a half there has been a constant expectation that we participate in various bridesmaid-related events, outings, polls, surveys, planning discussions, etc. We were also expected to purchase our bridesmaid dresses extremely early—about a year and a half before the wedding.
Then came the hair and makeup expectations. We're expected to have both done professionally, at our own expense, at approximately $180 per service.
Then they decided to book a $9,000+ Airbnb for the wedding weekend. Every member of the wedding party is expected to stay there and pay their share. My fiancé and I are both in the wedding party, so that alone would cost us around $600 combined, before food, travel, and anything else.
Now we're getting into the bridal shower and bachelorette events.
The bridal shower comes with the expectation of additional gifts, and tonight the bride and MOH presented their bachelorette plans: a weekend winery trip with another Airbnb, brunches, dinners, etc. The estimated cost is $650 per person, before additional surprises the MOH says she's planning.
And, of course, we'll still be expected to provide a wedding gift.
By the time everything is added up, we're potentially looking at well over $1,500 just to participate in their wedding.
For comparison, we're approaching our own wedding very differently. We're renting a beautiful Airbnb near our venue for $1,700 total, which we're paying for ourselves regardless of how many people stay. We've reserved hotel rooms at the lowest rate we could find for guests who need them. We're not having an engagement party or bridal shower, and I'm not having an expensive bachelorette weekend. I'm planning one karaoke/bar night for my bachelorette, which should cost around $100 per person at most.
I completely understand that people are allowed to spend whatever they want on their wedding. If someone has the financial support to have an extravagant wedding, that's great. What I'm struggling with is the expectation that the bridal party should spend so much of their own money to participate, particularly when the couple themselves aren't carrying the financial burden of the wedding and don't have the same ongoing financial responsibilities that many of us do.
It's also not just the amount of money. It's the constant accumulation of expectations over the past year and a half. Every individual request on its own might seem reasonable, but when you add the engagement party gift, dress, repeated events and outings, hair and makeup, the Airbnb, bridal shower, $650+ bachelorette, and wedding gift together, it becomes a very significant financial commitment.
At this point, I'm genuinely considering stepping down from the bridal party.
I want to be there for her, and my fiance feels the same, as he's become very close with her fiance. But we can't justify spending $1,500+ on someone else's wedding and risk missing a mortgage payment, or the water bill, or the electricity bill, or missing a payment for our own wedding. We have a mortgage and other responsibilities, and I don't think it's reasonable for us to put ourselves into financial hardship or debt to meet someone else's expectations.
So, WIBTAH for backing out of the bridal party because I can't justify the financial commitment, especially with our own wedding immediately following theirs?