The Knot did a survey of more than 15,000 couples who got married in 2021. Among the things that they were asked was the infamous question, ``Who paid for the wedding, the couple getting married or the parents of the couple?”. The results surprised us.
In an age where we are seeing less marriages among the younger population, newer trends when it comes to the actual ceremony and reception, and dropping some expected traditions, seeing that 51% of parents were still paying for the weddings was unexpected. Seeing the breakdown based on generations might shed some answers.
According to The Knot’s study, 81% of the couples of Generation X were paying for the wedding, while 47% of couples of Millennials in the study were paying for their wedding. Could it be that Millennials are being more traditional? Or is it an economic factor? Our very own c0-owner and wedding planner, Maria Parrilla, believes it's a more traditional factor.
“I think the parents of Millennials were raised in that traditional mindset of ‘parents pay for the wedding’ which is why we can see such a big difference between Millennials and GenX.” According to Maria, what is happening then with Generation Z (32% of the couples paid for their wedding) is that they are more focused on “personal growth, their studies, their businesses”, which could explain why such a big percentage of parents are paying for the weddings.
With the average cost of weddings in 2021 being $266 per guest, some are more inclined towards the economic factor. One of our brides stated that it was important for her and her fiance not to elope, so her father offered to help cover the cost of some of the items of her wedding.
Whether its tradition or for financial reasons, parents paying or the couple, one thing is for certain, the cost of weddings is driven by guest count and location, location, location.
* https://www.theknot.com/content/wedding-data-insights/real-weddings-study
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