Good news: There’s a wedding on the horizon! Our daughter got engaged in December to a wonderful young man, and my husband and I are excited to have him join our family.

Bad news: Uh, there’s a wedding on the horizon! It will involve lots of finances and planning, things normally right up my alley. But I am certainly not experienced at planning a wedding, and the thought of pulling one together is pretty overwhelming (for better or worse, our daughter is happy to delegate a lot of stuff to me). She doesn’t want a crazy fancy wedding fortunately, but what’s the normal cost for a Venue? Dinner? Dress? Flowers? Photographer? The short answer is, more than we anticipated!

We have some time (they won’t marry until late 2024 at the earliest), so we are saving away. Our thought is to give a set amount that they can use towards the wedding as they please. If they spend more, that’s on them, and if they spend less, they have some extra money for a house or honeymoon. Some experienced friends and family members have told us that this tends to get the bride and groom happy for our contribution, while minimizing arguments over costs. Nothing is set in stone yet, so if anyone has experience or advice for me, please let me know!

P.S. We plan on having a smaller amount in reserve that my husband and I can choose to spend, just in case they really cheap out on something we want!

Posted in 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, Budget

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