Who Pays For What In A Wedding?

Many couples are plagued with this touchy question: who pays for what in a wedding? Money is a sensitive subject to most of the public, so sorting out who pays for what in a wedding can turn into a embarrassing, confusing scenario. There are three options to pay for the wedding: the bride's and groom's parents split the cost evenly, the couple pays for the entire wedding or the bride's parents, groom's parents and couple splits costs evenly. Find out whom traditionally foots the bill to know who pays for what in a wedding.

Traditionally dividing the wedding costs will be easiest for everyone in the family to understand. Practiced for centuries, most of the public knows how wedding costs should be divided based on tradition. Each wedding attendant will pay for their own clothing. The bride's family pays for a lot of the wedding ceremony; even the bride's dress will be paid for by her family. Music at the ceremony, the church, wedding photographs, transportation, invitations, announcements and wedding programs are paid for by the bride's family. The wedding reception will mostly be paid for by the bride's family. They will have to pay for the professional services such as catering and music.

Costs of the wedding do not seem to be split evenly at first. Despite the fact that the bride's family pays for most of the wedding, the groom's family will pay for the entire honeymoon. His outfit will be bought by his family just like the bride's family pays for the dress. Officiant's fees and the marriage license will be paid for by the groom's family. Flowers for the wedding are equally divided: the bride's family pays for the church and reception flower arrangements, corsages, flower girls, and bridesmaids flowers while the groom's family pays for the bride's bouquet, boutonnieres and corsages for the mothers.

Remember, tradition does not have to be followed for splitting wedding costs. If a couple is wealthy, it is courteous that they pay for most of the wedding. Budget the cost of the wedding based on the income of the couple and parents. Do not be afraid to go against tradition to decide who pays for what in a wedding.