My friend and journalism colleague Patrick Rocchio married Anh Nguyen, his best friend, and lover. The couple tied the knot today and invited us to witness their special day. They were excited and expressed their gratitude to friends and family members who traveled far to attend their City Island Wedding.
Our brains and bodies are fried, however, our hearts are bursting with happiness. Yirong had to work at the bank and I had a full day, but we are thankful for another local bi-racial husband and wife City Island couple who we are delighted to celebrate with. Here are our very best wishes for this lucky couple.
This got me to thinking about all the money spent on their St. Mary Star of The Sea wedding https://bronxcatholic.blogspot.com/2011/08/st-mary-star-of-sea-city-isl… ceremony and reception at City Island's Sea Shore Restaurant https://www.seashorerestaurant.com/ reception.
Following some research, I learned that 30 percent of American bridesmaids and groomsmen polled say they have gone into debt for a friend’s wedding day.
What’s more, many bridesmaids said that the monetary obligations inherent to a role in a wedding party have strained their friendship with the bride, too.
Just in time for wedding season, a new report from financial blog CompareCards found that 35% of bridesmaids and 30% of groomsmen were forced to spend big on a pal’s wedding, to the point of going into debt.
Worse yet, 43 percent of maids of honor and 38 percent of best men said their special role required them to spend more than they could afford. A survey of over 700 Americans between the ages of 18 and 53, both men and women agreed that they felt pressured to spend big on wedding party expenses.
According to the findings, 58 percent of bridesmaids and 43 percent of groomsmen said that the final cost of celebrating a friend’s marriage made them feel sick.
More specifically, 33 percent of bridesmaids reported money woes involving the nuptials strained their friendship with the bride-to-be.
From exotic bachelor and bachelorette parties to travel, multiple showers, formal attire, gifts and more, costs can add up dangerously fast with 37 percent of respondents polled admitting that they’ve declined wedding invitations altogether due to costs.
While the average cost of an American wedding today is $33K the median household income in the US hovers around $60K so it’s basic math that wedding parties spark financial woes for many. And to boot, Anh and Patrick were previously married in Vietnam before their City Island Wedding.
Here are some more thoughts on the subject.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/liberty-vittert-millennials-weddings-sp…
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/japans-rent-a-family-indu…
https://www.comparecards.com/blog/survey-bridal-parties-pressure-spend-…
https://www.facebook.com/cimages.me/?__tn__=kC-R&eid=ARAfaKmjs0MbynF3i3…