It's tradition for the bride's family to pay for the ceremony venue, while the groom would pay for the celebrant and the marriage license.
The bride's family often pays for the majority of the wedding, including the ceremony, reception, and any other associated costs. In contrast, the groom's side of the family is expected to pay for the wedding's rehearsal dinner and honeymoon.
2. Consider Who Traditionally Pays for the Wedding. Traditionally, the bride's family assumed most of the financial costs associated with a wedding, including the wedding planner, invitations, dress, ceremony, reception, flowers, photography, and music.
According to tradition, the bride and her family should cover the majority of expenses including the bride's dress, venue hire, cake, decorations and other services, while the groom's main responsibilities are to pay for the engagement ring, honeymoon and the flowers for the bride.
If you and your partner don't want to abide by those rules, you're not alone. According to The Knot Real Weddings Study, couples and their families divided up wedding expenses equally. Newlyweds paid for roughly 48% of their wedding costs, and their parents typically paid the remainder of the bill (52%).
Traditionally, the bride's family pays for the wedding, but that custom is rapidly changing. Couples are increasingly choosing to handle at least half of the wedding expenses on their own. Early planning and a written budget can help avoid miscommunication when deciding who pays for what.
Traditionally, the father of the bride is financially responsible for the wedding. Nowadays, that's not always the case, and that's okay. Sometimes the bride and groom will contribute, as well the parents of the groom. Even if you're not paying for the wedding, offer to help deliver payments to the vendors.
In Easy Weddings' recent survey of 3,500+ engaged and recently married (2020-22) couples, the average spend for an Australian wedding was $34,715.
Traditionally speaking, though, the bride's family pays for the bulk of the wedding—venue, reception, photographer, flowers, etc. As such, the mother of the bride is typically more 'in charge' of these things (along with the bride, of course) than the mother of the groom is.
So here's how it breaks down. On average, the bride's parents usually spend 44 percent of the overall budget, while the couple contributes 43 percent and the groom's parents pop for about 12 percent.
Do I Have to Follow Tradition? Traditionally, it is the responsibility of the bride's family – specifically, her mother and father – to pay for most of the wedding. It's not clear exactly how this tradition started, but it's thought to have evolved from the practice of the bride's family paying a dowry to the husband.
The bride's side of the family traditionally pays for the bride's wedding dress and the bridesmaids' dresses. Increasingly, however, bridesmaids are paying for their own dresses.
Traditionally, the bride's family pays for the majority of the wedding expenses, including the ceremony and reception. This is because, historically, the bride's family was responsible for providing a dowry or a portion of their wealth to the groom's family.
According to the WeddingWire Newlywed Report, parents pay for 52% of wedding expenses, while the couple pays for 47% (the remaining 1% is paid for by other loved ones)—so parents are still paying for a majority of the wedding, though couples are chipping in fairly significantly.
As a guide, here's a list of the expenses traditionally covered by the parents of the groom: the wedding rings, officiant's fee, marriage license, the bride's bouquet, boutonnieres and corsages for the immediate family, music (band/DJ), liquor at the reception and the honeymoon.
While in some families and cultures, the parents do give a tangible gift to the bridal couple, other families and cultures feel the wedding itself is enough. This means it is completely your choice.
Traditionally, parents pay for children's weddings. Although the bride's side will cater for most expenses, this is not mandatory. Again, there's no set age at which parents should stop paying for their children's weddings. In our opinion, parents should chip in what they feel comfortable, no matter the age.
The average wedding held in 2022, including both the ceremony and reception, cost $30,000, according to The Knot. That's the most couples have spent since 2018 ($33,931), before COVID-19. It's also $2,000 more than the 2021 average, which totaled $28,000 for the ceremony and reception.
The Mother of the Bride/Groom
Both the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom are expected to pay for their own wedding attire. Typically, these gowns do not need to match the bridesmaid dresses, however, some brides prefer for the gowns to coordinate in some way.
For family or someone close to you, $75 to $100 and even as high as $150 is perfect. Then if you're going as a couple, it's routine to double the amount or keep it at $200.
The average cost of an Australian wedding is said to be $54,295.
Engagement Duration And Marriage Age
In 2020, the median engagement period dropped to 315 days (45 weeks). The average age at the time of marriage in 2018 was 27.9 years of age, with a minimum age of 21 and maximum age of 48.
A ring dish or jewelry box is a great wedding day gift. Many ring dishes and jewelry boxes can also be personalized with the bride's new name and wedding date to make it a keepsake she will never forget. If you want to give a really generous gift, you could gift a piece of jewelry with the ring dish or jewelry box.
Who Traditionally Pays for the Honeymoon. "'Traditional' older etiquette states that the groom and his parents are supposed to fund the honeymoon because the bride and her family are paying for the wedding," explains Forrest Skurnik while noting that these rules no longer apply.