Clark Howard's Tips

Couples charging friends to attend their wedding

May 18, 2005

Getting married anytime soon?

There is a trend going on in the wedding industry that may leave you wanting to tie the knot ... around the couple's throat.

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Couples are now billing guests for the cost of their wedding.

One couple, featured recently in the Wall Street Journal, was planning to spend $51,000 on their wedding.

So they decided to charge people $150 a head — or $300 a couple. They were quoted as saying that people don't understand how much it costs and they need to help out.

What nerve!

There are even a half dozen Web sites that take contributions for attending weddings.

In Clark's opinion, that's an attendance fee.

What happened to treating your loved ones to a meaningful ceremony?

Living in different areas of the country can affect the cost of a wedding.

For example, the average wedding in the NY area costs $38,000 while the average wedding anywhere else is about $17,000.

But you don't have to spend that much if you do your homework.

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