Would you pay to attend a wedding?

The New York Times posed this interesting question last week in an article describing a trend among couples looking to cut costs on their increasingly expensive special day.

Hassan Ahmed is asking $450 per ticket for his upcoming wedding in Houston. He defends the price by saying he’s already spent over $100,000 planning the party. Since the request went out, Hassan’s friends have been largely radio silent, which surprises him, considering how much money they regularly spend on concert tickets.

The average cost of a wedding nationwide in 2024 is $35,000, up $5,000 from last year. It is cheapest in Alaska ($12,083) and most expensive in Washington, DC ($45,400).

With inflation, it’s no wonder weddings are getting more expensive. However, there’s absolutely no reason why a couple getting married should have to spend anywhere near five figures.

In fact, studies have shown that the more money spent on the wedding, the greater the likelihood of divorce.

The correlation begins with the engagement ring.

Economists Andrew Francis-Tan and Hugo M. Mialon of Emory University found that men who spent between $2,000 and $4,000 on the ring were 1.3 times more likely to get divorced than those who spent between $500 and $2,000.

Mialon and Francis-Tan discovered a similar trend in the wedding ceremony itself. Couples who spent more than $20,000 on the wedding had a divorce rate 1.6 times higher than couples who spent less than $1,000.

That’s not to say that everyone who invests in a lavish wedding is headed for heartbreak, but these insights should take some pressure off those who aren’t willing or able to write a big check for the big day.

The news media is becoming increasingly unhelpful in fueling stories about the costs associated with time-honored traditions like marriage and child-rearing. Whether they are simply hungry for clickbait headlines or are deliberately trying to discourage marriage and child-rearing, Christians should remain skeptical of the astronomical financial numbers often cited in stories.

This subtle narrative plays into the hands of the cynic: Why should I pay $35,000 for a marriage license, a mere piece of paper? And then why should I spend over $300,000 to raise a child? Life is much simpler and cheaper if we forego both, the logic goes.

Both figures ($35,000 and $300,000) are completely misleading, especially considering the number of people who marry and raise large families for a fraction of the cost hyped up by the media.

No couple should ever let the “average” cost of a wedding keep them from getting married—and no married couple should ever be prevented from having children for fear of not being able to afford God’s greatest gifts.

Happy and successful marriages often begin in small, rural churches. The bride and groom then celebrate in the church basement or perhaps in a modest backyard. Guests don’t necessarily have to eat china and crystal glass. Paper plates and plastic cups work just as well.

Inexpensive backyard weddings can be just as beautiful as those at a five-star resort. It’s not the cost that counts – it’s the couple’s commitment to abide by their wedding vows to continually seek the Lord, “from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, for sickness or for health, to have and to hold, to love and to honor, until death do us part.”

Image from Shutterstock.