The ghastly price of being a guest makes a wedding just too costly

WHEN it comes to a wedding I really want to say ‘I do’ but sometimes I just can’t.

I mean I want to get dressed up in a beautiful dress.  I want to walk up the aisle and take my place. I want to enjoy the party with all my friends, but the thing is – with finances as they are at the moment – I just can’t afford to be a guest at so many weddings.

This year, my brother is getting married in Ireland.  A friend is getting married in Spain, while two other very, very, very good friends are getting wed in Dubai.

It’s become a bit of a financial conundrum.  My brother’s wedding is a must and while we’d hate to miss out on any of the other three, financially it might not be possible to attend.

A new mortgage, bills, living expenses and our average Spanish salaries mean that we live comfortably by our means each month, but there is never much left for extravagant expenses.

A wedding in Spain could be less harsh on our wallets, but it still racks up quite a bill, considering stag and hen parties, a wedding gift, clothes, travel, accommodation and drinks.

Meanwhile the overseas weddings in Dubai are filling us with dread – financially speaking – and despair at the fact that we might be able to attend. Two return flights to Dubai cost an average of €1,200 and then there’s all the extras like accommodation and gifts.

Getting married is definitely an expensive affair, even when you are only a guest.  In fact, research from the UK recently revealed that 6 per cent of us resent the amount we have to spend to attend and a further 13 per cent refuse to go to some weddings because they cost too much.

The study also calculated that 1.6 million people have actually gone into debt in order to attend a wedding.  Such debt can be very hard on first-time homebuyers, like us, or those still burdened by student debt.

So, while we want to please everyone and support our friends, sometimes we might just have to watch the wedding video!