Cheap weddings seem to be a thing of the past.
The wedding industry is a modern phenomenon.
The wedding industry seems to have changed and evolved into a capitalist industry that we know today. Happening somewhere between the 1920s to 1950s many American practices that are now considered traditional were developed through advertisements and promotions from major retailers, jewelers, caterers, and many other companies.
In the 1960s and 1970s brides started to deviate from the original wedding plan, and moved the wedding outside of the church.
The average American wedding costs of today's world have skyrocketed to a whopping $30,000, according to The Knot. $30,000!
That money could buy a nice new car or be a 20 percent down payment on a $150,000 home. It’s also more than many Americans earn in a year.
FYI: That was in 2013. In 2018, the national average cost of a wedding was $33,931.
This has made for a lot of strange requests from 'bridezillas
3 days ago, the 'friend' of a new bride, u/whateverspicegirl posted on reddit about the requests of a so called bridezilla.
This story is about a bride that tried to charge her guests and bridal party - but ended up losing childhood friends in the process.
The bride is described as having "always been the one to be the center of attention, constantly taking selfies". The kind of friend that when you see they have gotten engaged, you wonder how this will all turn out.
To start things off there was an Engagement Party. Meant to be a kickoff for what is to be 10 months of constant celebrations leading up to the big day. This party was complete with personalized wine bottles for each of her selected MOH and bridesmaids. This was the brides way of choosing/announcing her attendants! One of the bridesmaids was her best friend for over 20 years, this is a relevant detail.
All of her attendants were required to go dress shopping with her, then shoe shopping, then accessories shopping. Once she was able to find the perfect ensemble for her day, they now were required to go shopping for their dresses and shoes and accessories. They were also required to have professional hair and make-up done.
For the Bachelorette Party, this bride planned a week-long event that consisted of renting a luxurious house in Napa Valley, complete with limo rentals to go wine tasting for three days. It's at this point that her long-time best friend pipes up and starts to complain about how much this is costing.
Bridezilla tells her point-blank, "This is MY DAY and I'm the ONLY one that matters!"
Fast-forward a few hours and the long-time best friend has been kicked out of the wedding and told the bride never wants to see her again.
Another bridesmaid decided she'd had enough too and left the Napa trip with the long-time best friend.
Since the bride and groom were mid-30s, they didn't want a gift registry. Instead, guests were asked to give cash for their honeymoon fund. The couple let friends and family know they were hoping for $15,000. (They only ended up receiving $1,325).
Cost Breakdown For The Honor Of Standing In This Wedding
- Attendant dresses $400
- Shoes $150
- Accessories $150
- Professional hair and makeup $250
- Napa Valley house rental (per person for the week) $700
- Airfare round-trip $400
- Food/drinks for the week $700
- Limo rentals to go wine tasting (per person) $100
The price I would never be willing to pay however, is for one life-long friendship.
The post on reddit has gotten a lot of coverage and has quite a few comments. Some are quite colorful. The general consensus was that most people found her to be a over the top.
One person said: "Because it's HER day and she's the ONLY one who matters. I don't know how these people keep friends.”
Someone else wrote: "You’re asking people to do you the honor of standing by your side as you make an enormous leap of faith, not to spend a bunch of money to make you look and feel good.”
A third added: "What a spoiled, entitled little f*****g brat.”
You can see the whole post here: