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.
What Does the Groom's Family Pay For, Traditionally? The groom's family is responsible for corsages and boutonnieres for immediate members of both families, the lodging of the groom's attendants (if you have offered to help pay for this expense), and sometimes the costs of the rehearsal dinner.
Traditionally, the bride's family foots the majority of the bill, but that's not stopping modern couples from spending their own savings to have the wedding they want.
Traditionally, the groom's parents are the ones to plan and host the rehearsal dinner. They are usually also responsible for hosting any other welcome parties for the rest of the guests. They may want to utilize the couple's wedding planner to help with the event, or they can choose to plan it all on their own.
Splitting wedding costs equally between the couple and their families is becoming more common across the board: The Knot 2021 Real Weddings Study found that couples pay approximately 49% of their wedding costs, with their families covering the rest at 51%.
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.
Of course, it would be amazing to give your daughter thousands and thousands of dollars as a wedding gift, but not at the risk of making your own financial situation dire. Depending on their relationship with the bride, wedding guests typically give between $50 – $150 when making a monetary gift.
Another crucial role of the groom's parents is to help cover for any other wedding budget. Some of the areas they support include paying for the engagement party, marriage license, bride's bouquet, rehearsal dinner, honeymoon, corsages, and groom's accessories and attire.
These items can include jewelry, watches, or a personalized handkerchief. Family heirlooms are warm tender gestures that symbolize the true delight that the mother of the groom feels about having her daughter-in-law marry into the clan.
“The average gift that people give for a wedding is around $100, and that stays consistent whether they're giving a physical product or a cash gift,” says Emily Forrest, director of communications for Zola, a wedding registry website.
Keep in mind that, on average, couples pay for about 47% of all wedding costs, with nearly half of them reporting paying for their wedding from savings. If your family is contributing to any of your wedding expenses, you won't need to save the full amount the day will cost.
Put succinctly, tradition states that the father of the bride is responsible for paying for the wedding.
Who Typically Pays for the Honeymoon? The person who pays for the honeymoon traditionally is the groom (or groom's family), since the bride's family traditionally pays for the wedding.
An easy rule of thumb is to stay within the average range of $75 to $200, but you can adjust the exact amount based on your personal finances, as well as your relationship with the couple.
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.
When it comes to involvement in wedding planning, it's usually at the discretion of the couple. There's no expectation that the mother of the groom should be more involved, and they shouldn't take on any additional responsibilities unless the couple asks them to.
Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment by the groom, or his family, to the bride, or her family, dowry is the wealth transferred from the bride, or her family, to the groom, or his family.
The Best Colors for a Mother of the Groom
"Wear a flattering color that compliments the color palette of the wedding," advises Valiente. For example, jewel tones and earthy hues are perfect for fall nuptials, while formal gowns in navy or silver would be ideal for black-tie weddings.
Typically, as per tradition, the mother of the groom will bring a gift for the bride to the bridal shower. It can be something small and thoughtful.
In general, the mothers of both the bride and groom should try to avoid colours such as white, cream, champagne or ivory, that might look a little too much like the bride's dress.
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.
The mother of the bride plays the role of hostess, meaning you should spend some time greeting guests during the reception. Although there are exceptions, other wedding-day duties may include sitting at the parents' table and dancing with the father of the bride to help warm up the dance floor.
She offers these guidelines to wedding-goers wherever they might be: A distant relative or co-worker should give $75-$100; a friend or relative, $100-$125; a closer relative, up to $150.