There are ways to go to these extravaganzas without breaking the bank….
The cost of bachelorette parties is ever growing, with weekend wedding festivities at destination locales is now the norm. Millennials are even going broke to attend the wedding, not to mention the other parties that go along with it.
Social media is normalizing expensive bridal traditions, like destination bachelorette parties. The pressure to afford lavish nights out and trips away is exacerbated by the need for everything to be instagramable. Gone are the days when the entourage would paint the town red with cocktails, dinner, more cocktails and dancing! Now it’s a $1000 table at the hottest club with bottle service, or a girl’s weekend in Vail, or a weekend out on a private yacht where everyone splits the cost.
If our point of comparison was limited to our own social circle, we’d naturally be comparing ourselves to people with means somewhat like our own. But, because of social media, our point of comparison has shifted. People now look at pictures of others who might have incomes 10-100 times what we have. We don’t see that in the pictures, we just see the trips and the dresses and the gifts, so it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking “well, that’s normal, and I should have that too.”
The expenses for a wedding don’t end with the bachelorette parties, because soon enough…there is an actual wedding…
Here is some good advice from a NYC money expert who focuses on millennials:
- If you’re in a position where a friend is demanding a lot from you financially, take a step back and run the actual numbers
- Once you know what you can afford, reframe the conversation around that, rather than making it about what you can and can’t do
- Find the overlap between what he or she is planning and what you can afford in which to partake.
- Remember, you don’t have to attend every event, even if you are in the bridal party.
Weddings are becoming increasingly social, in the digital sense that is… Nowadays you can even stream your wedding on Facebook Live at the Chapel of Love in Las Vegas, and Palms offers a package called “Our Wedding Looks Perfect” on Instagram for $250.
Whether you are the bride-to-be, in the wedding party, or an invited friend/family member, when it comes to the wedding and parties attached to it, make sure you aren’t breaking the bank. The bride will most likely understand. She may be sad, or disappointed because she loves you, but she most certainly won’t want to put any undue financial stress on friends. And, if she (you) really wants you to be a part of it, she (you) can add a second bachelorette party locally for friends that can’t make it to the destination event, what’s one more girls night!