Photography: Jessica Lorren
Weddings are a grand celebration of love and life. When you decide to tie the knot, you would like to turn this grand decision into a special occasion and celebrate it with a party to remember. You might be the ones getting married, but it might not just be your party. In collective cultures, like in most Asian cultures, weddings are not only a celebration of two souls coming together. It's more like two families coming together, so parents of both the bride and the groom would partake (and sometimes, call the shots too!) in the festivities. Often times in Asian cultures, the wedding party also becomes a social status symbol with more than thousands of people on the guest list.
So, when a wedding is an event to celebrate the bride, the groom and both sides of the families, who is to shoulder the costs of this extravagance? The answer to that question used to depend on which collective culture you are getting married into. For example, in India, all expenses will be carried by the bride's family. But in Indonesian culture, the groom's family takes care of all the costs incurred in the wedding. However, times have changed and there are more young educated couples who are taking responsibility for their own celebration of love. They would much rather work to save up for the wedding, thus keeping the wedding as an occasion to celebrate their union and making it less of a family affair.
In today's society, there is no longer a rule set in stone as to who should be paying for a wedding. Depending on the culture, a wedding party can be thrown exclusively by the bride and groom, or it can also be a joint effort, between the bride and groom and their families. The bride and groom may carry the majority of the cost, while their parents help and chip in by taking care of the wedding dress, or the wine, or gifting their children with a honeymoon vacation. However, when the wedding is considered a family affair, both sides of the family must come to terms with what is comfortable for them, and who is more willing to spend on the wedding.
