Buzz. Let’s add another activity. Buzz. And another night at the Airbnb. Buzz. Have you got my bank details? Buzz. The gift registry link is on the wedding website. Buzz. I think we need to make it even more special! Buzz.
…the texts keep coming, each notification adding to the spiralling bill of another bachelorette party. Anxious nausea is crawling up my throat as I do the mental gymnastics—£40 (₹4,965) here, a £100 (₹12,414) there, another £20 (₹2,482) over here, and that’s all before the actual wedding. I want to make it work, I need to, but no amount of girl math is making this add up. Looks like it’s back to the credit card for the third wedding in a row.
I press and hold the delete button on my phone—I can’t afford this—and type: whatever you guys think is best.
Welcome to being the friend who can’t afford anything, not even your lovely wedding. The one who stretches her credit card balance to attend their friends’ weddings, who stays silent because it’s better than facing the equal evils of pity or judgment. The shame of being the friend in the lowest tax bracket in a country that never wants to talk about money is debilitating, especially as peak wedding season approaches.
In the UK, guests typically spend, on average, £451 (₹55,990) per wedding they attend, including accommodation, outfits and gifts. The cost skyrockets for those attending the double-billing of the wedding and the hen/stag do, which can push the cost of attending the whole wedding over £1000 (₹1,24,150). International hen dos can skyrocket into the thousands. When the average income in the UK is £39,039 (₹48,46,664), and many people earn well below that, a couple of weddings a year can leave some of us scrabbling for loose change in the sofa–sadly, I’ve discovered, a lost cause in the age of digital wallets.
Of course, many people plan weddings and consider the financial implications for their attendees. However, with how awkward Brits are about finances, especially those with the money, it gets tricky. I’ve attended countless weddings, often with a negative bank balance, yet I’ve rarely felt able to say that out loud. I don’t want to dampen someone’s joy just because I need three to six months to save up to attend.
The thing is, once people achieve financial security, some forget that it’s not a blanket benefit for everyone in their social circle. That shield of “okayness” for them morphs into a thorn-tipped fence for those of us struggling to cover our bills, mainly because it feels impossible to bring up the topic. No matter how safe we feel with people, having to be the miser who advocates for frugality, or says “I can’t afford it”, is uncomfortable at best.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: vogue.in
