How Much Does it Cost to be in a Friend’s Wedding?

I don’t know about you, but it’s that season of my life where everyone is getting married or about to propose. And while I am super happy for my friends, in the back of my mind, all I can think about is how much this will cost me. I can’t stress enough how excited I am for all of my friends that are getting engaged and married, but can’t they at least spread out their dates a little? I have two weddings this year. One is in October, and the other is in December, and they are both on the opposite side of the country. So how much does it cost to be in a friend’s wedding?

How much does it cost to be in a friend’s wedding?

Travel

As I said, I’m a part of both weddings this year in Florida, and I don’t know if you have checked airline tickets lately, but they are super expensive. (We can all thank the price of gas for that.) But I was planning on visiting the home at least once this year, so it works out perfectly. The average price of a plane ticket from Portland to Fort Lauderdale is about $350. I’ll most likely stay at my mom’s for the first night, but the wedding is on the west coast, so I’ll be splitting an Airbnb with my old college roommates, one of which is the groom. So the Airbnb is looking to be about $170 a person for the five days we’ll be out there.

Travel Total: about $520

Renting a suit

There are two kinds of weddings; the “go all out” and the “penny pinching” wedding. I fall under the “why even have a wedding? Let’s elope” type, but that’s something completely separate. Now, if you are going to a wedding as a guest, you can just wear whatever plain colored suit you want (as long as it fits in with the dress code on the invitation.) So don’t go wearing a beige suit to a black-tie wedding. The bride will kick you out.

When it comes to renting a suit, it comes down to where the suit is coming from, which comes down to the bride and groom. Hopefully, they don’t pick somewhere expensive. According to my google search, the average cost for renting a suit is anywhere from $150-$200, which isn’t too bad but still hurts when you add it up with everything else.

Suit Total: $200

Vacationing outside of the wedding

I don’t get to see my friends as much as I want because I live over three thousand miles away from them all. And even if I did live in Florida, everyone is so busy with relationships, grad school, and work that even then, we wouldn’t get to see each other as much as we would want.

So when we do all get together, it’s going to be a fun time. I day at the beach (which I miss and is something surprising since I’m not a huge fan), dinner, bar hopping, and whatever other shenanigans we can come up with when we are together. I’ll be in Florida for about five days, and while some revolve around the wedding, I won’t be surprised if I blow $100-$150 or so dollars a day on food and drinks. I could probably penny-pinch, but it’s vacation, and why not ball out if I can afford it.

Fun and stuff total: $750

Weddings are expensive

We only ever think about how much it costs to throw a wedding. Rarely do we think about how much it might cost to attend a wedding. And let me tell you, it’s not cheap, but so worth it. Whatever your views on marriage, there is nothing quite like watching people you care about express their love for each other in the most public way. I have been looking forward to this wedding in October for longer than the couple’s engagement. (Gotta love a good high school sweetheart story.) So while my wallet may cry from the weekend’s expenses, I’ll get over it. My budget this year has been really strict.

Oh man, I still need to pick out a wedding gift.

Final total: $1470 (or how much I pay in rent a month)