Research conducted by SpareRoom, an online flat share platform operated from both the US and the UK, has found that a shocking third of millennials go into debt due to attending their friends’ weddings.
15% of those within the survey also told SpareRoom that they have had to move back into their family home due these financial struggles.
The percentage of renters who went into debt after attending a friends’ wedding is still a significant amount for those other than millennials, this being 21%. To say the least, witnessing your friends tying the knot appears to be incredibly expensive. However, those trying to preserve their finances and not attend the wedding appeared to come with a range of other issues ? with 62% of millennials having friendships break down because they couldn’t attend the wedding.
44% of the study’s millennial participants claimed that they had to decline invitations to their friends’ weddings because they could not afford the financial strain. This comes as no surprise when considering that 1 in 7 of the participants also revealed that they spent $475 and over in order to be at their friends’ special day. Some in the survey also claimed to have spent a shocking $1,200 which includes a gift, transport to the venue, a hen or stag weekend (costing on average of £150 per night) and overnight accommodation on the night of the wedding.
Those who took part in the survey revealed that the biggest cost for attending their friends’ wedding was the outfit. This was closely followed by the wedding presents for the happy couple. Other significant costs participants in the research brought up included accommodation for the wedding and forking out for hen-dos and stag nights.
One participant from the SpareRoom survey told the online platform that have significantly struggled from their finances due to the amount of weddings they have attended. The participant has requested to remain anonymous, and has stated that she attended five bachelorette parties last year, which meant that before even responding to the wedding invites, “at least $6,000 had been dropped on the pre-parties!”
The anonymous participant further claimed to SpareRoom that “We love our friends dearly and will always consider it to be a privilege to be invited to share in someone’s wedding day, but I’d be lying if I said the financial burden attached hasn’t resulted in serious conversations about belt tightening, penny pinching and postponing other things that we had been hoping to prioritize” and that:
According to My Financial Broker, the cost of loans ranges from 3.3% APR for a personal loan for someone with good credit, with bad credit loans (like payday loans) costing as much as £1,200%, equal to £24 in interest for every £100 borrowed. Customers are advised to check they can afford to repay loans before applying and avoid falling into a cycle of debt.
