Should you HAVE to pay for your daughter’s wedding? The debate rages on
A retired mother has been left confused on whether or not she should help pay for her daughter’s wedding.
She took to Mumsnet to explain that her daughter, who is in her 30s is planning her wedding to her boyfriend of 10 years.
The mother explained that she and her husband have retired and don't have a stream of income to help as much as they possibly would have loved.
“My husband and I are both retired so no more money is coming in. We do still go on holidays, but don't have anything like as much money as we used to have,” she wrote.
“We happily paid for private education and private healthcare and plenty more for all our children and were happy to do so but am I being unreasonable to think that by now we've done our bit and our daughter should pay for her own wedding?”
Several people responded to the woman’s thread saying she wasn’t being unreasonable to not pay for her daughter’s wedding.
“No you’re not being unreasonable at all. I got married a few years ago and wouldn’t ever have expected my family to put money towards it, I chose to get married so I should pay. Don’t see how she can view it any differently,” one woman wrote.
“My dad did pay for my dress as a token but I would never have expected it and we made sure we saved and budgeted appropriately.”
“I got married at 28, wouldn’t have dreamed of asking for a penny, let alone expecting it!” another commented.
“I don't plan on paying for weddings, I think it feels quite old-fashioned to do that. I would offer to give a donation, but the couple choose how big/small they want their celebration to be, so they should pay for that themselves,” someone else wrote.
“Have you been parents of the bride or groom before? If yes, did you contribute to that? If not then now is the precedence to set. Instead of paying for the wedding can you offer a contribution or pay for one,” one explained.
“Of course they should pay for their own wedding! Is your daughter expecting you to pay? If so, she's being utterly unreasonable,” someone else wrote.
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