House prices take their toll on marriage

mystic_trev

the average first-time buyer's home now costs £135,000 - more than four times the average wage. In 1990 the figure was £46,000 - less than two and a half times the average wage.

The cost of marriage has also soared. Couples now typically spend £18,500 getting married --nearly a year's take-home pay for someone on an average salary.


Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=501508#ixzz0iten9nn7

nearlyrich

Problem is people expect to be able to have everything, the £18k wedding and the fancy new house with all new furniture, new cars luxury holidays etc etc. If you are not a high earner you have to decide what is of the highest importance and go for it.

System

The AVERAGE wedding is 18.5k, jesus.

Mine is costing just shy of 8k and that includes a 2k holiday.

SimbaSimon

Our cost about 1.5k and most of that was on photos. Plus a couple of k for the honeymoon/holiday. We got married in Vegas and the weather was guranteed to be hot unlike the UK. 18.5k? I think its a waste of money personally.

Really2

Joeskeppi wrote: »

The AVERAGE wedding is 18.5k, jesus.

Mine is costing just shy of 8k and that includes a 2k holiday.

I did it for just over £3K and even got a mates villa as a gift for a weeks honeymoon.:money:

I think all the survey shows is how detached people are now from money. £18.5K gone in one day!!!!

moggylover

I have a theory (which seems to work well on those marriages I have watched around here) that the more money that is wasted on the show and shallowness of the wedding, the shorter the marriage will be:D

In one instance, the couples wedding cost in excess of £15K some six years ago, they then had to live in rented accomodation because they "could not afford" a house of their own, and despite the baby arriving just 10 months after the Wedding of the Year they were separated about two months after their first wedding anniversary!

I simply cannot imagine wasting that sort of money on a wedding and doubt if I could even if I won the lottery. I am not a "princess" and I have no desire to be one! If you are truly with the person you are meant to be with he will make you feel like a princess even when you have your pj's on and a stomach bug on the go: if not the ridiculously over-priced dress and the pomp and circumstance are not going to make it last the distance.

A property to live in and as low a mortgage as you can get might just make life less stressful in the good relationships;)

lostinrates

According to moggy's theory I will stay married for ever.

kennyboy66_2

By far the best weddings I have been to have been on the cheaper side.

1) Bride's mums house
2) Barn dance in church hall
3) In a Pub

Can never understand why anyone thinks paying £35+ a head for a crappy sit down meal is a good idea. Likewise spending £1k on a photographer, or shelling out huge amounts to make bridesmaids look like porcine fairies.

The same applies to funerals / christenings / confirmations.

kennyboy66_2

moggylover wrote: »

If you are truly with the person you are meant to be with he will make you feel like a princess even when you have your pj's on and a stomach bug on the go:

What, lock you in a tower like Rapunzel or feed you a poisoned apple?

treliac

I think it's the case that unaffordable lifestyles and debt have taken their toll on marriages and other relationships - money being one of the cornerstones of a relationship.

Love is hard to sustain when there is a huge mortgage, rising prices and nothing spare to enjoy yourselves.

treliac

kennyboy66 wrote: »

Can never understand why anyone thinks paying £35+ a head for a crappy sit down meal is a good idea. Likewise spending £1k on a photographer, or shelling out huge amounts to make bridesmaids look like porcine fairies.

Isn't a lot of it for show, maybe the parents' wants as much as the couple's? The reality of normal life afterwards is such a let down... no wonder the marriage doesn't last long!