Traditionally, it used to be that the bride’s parents paid for everything except the rehearsal dinner and the tuxedo rentals, the latter two falling to the groom’s parents. While many families still follow these traditions, some do not.  Instead, here’s what today’s modern bride needs to keep in mind. You need to figure out an equitable distribution of wedding costs, based on the financial discussions you’ve had with your respective parents, and who can afford what. Have your par ents offered to pay for the entertainment as their gift to you? Great, go for it. Would your fiancé’s parents like to stick with tradition and pick up the tab for the rehearsal dinner? That would be wonderful.

On the other hand, while it would be great if everyone’s parents could help pay for a wedding, that isn’t always a reality. Today’s brides and grooms marry later in life and because they are more self-supportive in other areas of their life, their parents may just assume that they’ll be so with their wedding as well. Also, I’ve heard of families who’d originally set aside money to pay for a son or daughter’s wedding but
when that didn’t happen as soon as the parents expected, they used that money to buy a vacation home or to funnel into their retirement savings. Sure, that’s not an ideal situation but it may be your reality. So don’t just assume that you can hand your parents a bill at the end of your wedding plans and expect them to pony up thousands of dollars.

It’s worth repeating that you’ve got to talk to your families first and find out what kind of financial contributions they can afford to make towards your wedding. Don’t go into your wedding plans assuming or expecting anything you haven’t talked about with your parents already. You’ll only end up disappointed and potentially in greater debt than youanticipated.