If you are going to be a bride in 2015, no doubt your time is spent pouring over options for dresses for yourself and your bridesmaid crew, scouting the perfect location for the actual vow swapping and the reception, and trying to manage the "Big Day" budget, which, if unchecked, could rival the national deficit. Bridezilla-ing ain't easy nor is it cheap and a new study reveals that if you spend a lot on your wedding, divorce is more likely.
Okay, so how did the researchers at Emory University go from 0 to 60? Here's the data. People who spend over $20,000 on their wedding are 3.5 times more likely to get a divorce than those who spend between $5,000 and $10,000. If your wedding spend is hovering at 20k, then you better start thinking about nipping and tucking those Benjamins.
Overall, this news has me wondering. So, like, does the marriage tank since you fight with your new hubby a lot because you went into debt — or your parents went into debt — so you could have the perfect dress that was worn just once? Or are you fighting because you could not recapture the live doves that were released as you shared your first kiss as man and wife?
The study examined wedding spend and marriage length, measuring data from more than 3,000 "ever-married" people and they found that the less you spend, the more likely you will remain married.
It makes sense. If you spend a lot, you are probably stressed. If you are more focused on the actual wedding than the person you are committing to spend the rest of your life with, there's an inherent problem. It's up to you to decide which element is most important.
Not to be a party smasher, but this news should encourage brides-to-be and bridezillas to be budget-conscious on their "Big Day." You can be chic and cheap. You do not need to mortgage your future to have an over-the-top wedding. Small and intimate is certainly more lovely than huge and impersonal.
Case in point: I am in a friend's wedding in April in Los Angeles. The bride has amazing taste and picked these gorgeous boho chic dresses that were under $200 and we can all happily wear them again to many other events. Now that's a thoughtful bride, and others should apply that same type of financial consideration.
Affordable and memorable should supersede the desire to make it a monstrously massive affair just 'cuz. While the wedding day is fun and all, it's the marriage that should last a lifetime. While we all know the grim reality of divorce stats in this day and age, why not pay attention to this empirical data and maybe up your chances of the union lasting as long as the diamond ring?
Read the study if you want to do more follow up research.
Images: Giphy (2)
