Weddings

MOB Monday: Financial Woes

Our resident wedding etiquette expert, Leslie Milk, Washingtonian lifestyle editor and author of It’s Her Wedding But I’ll Cry If I Want To: A Survival Guide for the Mother of the Bride, answers questions from and about MOBs (or MOGs!)

 My daughter wants a wedding that her father and I just can’t afford—300 guests, a fancy hotel, the works. I know this is a day that she’s been dreaming about since she was little and we want to give her a wonderful wedding, but her father just experienced a salary cut and we just don’t have the funds right now. How do I handle this?

The dreams have to fit the means. Fortunately, the days when the bride’s family had to foot the entire bill for the wedding are long gone. Couples today often contribute and the groom’s family chips in too. You can be frank with your daughter about how much you can afford to spend and leave the rest up to her. If she is mature enough to get married, she’s mature enough to manage a realistic budget based on all of the resources available.

Do you have a wedding etiquette question for Leslie? E-mail kforrest@washingtonian.com and we’ll get you the answer!