How Do Americans Hold Weddings?

A wedding in the U.S. can be held in grand or austere style, depending on the couple’s financial situation rather than any desire for competition. Americans don’t believe that owning property is a prerequisite for marriage. Neither a groom nor his family has the onus of preparing a honeymoon house. There is also no rule in the U.S. that says the groom’s and bride’s families must be on an equal economic level. Whether the bride or groom owns a house or car does not determine whether a couple gets married or not; in fact, two lovers can get married as long as they love each other. Additionally, parents seldom support children in purchasing a house, despite their good economic standing. Quite a few young Americans rent houses after they are married. A young couple supports themselves after the wedding. When they have considerable savings from working for several years, the couple will then consider purchasing a house.

According to a statistical report from the American Wedding Association, the average cost of an American wedding is $22,000 (approximately 138,000 RMB), and weddings cost Americans $72 billion annually. Most Americans prefer to hold weddings in June, a custom which is said to be related to Roman mythology. The English word June originates from Juno, the goddess in charge of love and marriage. Therefore, most lovers want to get married in June.

Unlike the Chinese tradition of a groom’s family hosting the wedding, a bride’s family covers the cost of the wedding in the U.S.. A bride spends mainly on a diamond ring. Since Americans value weddings, the expense of a wedding is considerable, including $500 for rental of the church or wedding space, $2,500 for rental of the reception space, $4,000 for a 100-person dinner, $2,000 for photography, $1,500 for a band, $750 for flowers, $500 for cake, $5,000 for wedding rings and $500-$1,200 for a mid-price bridal gown. Americans prefer to buy the bride’s dress. After the wedding, the bride will preserve the dress, which will be a special present for her daughter’s marriage. The food served in the banquet is relatively simple. According to the report, 38 percent of the cost of a wedding is the buffet, 34 percent goes towards the comparatively formal banquet and 28 percent merely provides the cake, cookies, and beverages. The size of a wedding varies. A wealthy person’s wedding can cost over a million U.S. dollars, sometimes even more than $10 million. For example, former U.S. President Bill Clinton spent more than $3,000,000 for his only daughter, Chelsea.

Americans are concerned about usefulness when preparing wedding gifts. Gifts normally aren’t very expensive. If you receive an invitation to your friend’s wedding, you should attend the wedding on most occasions. Guests who attend the wedding don’t give monetary gifts directly. Rather, he or she will get a gift card to a store or mall so that the new couple can pick what they want, if guest has no idea what kind of gifts the couple needs. The amount on a gift card is determined by your financial capability. If you lack financial resources, you can present a greeting card.

A common practice in the U.S. is that, when a couple is preparing for the wedding, they will put a list of goods which they like in the computer system or on the website of a store — normally Macy’s, the largest department store in the U.S. — and then inform their guests to pick gifts for them from the website. Generally, the couple will indicate on the invitation that they have chosen goods found in certain malls or kitchen appliance stores, with a website address to the list. Friends can purchase gifts based on their relationship with the couple and on their financial conditions. When a guest purchases a gift, his or her name will be immediately entered into the registry. It is thus clear on the list that who should purchase which kind of gift. Normal guests spend approximately $100 (approximately 630 RMB) on a gift.

Due to the high expense on weddings, a growing number of Americans will consider the possibility of accidents during weddings, such as one partner suddenly changing his or her mind, family intervention, extremely bad weather conditions and other factors that may cause the cancellation of a wedding. A couple therefore will buy wedding insurance to cover the loss if a wedding is canceled. Insurance can cover photography, suits, gifts and rings. The amount of wedding insurance can range from $155 to $550. The expense is approximately $155 for $1,000,000 of coverage.

There are a number of insurance companies providing wedding insurance in the U.S. Like to other types of insurance, the cost of wedding insurance depends on the cost of items and the amount of coverage. According to the American Wedding Association website, insurance claims can reach $175,000 for canceling or postponing wedding for various reasons, $1,500 for the photography or video accidents, or $10,500 for wedding dress problems. Both liability and property loss can each reach $1 million. The insurance can help reduce a couple’s worries and ensure an excellent wedding.