WASHINGTON – Great news: You’ve been invited to a friend’s wedding.
Bad news: It’s in Costa Rica.
Visions of the wedding march turn into the march toward debt as you get ready to shell out if you want to attend.
Marketwatch.com reports a new poll finds 43 percent of Americans say they’ve declined attending a wedding for financial reasons.
An American Express survey found the average cost to attend a wedding, including paying for airfare, hotels, car rental, child care, party attire and the like, reached $539 in 2013 – 60 percent higher than last year.
According to American Consumer Credit Counseling, the pressure from friends and family is so strong that 36 percent have actually gone into debt over attending a wedding.
Since the average cost of a wedding last year was more than $28,000, it bodes the question:
Has anyone thought of eloping?
Learn more about the financial impact of weddings by watching the MarketWatch video below:
WTOP’s David Burd and Lacey Mason contributed to this report. Follow @DavidBurdWTOP, @LaceyWTOP and @WTOP on Twitter.
