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BRIDES (special section) Who Traditionally Foots The Bill
Often the groom and his family will offer to share some of the expenses of the
wedding which have been traditionally carried by the bride's family. The
question should not be raised by the bride's family, however; the groom's
family must volunteer to share expenses.
Today, many brides and grooms are picking up the cost of the wedding
themselves. What follows is the traditional breakdown of costs:
BRIDE'S FAMILY
Engraved invitations and announcements
The bridal outfit
Bridal photographs
Bridal consultant
The bride's trousseau
Cost of the bride's premarital blood test for license
The bride's "maiden dinner"
Cost of the reception
Flowers for the church and the reception
Gratuities for off-duty policemen or others asked to direct traffic
Corsages for the bride's mother and grandmothers
Flowers for the bride and her attendants, her father's bouttoniere
Bridesmaids' party
Gifts for the bride's attendants
The groom's wedding ring
Music at the church and reception
Sexton and organist fee, choir fee
Carpets, ribbons, awnings, tents
Fee for the church rental
A limousine for the bride and other cars for transportation
A wedding gift or a honeymoon trip
Hotel bills for out-of-town attendants if they cannot be accommodated by the
bride's family, friends or relatives
Transportation for the bridal party from ceremony to reception
GROOM'S EXPENSES
The wedding ring
The marriage license and cost of groom's premarital blood test
The bride's flowers (the bridal bouquet if she wears a bridal gown, or a
corsage), and the going-away corsage
His own, the ushers' boutonnieres and that of his father
Corsage for his mother and grandmothes
Gifts for the ushers
A wedding gift for the bride
His bachelor dinner
The entire cost of the wedding trip (unless this is a gift from the parents)
His own wedding and wedding trip clothes
The home into which the new couple will move and major furnishings
Hotel bills for his best man and ushers if they cannot be accommodated by his
friends, family or relatives
--Source: Amy Vanderbilt
Book of Etiquette
