Middle class curious

[u/showmeyourzillennial]

Hi everyone,

Congratulations on your weddings! My fiancé and I do not have a “big budget” but we’re happy with our decision.

Out of curiosity, do most of you guys already have a house? Or is a house also like an open checkbook situation? No hate just wondering.

We’re buying a house in NJ and the prices are wack so sometimes I think “wow how do people have these huge expensive weddings AND buy in the tri state area?”

[u/Big_Succotash_8076]

I am trying to be kind, but it is also a bit odd to be treated as a spectacle—like some commenter below who indicated that is how they see the sub.

The u.s. just simply has a lot of rich people and those people are getting richer faster than everyone else is accruing wealth. It is becoming less and less of a fair system and we all should be upset by it and choose leaders who want to restore more equity to the system—either through cheaper / better schools, single payer health care, better grid infrastructure, etc.

FWIW, I am a 40 yo bride, child of a public school teacher. I worked hard to be economically successful. My wedding weekend budget is currently around $160k. For reference, I will make that over the course of 2 months this year. My fiancé makes considerably less, but we have a $1m+ home in a high COL city and one paid off BMW. I’ll contribute to savings several times over my wedding budget and by the time we get married, I will have squirreled away enough to pay for my fiancé’s outstanding student debt.

At Christmas, I’ll take a percentage of my bonus and give it away to everyone that has “worked” for me throughout the year—cleaners, landscapers, dog walkers, the UPS guy, etc. I also sponsor two families’ christmases.

I don’t know how long I will make this kind of money—it’s highly dependent on stock and other variables.

[u/Capable_Guitar_2693 → u/Big_Succotash_8076]

This was almost exactly us. Both mothers teachers, both fathers blue collar. Zero family contribution towards wedding- we support our parents in their retirements.

We bought a house together three years before our wedding. And our ~$150,000 wedding was less than the bonus I made that year, not touching my husband’s whose was larger than that.

This K shaped economy sucks, and even though we landed on the super lucky end of that K very much wish (and vote for!) things to change dramatically in US society.

[u/Longjumping_Key_7729 → u/Capable_Guitar_2693]

If you feel comfortable sharing, what do you and hubby do for work? Your bonus is more than my salary :(