Does the lower the wedding cost, the higher the marriage success rate?

I’ve heard that before! Here’s the link to the original study if you want to learn more:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2501480

However cost is relative. A $10k wedding may be nothing to a wealthy couple but may break the bank and cause financial strain in another marriage. Just talk to your FH and try to come up with a budget that works best for y’all. 😊

I've heard that couples who go into debt for their wedding have a higher likelihood for divorce, so in that case it kind of goes along with what Grace said before me- really depends on the couple and what is considered affordable based on their own socio-economic status.

I have heard this before but not sure how true it is. I can’t wait to read the article Grace posted. I’ve been to a few million dollar weddings some are still together some not. I’ve also been to lower cost weddings where some are still married and some are not. I agree with Caitlin that it depends on couples status and their relationship with money. So funny my mom kept asking me what is the budget as she still is in the mindset that weddings should cost what it did when she got married. My fiancé kept telling her we don’t have a budget. But I was determined that even though we have that latitude not to spend it just cause we have it and to pay everything in cash money or charge it and pay off immediately. I think what’s key here is being a good match and getting married because you are investing in each other not simply a wedding if that makes sense.

The success of a marriage is being able to get through hardships together and keep communication between each other, come up with a budget plan that will help you both. The more working together can help in many ways. To me what I am learning now for my wedding is my FH and I communicate on our pricing, how can we save, how can we compromise and stay on the same page to get through this wedding. My FH put me in charge of the wedding (setting the plans and designs) while he maintained our budget for us. You learn to work together so take your time discuss what you two are looking for and go from there. And just by building with each other not only makes something beautiful , but also, it helps a marriage grow by learning to work with one another through any time. Good luck to you and I pray everything works out for you.

I don't know if i've ever heard of that correlation but i suppose it's pretty realistic too - says a lot about a person's monetary goals and responsibility if they go in debt for a wedding and how that pans out for their financial literacy in general [which would affect a marriage]

I think that's more of a correlation vs causation. Like Grace mentioned, cost is relative. Two couples can spend the exact same amount, but one may be easily able to shoulder the cost whereas another goes into debt to pull it off. Financial problems in general can be a major strain on a relationship, so spending way more than what is feasible can start the marriage off on the wrong foot. Mandi's point about communication is also a factor if one person is spending like crazy while the other is unaware, but then they have to pay for everything together down the road.

I've never heard this, but never cared for weddings until finally planning one. I think teamwork during wedding planning is critical, and both persons must be on board with budget and expectations. Globally, adults are marrying at older ages with more developed careers, and are thus, paying for their weddings themselves, versus parents paying 20 years ago. Guest lists have changed and so the couple may no longer pay for the parent's coworkers as guests, but invest instead in guest experience. They are in control of their finances, so they may also pay more. So if you assume that these couples are more emotionally and financially secure, marrying with full intention, even though spending, perhaps these later-in-life marriages last longer. Those are big assumptions.

Eh I put very little stock into that. I have been married before and we eloped and kept everything extremely cheap.