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December 10, 2025 19 mins
Are we spending too much on other people’s weddings?

Going to a friend's weddings can be so fun and meaningful… but it can also really hurt your wallet. A survey by LendingTree found that 31% of people who had been to a wedding in the past five years had accrued debt to attend. So what’s driving up the cost of weddings for guests? And what makes it so hard to say no to these expenses?

Brittany breaks it down with Allyson Rees, senior analyst at trend forecasting firm WGSN, and Annie Joy Williams, assistant editor at The Atlantic.

(0:00) For hosts AND guests, weddings are getting really expensive
(2:22) How much it costs to attend someone's wedding
(4:58) Men are spending just as much as women
(7:30) Weddings, social media, and "main character" energy
(11:32) Is this the one night we get to pretend we're ultra rich?
(13:42) How to say no to a friend's wedding
(17:00) Do weddings prove who your friends really are?

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