Couples often feel obligated to treat their traveling wedding guests like royalty. Some couples planning destination weddings -- where they go to some exotic location to wed -- even offer to pay the travel expenses of some of their guests.
But is this money-wise?
Before I answered David's question, I had a few questions of my own. I asked him:
• Can the people you're inviting, and who have to travel, afford to come?
• Have you talked to the guests who are coming, and do they feel that you need to feed and entertain them?
• What's your overall budget for the wedding (wedding gifts, rehearsal dinner, reception, honeymoon)?
• How do you plan on paying for the wedding (with savings, credit card, parents' contribution)?
Here's what David said. They are inviting 150 people but budgeting for 100. (Smart move. I am still steaming about paying for 25 guests who said they were coming to my wedding but never showed up).
Their total wedding budget is about $10,000, excluding the honeymoon.
The couple is confident that everyone can afford to travel to the wedding except for one unemployed friend for whom they plan to pick up the costs.
