I recently stumbled upon a social media post from someone near where I live. The post depicted a bride offering her reserved wedding venue for “sale” at a discounted price, following the cancellation of her wedding. This former fiancé was offering up her reservation for $1500 off what she had reserved it for. This got me thinking: what happens when the formerly betrothed brides have to cancel their wedding?
A quarter-million engagements a year don’t actually work out.
According to a 2013 study by “The Wedding Report,” about 250,000 engagements in America don’t actually end in marriages. In an article entitled “You’ve Canceled the Wedding, Now the Aftermath [1],” writer Amy Sohn says that the stats on cancelled engagements are probably actually much higher because many couples don’t tell anyone that they got engaged in the first place.
The closer the wedding cancellation is to the actual date of the nuptials, the more likely it is that things have already been paid for including the venue, food, dress, flowers, tables, chairs, the cake, and decorations, among other stuff.
How much do weddings cost?
So how much is the average wedding? According to The Knot, the “average [1]” cost of a wedding in Michigan is currently $27K. Which leads me to ask: ARE YOU PEOPLE NUTS???!
When I got married in 1999, I only spent about $3,000. That was my ceiling. That included the dress, flowers, the venue (Frances Park on Moore’s River Drive in Lansing), and the food (Subway sandwiches, potato salad, baked beans, watermelon and other picnic food).
Don’t snicker. I could care less about salmon or chicken on china plates. Me and my hubby love “picnic food.” We also love not being broke – so there was no way we were spending oodles of money on a wedding. Even our honeymoon had a limit of about $2,000.
For those of you not lucky like me and who are currently swimming amidst the wreckage of shattered dreams with no wedding in your immediate future, what are your options after spending a small fortune on your dream wedding?
Option One: The Bonfire of Regrets…
Gather all your wedding paraphernalia, invite some friends over, and channel your inner Carrie Underwood by setting fire to the remnants of your once cherished day.
Bonus points if you burn up those hideous bridesmaids dresses you were going to make your besties wear.
Option Two: The Great eBay Escape…
Let’s turn those tears into cash, shall we? Snap some glamor shots of your wedding loot, slap ’em on eBay, Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, and watch the offers roll in. Who knows, maybe someone out there has a penchant for peacock-themed table runners and is willing to pay top dollar for your post-heartbreak treasure trove.
Use the venue for a better purpose.
Now, let’s also address the elephant in the room – that venue you forked over a small fortune to secure. You know, the one that was going to be the backdrop for your fairytale romance until Prince Charming turned out to be more of a frog in disguise.
There are a few options for this: Like the un-bride-to-be I mentioned at the beginning of this article, you can sell or “auction” off the place to some other unassuming chump. Or you can host a party for your 500 closest relatives and friends – folks who already have the date circled on the calendar, plane and hotel reservations and time off from work!
Why let a fabulous venue, great food and a lot of booze go to waste when you can eat and drink yourself into oblivion and celebrate the fact that you’re NOT marrying the narcissistic and cheating bozo that your parents had warned you about?!!
When women back out of their wedding.
Weddings are cancelled for a multitude of reasons, ranging from financial concerns to a reluctance to commit, or even the realization that the partner isn’t compatible for the long haul (i.e. they are a Democrat!)
In a survey done for Buzzfeed [2], former brides-to-be cited their reasons for cancelling their weddings and at the top of the list: the boyfriend cheated; the woman panicked about spending the rest of her life with her fiancé, the guy didn’t want the woman’s pets around (DUMP HIM IMMEDIATELY!!!!); or they found out about previous girlfriends or ex-wives not previously disclosed (that would be a drag).
So, when the love train hits a U-turn and the wedding is off, don’t panic because you have options: From burning the remnants of your once cherished day to cashing in on eBay, there’s no shortage of choices for how to navigate the wreckage of canceled plans.
Cheers to you and your newfound freedom!