Wedding season is right around the corner and this season could see a record number of nuptials as we come out of the pandemic. Last year so many weddings were postponed as we couldn't get together to celebrate two lives coming together as we normally would. Weddings for some people are the biggest days of some people's lives. It can be a huge cost for the couple and their immediate families. This week the crew discusses all things wedding costs but not for the bride and groom or their families but the wedding party's. Yes, those friends and family that pay for and travel far and wide for the bachelor and bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinners, wedding day and not to mention the dresses and tux/suits. Join us for some crazy stories and of course ways to make those incredible days a little less pricey for the ones standing up in honor of you.
Wedding season is right around the corner and this season could see a record number of nuptials as we come out of the pandemic. Last year so many weddings were postponed as we couldn't get together to celebrate two lives coming together as we normally would. Weddings for some people are the biggest days of some people's lives. It can be a huge cost for the couple and their immediate families. This week the crew discusses all things wedding costs but not for the bride and groom or their families but the wedding party's. Yes, those friends and family that pay for and travel far and wide for the bachelor and bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinners, wedding day and not to mention the dresses and tux/suits. Join us for some crazy stories and of course ways to make those incredible days a little less pricey for the ones standing up in honor of you.
Welcome to Talk Wealth To Me, a safe space podcast, where we chat about anything and everything related to personal finance, the information contained in this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes. Only. It does not constitute as accounting, legal tax or other professional advice.
Chase Peckham:It's so good to have you back with us. And this view of your new office is so cool. And Phil, congratulations on your new home purchase.
Felipe Arevalo:It's going, hopefully it goes quickly. Uh it's uh, escrow is like scary and there's like a million requests. Hey, send this, send that, send this.
Chase Peckham:Oh, it's just beginning buddy.
Felipe Arevalo:Did I break up.
Chase Peckham:No,
Felipe Arevalo:I thought I broke up again.
Chase Peckham:No, it didn't break up again. It's just the whole requests for information is just beginning.
Felipe Arevalo:Oh that's alright that's what I have been told.
Chase Peckham:That's that whole, that whole thing is pretty interesting.
Katie Utterback:Yeah. The other part too, is you get so excited when your offer is accepted on a house and then you spend escrow where everyone's telling you everything wrong with the house, you know?
Chase Peckham:Yeah. You're like, why are you guys peeing on my parade?
Katie Utterback:Yeah exactly.
Chase Peckham:This is supposed to be the most wonderful purchase of my life. It's true. And this is just one of the processes of marriage and relationships and life, right? You guys are in that stage of life. I'm in the stage of life where we've been in our house 11 years now, and we've got a teenage, a new teenager and a preteen that I'm learning how to parent and learning that that parenting or adulting is hard. And you know, it was funny, Kerry and I were just talking about Las Vegas and how different it is for us. And we just recently went to a friend of ours daughter's wedding, because we're now in that point, right in your twenties and thirties for me, I was in probably five, six weddings, not including my own, probably went to 30 of them. And now we went through that lull. And now we're at that point where we're watching our friends, older kid with older kids getting married and it made us think just the fact that we went to Vegas and it wasn't a Vegas wedding. They live out there. We went to, uh, uh, they had a real wedding out there. Um, it wasn't like the little wedding chapel with Elvis or anything like that, but just the expense to go. And it made me think of coming, especially coming out of the pandemic, how expensive it's going to be for people who are already let alone a destination destination wedding, but all those weddings that went on hold because of COVID and it couldn't have them, some did virtual weddings. And yet I have not heard from anybody firsthand how that went and maybe you guys have, but just the cost of putting on a wedding. But then what about the people that are in the weddings? And if I think about all the weddings that I was in and all the money that I put forward or tore word, all of those weddings, it probably cost me almost as much as what I paid for my own wedding, if not more out of my pocket.
Katie Utterback:Yeah. You know, I want to share a story with you guys. Um, you know, I do social media, so I'm scrolling through social media a lot. And um, I follow Chrissy Tiegen. I don't know if you're familiar with her,
Chase Peckham:Oh yes.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah.
Katie Utterback:But she actually shared a story that I found particularly hilarious yet also kind of sad. So there was this couple they met when they were 14 years old and they got engaged when they were 18 and had a baby at 20, they finally had saved up$15,000 toward their wedding,
Felipe Arevalo:There you go.
Katie Utterback:Which that's a sizeable amount. Like there are people that throw weddings for like$5,000 and under, and they're beautiful. So$15,000 is pretty decent and they met with a psychic who told them, actually, you guys need to go big. Like I see some sort of really big, beautiful wedding for you guys. So that was all that the bride needed to hear. Yep. We're actually going to get married in a destination of Aruba. And instead of$15,000, it's going to cost$ 60,000. So because the bride and groom did not actually have the money to pay for this wedding upfront, they decided to pass on the cost to the wedding guests, not even just the wedding party. So in order to come to this wedding, you had to RSVP and pay$1,500 for each person of your like family or group or whatever that was attending this wedding.
Chase Peckham:You. Wait 15. So like they had to almost, it's like buying a ticket to come to this wedding.
Katie Utterback:Yeah.
Chase Peckham:Not counting what it's going to cost to travel there and stay there. The actual cost of attending the wedding in general.
Katie Utterback:So the Bride claims that the cost of airfare and lodging was part of this. Uh, but I'm guessing not because only eight people RSVP yes plus I mean,$1,500 just for one person. Like if you're paying that much, I think a lot of people might just decide to go on their own vacation.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:Right.
Katie Utterback:At that point. Um, but yeah, so long story short for this particular couple, the bride really wanted to have what she called, um, her live like a Kardashian for a day experience. So that's why she felt that the guests should have had zero problem fronting. This money is that she felt it was just for one day for her to have all of her dreams come true. And then she said, she'd go back to living her normal life, whatever normal would be. So she actually even said, you know, like the groom's parents paid$3,000, my maid of honor paid$5,000. You should not have any problem paying$1,500. So like I said, only eight RSVP yes. And had paid the$1,500. So she actually decided to cancel the wedding after her groom had suggested Las Vegas and they actually decided to end their relationship. She cited irreconcilable differences as that reason. Um, so just to kind of, you know, transition this a little bit, I brought this up because I think a lot of times, you know, we do think about the cost of a wedding as being expensive for the wedding party. We don't necessarily think about how much that's going to be for the wedding party, nor do we think about the cost that the guess incur, you know, like chase, like you said, you guys went to Las Vegas. Even if you can drive there, like we can from San Diego, like that's still five, 10 hour car rides for like too and back gas, lodging food.
Chase Peckham:Yep.
Katie Utterback:It can add up.
Felipe Arevalo:And definitely can't I could see, I get an invitation to a wedding in Aruba. I'm definitely checking a box, respectfully decline, not attending, I don't know whose wedding it is, but I am not attending that one.
Chase Peckham:I mean, especially the fact that I'm paying up front for their expenses. I mean, that's unbelievable to me. I mean the whole time you're telling this story, my jaw is open going. You've got to be kidding me.
Katie Utterback:Yeah. So when I was reading that story, I was like, this just seems so like a once in a blue moon kind of story. But then as I do, in my free time, I was watching the real Housewives. I was watching the Real Housewives of Miami. And this was an old, old, old episode. You guys, one of the Housewives was getting married and she actually required guests to have an outfit change. So every guest that went to the wedding was required to wear all white. And then in order to be admitted into the reception, you had to change into a 1920s, great Gatsby costume. If you were not appropriately dressed, you were not admitted into the ballroom.
Chase Peckham:You gotta be kidding.
Felipe Arevalo:That's interesting. Although cheaper than Aruba,
Katie Utterback:Yes. While cheaper than Aruba, it was watching all of these people really like wealthy people. I mean, they don't put poor people on the housewives shows. They just don't. And.
Chase Peckham:of course,
Katie Utterback:you're watching all these people at the Ritz Carlton in Miami change in the parking lot in their cars begged the hotel gift shop. If they can change in the corner. I mean, it was hilarious.
Felipe Arevalo:That's funny. Yeah. That's the one where you're like, we're going to be staying at the venue so that we have access to a room and go change. But it's funny that you mentioned like all the different requirements, the Aruba one was just so extravagant and then, I mean, they, they paired it down, you know, there's always Vegas. Uh, and for us Southern, it's an easy drive. Oh, well, I don't know if Chase would call it an easy drive,
Chase Peckham:Oh yeah no.
Speaker 3:But it's a drive as opposed to air travel.
Chase Peckham:Eight hours and thirty minutes to nine hours getting home the other day. Just putting that out there. It should take Four.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. So it's something where, um, you know, it, it cuts down on cost, but those destination weddings can definitely be a burden on, on the guests that you're inviting.
Chase Peckham:Well think about that too. And Katie, I don't know, you guys are a little bit younger than me and you could be still in that. And I think you guys are still in that situation where you guys just have friends that are getting married. You're in that wedding circle still.
:yup.
Chase Peckham:And I was thinking the other day of just, it's not just the wedding too, but when you're talking about being in the wedding and let's for a man, right. It's the tux. And that depends. If, if they decide they want to rent the tux or they're telling you what kind of suit you need to buy, u m, and maybe they'll buy it at, y ou k now, some kind of store. U m, but then the bachelor parties. And I can tell you from experience that some of these bachelor parties can go crazy, like really destination expensive, not to mention what it c osts to stay there and go there. It can be, you can incur somewhere in the neighborhood of anywhere between 700 to 4,000 bucks, just for a bachelor party.
Katie Utterback:Yeah. I actually looked up on average what a groomsmen will pay. The groomsman is not the best man. A groomsman will pay on average between$1,025 and$2,770. That's the grooms, the best man always pays more.
Chase Peckham:Always.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah.
Katie Utterback:Because like you said, like the bachelor party costs, um, and even like think of day of, you know, my husband, we got married, his brother was the best man. And his brother had arranged for all of the guys to go out in the morning and have breakfast. Well, that was not inexpensive or passed on to my husband. I don't know who paid for it. If it was just the best man or they divvied it up. Um, but he also bought like a handkerchief to have in his pocket so that if my husband started sweating or whatever, he could just dab his forehead. So there's like these emergency, like preparedness kits too, that you spend money on
Felipe Arevalo:The last minute things where it's like, oh, wow. Like at our wedding, we, uh, the florist gave us a scare because they were late to the church. Um, and it was like, my brother was about to send people here's my credit card go buy every flower they have at Vons, uh, you know, thankfully they showed up finally, but you know, there there's those last minute expenses where it's like, okay, well this is your job. I don't know if you signed up for it, but we need you to go do this. Yeah, it's definitely, you know, and even on the less expensive bachelor party, bachelor weekends, it can get up there. I know because my, I have attended a virtual wedding Chase.
Chase Peckham:You have.
Felipe Arevalo:Just recently. Yeah, it was about month ago, month and a half ago. And it was just different. It was, it was easier to go to, you know, I was telling Sarah when we were 30 minutes before the wedding, you know, if this was an in-person wedding, we would have been getting ready an hour ago. We would have been dropping off kids. We would have been, uh, you know, she would have started many, many hours before getting ready.
Chase Peckham:Oh yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:Instead, it was like, let me go change into a shirt and let the kids play in the room. And we sat on the couch and grabbed a beverage or two, or I had maybe a few more, but, and then just hang out and watch a wedding on zoom. And a couple of us had our own little group text. We were in the wedding, but just kind of chatting and whatnot on, on different devices, but it was pretty cool. It was as, as a guest, it was a lot less stressful than attending an actual wedding. Although, I know they would have preferred being there. And to be honest, I would have preferred the extra expense and extra stress to get, to actually be at the wedding. Uh, I, you know, at their wedding, it, it was something where it's like, well, at least I got to experience a virtual one. Uh, you know, at least I guess. Um, but you, because of COVID and everything, his bachelor party was toned down and it consisted of, uh, a lot of golf on a weekend. And even just golfing can add up if he's like, oh, because it's his bachelor party, let's go play a nice course. And now you're paying, you know, a couple of hundred dollars for a round of golf. And, and it's like, man, if you'd have made it a golf weekend, traveling out to Arizona or Palm Springs or somewhere where there's a lot of golf things, you know, it's like that would have gotten a lot more expensive.
Chase Peckham:Oh yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:So I could see the expense going up really high. Y eah.
Chase Peckham:It's interesting. Even back when Carrie and I got married, we actually were thinking of that. We were lucky enough to get married at my family's. My parents' home up in Big Bear. And so we didn't have to pay for a venue. Um, and we in Carey, obviously being from the, being from the east coast, we, she had a lot of friends that we were inviting to come and we honestly, we didn't really expect a whole lot of people to travel that far because that can be an expense. So we did our best. And the amazing thing is, is we have amazing friends that all wanted to be there. And they, and I think we invited 150, 50 something plus people and 140 came, but we also really did our best outside of them having to stay that everybody was invited to the rehearsal dinner. And every, you know, we tried to alleviate a lot of the costs for the people traveling to the wedding, especially from foreign abroad to the actual events that were going on. We had open bar, which, because it was at our facility, it was already paid for it, right. It wasn't at an event where you had to pay so much for the, for the tab and everything else. So we did Kerry, and I did take that into consideration for the people traveling. Uh, and, and we had a lot more people than we thought, but it's still it for you. It's still the cost incurs. It's going to come from somewhere. And it's amazing too. And you guys tell me, but I re it was funny how, especially at that younger age, when everybody's kind of starting to get married in that round and, and weddings are kind of fresh in people's minds, they'll be like, how can I want up the next one? How is mine going to be a little bit better than what I experienced over here? And we all get kind of caught up in that.
Katie Utterback:Yeah. Do you guys have ever watched the show new girl?
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah love that show.
Katie Utterback:So Nick Miller, he's like your wedding party famous, right? Like it's such a big deal.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah.
Katie Utterback:To be asked to be in a wedding party, especially when you're in your earlier twenties. Um, that when I was in my earlier twenties, that's when I was a maid of honor. And I made the mistake of not realizing that I needed to check in with everyone's budget before I planned the bachelorette party. And long story short, I ended up spending like a couple thousand dollars on this bachelorette party. And I decided to eat the cost because I was embarrassed. That I had spent so much money and I didn't know like what was reasonable or what not.
Felipe Arevalo:Proper etiquette.
Katie Utterback:That was the other thing too. Like when you first start going to like bachelorette parties or bachelor parties, there's also this kind of unknown of like, well, how much am I supposed to spend on the bachelorette party versus the bridal shower versus the lingerie shower? There's a lot when you're a bridesmaid maid of honor.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. There's a lot of pressure put on those people that for sure. And you want to give that bride or groom their, the best experience, right? I mean that that's supposed to be there one time. It's their, this their big time that they're going to get to be with the person that they love for forever. And you want to give them that, that big party. And I'll be honest Kerry. I remember all of mine. I mean, I remember all of it and I have great memories of that, but I wonder, and I, and I, Kerry and I talk about this, would we do that the same thing over again? And I think Kerry and I were lucky enough at the point where we were in our lives. We were both, Kerry was in her upper twenties was already in my mid thirties and we were a little bit more established. And we were thinking a little bit, honestly, a little bit more mature in thinking about the law hall, the picture, you know, how are we going to live daily? And what were we going to spend on that? And that, that helped a little bit because when you're younger, I think you just have this unrealistic view of what you need in a wedding and what you need in your day. I don't want to say you have unrealistic expectations of what you want, but what you really need. And the fact of how far that money that you're going to spend for that week. You know, I say call it a week because there's festivities before, you know, you get excited. It's not just about the day. And then there's the honeymoon and all of that. If it comes right after, and these days, it's not necessarily coming right after the wedding, but the idea of how far that money can go and other things, and we just, at the top of this said, congratulations on you guys buying your home. How much could you put down on a home that you spent for that wedding? It's, it's interesting.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. It's, it's also interesting, like you mentioned, uh, I'm getting older. So I think all my friends are, I got one friend left where it's like, we'll see when he gets married, but it's something where I, I am the oldest of my cousins, my very long list of cousins. So I'm getting to the point now where I don't think I'll be in their weddings, but I have three cousins getting married in the next year. Um, I just RSVP for one, uh, earlier this week and it's something where the other ones don't, haven't given me dates yet, but it is coming and Sarah sister's getting married early next year. Um, and, and it's just like, because we have younger family members, I've got, a bunch of weddings on the horizon still to attend as a guest. I think they're staying local except for her sister who's out in Arizona. But I mean, it's something where it's like it doesn't stop. Um, and you're, you're at the point you mentioned Chase where you don't have friends getting married, but you're starting the new streak of having your friends, kids getting married, which is same idea. Uh, same expense wise anyways, as attending. Um, and it is wedding season in, and Sarah reminded me the other day that in animal crossing the video game it's wedding season. And apparently they even, because June is such a big wedding thing. And with so many weddings getting pushed from 2020, this could be a very, very busy like people listening, you probably have a wedding coming up and,
Chase Peckham:Yeah,
Felipe Arevalo:and it's something where it's important to try and budget and plan for it. And hopefully you get a lot of heads up on the, save the dates. And before you even get the invitation and everything to allow you more time to plan, and it's not too of these like, Hey, let's party wedding in a month, uh, you know, or they take into consideration your costs.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. I mean, did that story that you told off the beginning, uh, Katie was, is just unbelievable. And the fact that when people are putting on, they got to think of that. They got to think of the people in it too, right. Because we think how many are we going to have on each side? Right. Cause then you might have one person who's got tons of friends and doesn't want to leave anybody out. And then you've got maybe the other person who's got maybe three or four friends that they really, really want. And they've got a brother or something like that. That's going to be their best man. But you got, I hope you would hope that people would put into consideration that, you know, this is going to cost them a lot too.
Katie Utterback:Yeah. I mean, when we got married, I made the guest experience like top of mind, pretty much like if it came down to like something I really, really wanted versus the guest experience, like it was a tough decision for me because I had been to so many weddings where even when you're a guest, you know, like you have to, like you said Felipe you have to dress up. If you have kids, you have to incur the cost of a babysitter or an overnight nanny, whatever. And then you also have the cost of like a gift usually. And I don't know what kind of philosophy you guys use, but I was always told you give a gift to the couple based on what you would spend for a nice night out with your partner. So I always kind of gift, like if we went out to a really nice dinner, like what would I give? And that's usually what I give. So it's not exactly cheap to be just an attendee either.
Chase Peckham:Just a guest let alone the wedding party. Right. So it is nice when the, the bride and groom do have the open bar or they actually have food. Yes
Felipe Arevalo:Food is important,
Chase Peckham:Extremely important.
Katie Utterback:Have you guys, I was invited to a wedding once where I got to the, um, so it was a relative of mine, but we got to the in-laws house and I was handed a vacuum like before the ceremony, like fully dressed, asked to help clean the house. And this was a destination wedding for me. Cause I didn't live where this wedding was. And they also asked every single attendee to bring dessert. So instead of having a wedding cake or any sort of dessert, every attendee was supposed to incur, I guess the cost of dessert cake, whatever.
Chase Peckham:Oh my goodness.
Felipe Arevalo:Wow that's a creative one.
Katie Utterback:I know People are trying to be creative, but it doesn't necessarily always land. I
Chase Peckham:Would have said, yeah, there is a fine line between being, uh, being creative with your wedding expenses and being downright cheap.
Felipe Arevalo:And it's funny, you know, Chase and I, if we were a wedding, we have it easy compared to Katie. Um, you know, because you rent a tux, you get a haircut and you're done and it doesn't quite work that way for women who have to be part of a wedding. There's so much more time,
Chase Peckham:Time commitment is gigantic for.
Felipe Arevalo:Time commitment and money.
Chase Peckham:For the bridal party versus the grooms
Felipe Arevalo:You just can't go rent a bridesmaids dress. Right? Or, I mean, you might be able to I don't know,
Chase Peckham:I mean, it depends. I mean, Kerry's bridesmaids, dresses were cheaper than what it costs my tux rental.
Felipe Arevalo:I don't think that's usually the case though.
Katie Utterback:It depends on the bride and the groom. I think what I'm learning is it depends on the bride and the groom for everything.
Chase Peckham:It really does. You're, you're a hundred percent, right. A hundred percent. Right. And not only that, but the, the renting was such a pain in the neck for us because we, you know, you had people coming from all over the place and you're renting. We rented from this one little place in La Jolla and it wasn't like, it was in retrospect, we should have done it at like a men's warehouse.
Felipe Arevalo:One of the chains.
Chase Peckham:Everybody has one. Right. But we didn't do that because we wanted to, you know, help out a local, but it was a pain I had to take them all back. And then there's, you know, things missing. And you don't know whose is whose that was a giant, giant pain in the neck.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. I think when you have people coming in from other parts, that's where the chains really help out. Or it's like, just go to your local, this or that. And then have it get measured there, order it there and then have it delivered to your destination one. So, you know, they get measured in Louisiana or whatever, and then they show up and it's waiting for them in La Mesa type of thing where it's like, it makes it easier that way. But it's something where I don't know. I always just assumed by getting dress just seems so much harder than getting a tux.
Katie Utterback:It is because you have like eight female personalities, all trying to say like this cut this fabric, this color is the best. And I mean, truthfully, like what does that book, the sisterhood of the traveling pants wear that one pair of jeans fit these four different women. I mean, that's just not real.
Chase Peckham:No That's not a, that's not a common thing. And everybody has different skin and different colors that look good on them and different cuts that look good. In fact, that's interesting because there's a, an article in the spruce.com, which is really interesting. And, and some of the tips that they give, uh, it is interesting it's to have a conversation with the bride about the dresses, because the isn't that normally like the, I, and I'm not obviously never been in one, but the idea that it became a long-standing joke that bridesmaid's dresses are just terrible looking and that they don't have to be right.
Katie Utterback:No.
Chase Peckham:And they don't have to be expensive.
Katie Utterback:you as the bride can choose if you want your attendants to look beautiful, or if you want them to look like a sad eighties photo, It's your choice. But I also feel like if you need to make your bridesmaids look ugly in order for you to feel more beautiful, like.
Felipe Arevalo:Missed the point.
:[inaudible]
Katie Utterback:you to get married, the bridesmaids are not eligible like that day.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. I mean, and there's great ways to do this, especially with destination weddings or because I mean, a lot of times it's going to be a destination destination for somebody, right? It's not necessarily, it may be local for the, for the bridal party or for the bride and groom, but it could, it's probably split are going to be a lot of people traveling. And so with an Airbnb these days, you can save some money by maybe even getting houses together, right. Get a four bedroom home and have friends of yours that you can all stay together and stay in instead of staying in individual, uh, hotel rooms that can, that can save some money here and there as well,
Felipe Arevalo:Or call the hotel ahead of time. If you know, your many people are traveling to an area.
Chase Peckham:Get a block.
Felipe Arevalo:And get a block and get a deal that way and say, you know, I know that this person, that person, there's a bunch of us going there, let me just start calling hotels in the area and say, Hey, can I get a block of rooms for this many people for this date? And that could save you some money as well. And you know,
Chase Peckham:And that Just happened when we were at our last wedding. And that typically is the case. I t's a good way to go.
Katie Utterback:Yeah. So I think all of us got married later, right?
Chase Peckham:Yeah,
Felipe Arevalo:yeah.
Katie Utterback:Yeah. So the average age of getting married is like 27.
Chase Peckham:That's Wow. That's nationally?
Katie Utterback:Yeah. So it's actually, the woman's age is 27. Um, I think they assume the guy is a little bit older, but I don't know, but it also noted that in that group, then it's like age 25 to 34. Like if you're 27, your friends probably range in age 25 to 34, right? The average 25 to 34 year old has less than a thousand dollars in their savings account. But like we talked about the cost of being in one wedding averages,$1,200.
Chase Peckham:All right. So I have my own version of planes, trains, and automobiles, and a good friend of mine got married in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. And his family is from Wisconsin. And they used to go to Boothbay Harbor every summer. And it was like, that was his, you know, Mecca, right. That, that was, that was where he wanted to get married. And they did, but Boothbay Harbor, Maine in the very, very it's above Portland, Maine, Maine, beautiful area, but it's not easy to get to. And when you're living in San Diego, you are pretty much on the exact opposite, right? You, you can't get any further from Boothbay Harbor, Maine. And at the time like you just, mentioned Katie, I think I was making maybe$2,000 a month. Uh, at the time I was probably 25, 26 years old and 27 maybe. And I had to take it. Actually, my buddy gave me all these vouchers for, uh, Southwest airlines and which I used, but I had to go from San Diego to Tennessee, to Nashville, Nashville, to Boston, Boston, to New Hampshire, rent a car in New Hampshire and drive three hours from New Hampshire all the way up into Boothbay Harbor, Maine taking a total of 16 hours to get there.
Felipe Arevalo:Oh wow.
Chase Peckham:And, you know, I put everything on a credit card. I had, I shared a room with, uh, with, uh, a friend of ours that was also in the wedding party. It was insane. And it took me just as long to get back. And I think the whole thing costs me$1,400 and I made$2,000 a month. It was, it was crazy. But you know, at the same time it'll be a lifetime of memories and you know, they're still married today and they've got two kids and we're still very, very close and I'm glad I went, but you know, it's, it's hard to say no to things like that. When in reality, I probably should have, because I was probably paying that debt off for, for years.
Katie Utterback:I really, I have a question for you. So I found out that 68% of bridal party members will have to use a credit card to cover the expenses.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Katie Utterback:Almost 70% of the bridal party needs their credit card. Um, there's 37% of people that end up regretting that debt being on their credit card years later,
Chase Peckham:For sure.
Katie Utterback:Two years have gone by, they're still paying for that horrible bridesmaid dress. Did you have that experience at all, where you're looking at your debt and being like, why did I do this?
Chase Peckham:Yeah. I mean, I think I did. I think, well, to be honest, Katie, I, there was a lot of things that I was regretting and purchasing in my younger years and paying back that debt, there was a lot of things and decisions that I made that were very questionable, uh, regarding finances, you know, but you live in, you learn, but yes, I wish that I had man. That's hard. You know, I don't know if I ever will get the experience of, of that beautiful wedding in a lighthouse on the shore of Maine. I can always say that I've, you know, I've been to Maine once and that was it. So there's part of me that says, you know what, it was worth the experience. But if you were to asked me three years after the wedding, if it was worth it and paying back, all that debt I'd have said, no, I have a different view on it now I think because I'm not in that situation, but right after it. Yeah. I, I think I probably would have made a different decision
Katie Utterback:And you guys are still friends, right?
Chase Peckham:Oh yeah. Yes.
Katie Utterback:So that probably helps.
Chase Peckham:Yeah, it does. Yes. Oh, how many weddings I went to where I don't even know where those people are anymore.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. It's something where you know, that, that has a big effect on it. I would imagine the fact that you're still friends with them makes it seem like, okay, that was worth it. If you'd lost touch with them and never really kept up after about, you know, a year or two after the wedding, then it becomes like; man, I'm still paying for your wedding. We don't even talk anymore.
Chase Peckham:No, that's true. Well, I mean, I hope everyone, You know, in, in their wedding season that they, they can, uh, get through it and have fun and be able to say no. And if, if you have to, I mean, that's hard to do, but, uh, wedding season is upon us groom season and bridle, bridesmaid season is upon us. And so good luck to all those people out there. And for Phil and Katie, you guys, if you have those coming up, uh, good luck to you guys too.
Felipe Arevalo:Thank you.
Chase Peckham:And as always, if you enjoy this podcast, please like us follow us, download the episodes, write a review.[inaudible].