The average marriage that ends in divorce hits in the eighth year of marriage. For that reason, waiting until about ten years to evaluate what’s worth it and what isn’t makes a lot of sense. After all, there’s a good chance your marriage is in a good place and your perspective isn’t jaded. Novi Money recently conducted a study of marriage expenses asking married couples if the costs were worth it and the results were telling.
No single category of expense had more than 57% of couples saying that the cost was worth it in the end. In fact, only three categories had a majority of married couples agreeing that the costs were actually worthwhile. Those were the wedding dress, photography and the cake.
Literally, every other expense category was determined by successfully married couples not to be worth it in the end. Especially with the average wedding now exceeding $30k in cost, that's something to keep in mind. I laughed going through this research because it resonated with my wife and I. This is the second marriage for both of us, now exceeding ten happy years. We both had big expensive first marriages that we agree weren’t worth, for pretty much anything. We had a smaller, low-key and much less expensive wedding and agree that everything was worth it, except for chairs and outdoor setup on the beach because it stormed, and we were married inside. But, that makes for very good memories.