A woman has shared how she had to dip into her house deposit savings in order to attend a friend’s “lavish” overseas wedding.
Lucy Jones was thrilled to be invited to the celebration, but baulked when she realised it would come with a steep price tag of almost £1,000 for just three days away.
The 29-year-old didn’t want to miss out, but felt she had no choice but to dip into her LISA in order to attend.
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“I think abroad weddings are really special, and having been on the trip, it really was magical – but I find it all quite presumptuous and lavish,” the marketing manager, from Liverpool, told Need To Know.
“Once is fine, but it sets a precedent for everyone else, and I don’t know how people afford multiple weddings and hens in a year.
“They essentially become your holiday for the year, which I don’t think is right.
“I definitely wouldn’t expect that of my friends or family.”
The wedding, which was for a “fairly close” school friend, took place in Turkey.
Lucy said of the decision to go: “It was difficult as I wanted to be there for my friend and celebrate her special time, but the trip was quite extravagant, and you almost couldn’t say no.
“I often get money anxiety, and the only way I could afford it was to use the savings I’ve been building up to buy a home.”
For Lucy, that meant dipping into her LISA savings.
She said: “It’s not ideal, and saving for a house is a huge goal of mine, but it definitely took the anxiety out of racking up a credit card bill.
“I aim to put around £200 into my LISA each payday.
“I usually live pay cheque to pay cheque, so I sort of had to take it from the LISA.”
Research undertaken by greeting card marketplace thortful found the average cost of attending a wedding has reached a staggering £451 – though Lucy was left paying double that to attend her friend’s nuptials.
She added: “It was worth it – however, I think it’s because it was the first wedding abroad I’ve been to, so it was a novelty.
“If everyone expected the same, it would be less special and completely unaffordable.
“Luckily, a lot of the costs were prepaid for the trip, but if you were expected to pay loads more whilst there, it would cause so much money anxiety.”
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