It’s Spending Season

The bride and groom aren’t the only ones doing some big spending on the wedding. More than 61 million Americans plan to attend at least one wedding this year, and guests expect to shell out an average of $339 to attend the festivities, according to the American Express Spending and Saving Tracker, an online survey of 1,500 U.S. adults. That $339 figure includes travel arrangements and clothing, in addition to childcare preparations. The 2012 figure is down from $490 in 2011. If a person is in the wedding party, the average expense goes up to $377, also a drop from last year ($539). Obviously, guests are invited because the couples wants to celebrate with them, not force them to spend hundreds of dollars. However, those guests do have their own wish lists of what they hope the couple does spend money on for the wedding. The most guests secretly (or not so secretly) pine for the couple to pour their budget into great food, followed by an awesome venue, entertainment and wedding cake. While ore than half of unabashed couples (53 percent) prefer cash gifts over registry items (18 percent), but 34 percent of consumers surveyed typically gift from the registry. To determine the amount they’re willing to spend on a wedding gift guests rely first on their relationship to the couple and then take their budget into account. According to the survey, guests plan to spend an average of $166 on gifts on close family getting married, down $30 from last year, and an average of $105 for close friends.