Congratulations, you’re engaged! Now, it’s time to plan your wedding. There are many questions that will be thrown your way: “How did he propose?”; “When is the wedding?” “What are your colors?” These questions, and many others, may be extremely overwhelming once you and your fiancé make your announcement. FINGERS IN INK would like to help ease the burden of your newfound wedding planning journey during a pandemic. There are a lot of traditions couples feel they must follow. We are here to help dispel those myths!


Be prepared to open your wallets! The longstanding tradition of having the bride’s parents pay for all wedding expenses is no more. While there are many families that follow this age old tradition of the bride’s family “paying a dowry” for their daughter’s wedding, rest assured this is no longer the norm. Most couples certainly want to be price conscious when it comes to planning their big day. This is why, in today’s time, you will see parents on both sides financially assisting their children. Other wedding party members may typically help in this endeavor as well. Or the couple, may take on the cost of the wedding themselves. Here’s a short rundown of who can pay for what:
A. Bride or Bride’s family:
a. church and reception site rental
b. cake and catering
c. invitations, announcements, and stationery
d. wedding dress
e. wedding photographer
B. Groom or Groom’s family:
a. marriage license
b. officiant’s fee and travel expenses
c. wedding night accommodations
d. honeymoon
e. rehearsal dinner
THE GROOM'S PARENTS HAVE TO PAY FOR THE REHEARSAL DINNER
As noted above, a lot of these time honored traditions have been broken. As discussed in a Southern Bride & Groom article, the groom’s parents can still pay for the rehearsal dinner. However, like most other traditions, nothing is set in stone.

Five years ago, I attended my first weekday wedding. It was a Friday night, and could not have been more perfect. As I knew the date ahead of time, I had the option to work that day, take a half day, or take the entire day off work. Either way, I knew I was in for a great weekend ahead with a Friday night wedding. I believe I opted to take the day off work so I did not have to feel rushed with preparing for my friends’ special day. Due to the pandemic, a lot of weddings have been rescheduled, Saturday dates are filling up quickly so Fridays and Sundays are becoming the second option.
If you invite someone to your wedding, it is up to them to make the effort to attend regardless of the date, time, or place.” Don't feel bad for opting to host your date on a Friday or Sunday. Ultimately this will save you money for selecting this alternative date. Even “The Knot” agrees! “Sunday weddings seem to prolong the fun -- the rehearsal may be on Friday night with Saturday as a day to recuperate and finish up last-minute details before the Sunday event. A Friday night affair enables you to have a post wedding brunch or get-together on Saturday; then guests still have another day of the weekend to relax before heading back to the grind on Monday. Thursday night weddings are gaining popularity …opting for a wedding on a day other than Saturday is a great way to spend less, while still having the wedding you want.”

WEDDING SEASON IS MAY-JUNE
“Wedding venues definitely have a peak wedding season and low season. In general, wedding season months begin in late spring and continue through early fall and are therefore the most expensive, with weddings peaking in June and September. Winter, on the other hand, is often much cheaper—unless it’s December, when you’ll find yourself competing with company holiday parties and other non-wedding events for those much-desired dates. Perhaps you want to get married when a particular flower is in bloom. A popular wedding planner, David Tutera, provided this flower guide to assist brides in setting their wedding date. How perfect is this? Any month or day is “wedding season” in my book. The wedding industry will give the notion that wedding season is just in May and June. But, in the Washington, DC area you will tend to find that weddings are most popular in March, April, May, June, September, October and November. Fall weddings are extremely popular for the same reason as May and June ... perfect weather.
Depending on your location, and the capacity restrictions on the venues the season of hosting larger weddings will change month to month. As we navigate through the wedding season, stay up to date with your local event notifications. So that you are staying aware of the fluid changes.
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