Invited to a Wedding? Here’s Dave Ramsey’s Advice to Make Attending More Affordable

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During this wedding season, some advice from Dave Ramsey could help make it more affordable to attend your friend’s special days. 

According to The Knot, the average cost of attending a wedding was about $460 per guest in 2021. And prices only go up if a wedding is out of town. Those who drove out of town for a wedding spent an average of $660, and those who flew somewhere spent an average of $1,270.

This is a really huge amount of money to put on your credit cards to celebrate someone else getting married. But, of course, even if you end up taking a hit to your bank account, you’ll likely want to be there on your friend’s special days.

The good news is, there are ways to reduce these costs in some circumstances. Finance expert Dave Ramsey has some advice on how to do that. But which of his suggestions should you follow?

Share travel costs

Ramsey suggested teaming up with a friend to reduce the cost of attending a wedding, such as by carpooling in a shared rental car or splitting a hotel room among several guests.

This is actually great advice, because doing this can make the wedding even more fun — especially if you are going to see friends you don’t get to visit often. When I’ve attended weddings, my friends and I have regularly implemented this approach. We did tweak his suggestion a bit, though, and split an Airbnb instead of a hotel, as the prices for a big group were lower and we got more bang for our buck.

If you’re going to share costs with others, be sure you’re clear up front on how expenses will be split. Will you all share the room cost equally, for example, or will those with a bigger bedroom at the Airbnb pay more. And will both rental car and gas costs be split between all parties, or will you use one person’s car and the other will pay for gas?

You don’t want to spoil the fun of the event with a conflict over how to split the bill, so discuss these issues before you head out.

Be strategic about booking your trip

Ramsey also has some suggestions for being strategic about lowering travel costs, including researching deals and traveling on the cheapest days (like flying on Tuesday or Wednesday).

Obviously, shopping around for low-price fares makes sense, but it may not be worth your while to schedule your travel around airfares. Weddings, of course, are on specific days — usually a Saturday — and getting to the event several days early just to get a cheaper flight would mean paying more for lodging and food and missing more work, so you may end up with more out-of-pocket costs with this approach.

Skip some of the special events

Another idea Ramsey had was to skip some of the events like the bridal shower or other parties surrounding the big day. While this advice may seem smart, the reality is that the couple who is getting married are going to be really busy at the wedding itself. If you really want time to connect with them, and you’re already paying the cost to travel for the ceremony, you may as well pay a little extra to go to these more intimate affairs.

Combine your vacation with a wedding

Finally, Ramsey advises trying to combine your wedding with a vacation so you don’t have to take a separate trip. And this advice is definitely worth following. Not only will you save money by not having to travel to multiple destinations, but you may also get to explore someplace you otherwise wouldn’t have visited.

I’ve implemented several of these tips myself, including combining a wedding with a vacation, so pick and choose the ones that work for you and enjoy this upcoming wedding season. One day, many of your friends will be old and married (like mine are) and you’ll miss it.

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