Cathal Barry
Young couples are “postponing” getting married due to the spiralling cost of weddings, it has been claimed.
Fr Gerry O’Connor of Cherry Orchard Parish in Dublin warned that there are “huge expectations” for couples to have extravagant weddings which is forcing them to delay tying the knot.
“There are huge expectations on couples to be well clothed, to have the best of flowers, to be able to give gifts, to go to a hotel and to have an interesting and exciting honeymoon,” Fr O’Connor told The Irish Catholic.
“It means that couples are postponing getting married often until they’re 12, 15 or even more years together and they feel that they can have a celebration that they are able to afford and have family and friends gather for a big day out,” he said.
Honeymoon
Fr O’Connor’s remarks come after a survey by weddingsonline.ie revealed Irish people spend an average of €22,531 on the total cost of their wedding, including the honeymoon.
The results were based on the responses of 2,000 people, with the figure representing an increase of 6% from last year. In an effort to meet the costs of the wedding, it was revealed that 28% of people take out a loan while 22% share the costs with their parents.
Fr O’Connor said his own parish, Cherry Orchard, “try to provide an alternative” for cash-strapped couples eager to get married but who are working with a tight budget.
For the past couple of years, the parish has offered ‘weddings by candlelight’, mainly in the evening across the marriage ‘off season’ winter months in addition to its services during the in-demand summer months.
“We try to provide an alternative, candle light weddings, where you would get married in the evening time, decorating the church very simply with candles and you might have a very simple celebration afterwards as a way of reducing costs,” he said, adding that he would always impress upon couples that “cost should not deter them from getting married”.