For a little bit of context, r/weddingshaming is a dedicated subreddit that’s all about shaming wedding themes, brides and grooms, wedding parties, in-laws (and outlaws), guests, vendors, and everyone in-between.

The community is home to over 584,000 members who feel no shame in shaming that which is shame-worthy. It’s important to note that this sub isn’t for asking for advice or judgment calls, so be warned.

Much of the subreddit’s content revolves around a number of main topics that can mostly be categorized under entitlement and family drama. Most days, it’s people disregarding certain dress code taboos, guests getting out of line, or mothers-in-law doing their thing. Other themes include alcohol, cringe, greed, and, of course, memes and satire.

So, why are weddings so difficult to pull off? Same reason why there’s a law of sorts in engineering that dictates the more moving parts you have in a machine, the more likely it is to break. Sure, weddings can range from simple to over-elaborate depending on the imagination of the newlyweds-to-be. But even the basics require a lot of time, energy, and, you guessed it, money.

Weddings are so problematic that there’s this thing called wedding stress. Just think about it: creating guest lists, finding venues, sending invites, coordinating with vendors, managing budgets, creating your looks, organizing a wedding party, deciding on seating, planning a honeymoon and a million billion other things—can it be anything other than stressful at this point?

Wedding stress involves a number of symptoms, everything from exhaustion to high blood pressure to irritability and depression. But they are all there to tell you to plan, stay organized, set boundaries, anticipate stressors, and, above all else, practice self-care and positivity. At the end of the (wedding) day, it’s a celebration, and you, of all people, should have fun.

So, what does the average wedding look like these days? According to the National Wedding Survey that surveyed nearly 2,500 individuals in the UK in 2022, it’s a number of things.

Turns out, today’s average wedding is a $22,382 (£18,400) hit in the wallet. Consider that half(ish), i.e. 47%, of all couples decided to go over their budget, and 63% of them got financial aid from friends, family, and other funders.

The average wedding is between millennials aged 25 through 34, who likely got engaged in December, and were set to get married in August or September. 26% of them met on online dating apps and 3 in 5 of them bragged about their engagement on social media. A lot of these couples prompted for a first date (86%) and a cake cutting ceremony (79%), but very little went with an alcohol-free wedding (11%).

Their wedding includes 81 guests, 10 vendors, and a honeymoon. Speaking of which, half of them will most definitely be on the beach with a 23% chance of spending more during the honeymoon than previous generations of newlyweds.

Lastly, 1 in 10 couples never lived together before marriage, 1 in 3 were saving for their wedding (as well as house), the same number also had children before marriage, and 1 in 5 went with an eco-friendly wedding option.

For context, the average wedding in the US is pricier by about 20% (i.e. $28,000). Besides that, cakes aren’t a huge priority (sub-$100 in a 3rd of all cases), and wedding trends are a bit different. The most popular one (91%) was the first dance, followed by 79% of couples color-coordinating floral arrangements and wedding colors. Another popular tradition was the flower girl and ring bearer, with nearly 2/3 of couples prompting for it.

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