... No, I'm not getting married, but I am in a wedding and I have a question:

• Is it customary for those within the wedding to pay for their own attire? (I am the maid of honor and my boyfriend is the best man)

My boyfriend and I are attending a wedding next weekend which we are both apart of. Its friends of ours and while I totally understand what it means to be low on funds (quite literally, that is my life right now) - isn't this suppose to be the other way around? While I understand that with people struggling financially, because I know the bride and groom are so they're having their wedding party pay for their attire. But I'm sitting here thinking to myself: I've spent $120 on a dress I'm never going to wear again, and then I've just spent $100 on a rental tux for my boyfriend. We have to wear converse's to the wedding which will be another 100$* give or take, and then $200 on the hotel we're staying at for a few nights. This shit's expensive and I still have bills that I need paying :/ Not to mention rent is due as well.

Thoughts?

it is customary for those in the wedding party to pay for their own attire.

which sucks ass but you know, customary

As said, it is customary to have the bridal party pay for their attire to help the bride and groom. That is why it's usually awesome if a bride will let you pick your own dress, that way you can wear it in the future. If you're lucky, you might be able to find a bridal store that will let you rent your dress.

Yes, it is expected of the bridal party to pay for their own dress/tux rental, etc. It's one of the reasons you're allowed to say no when asked to be a part of a bridal party. =P

(For the record, you got off pretty easy! The bridesmaids dresses and tux rentals at my wedding came to about $175 each, and at my sister's wedding last weekend they were both $200 each. It could have been a looot worse, too - some weddings are crazy. XD)

Yeah it sucks. I hate spending hundreds of bucks on a dumb dress I never want to wear again xD But its just one of those things. I never turn someone down though bc I would feel too guilty x.x

Luckily though my cousin postponed her wedding a year away due to a baby so No shelling out $200 big bucks for me! ^-^

It's customary, but that doesn't mean you can't talk to your friend (the bride) about it. If you're going to do so make sure you do it delicately and non-stressfully because I'm sure she's going through her own pre-wedding OH MY GODs right now. But IMO it's completely ridiculous to be spending money that needs to go towards necessities on things like that, and I hope you friend understands. If she's a good friend I highly doubt she wants you putting yourself in harm's way for the sake of a bridesmaid dress. :c