Marry or not, provide an intimate or grandiose ceremony, invite loved ones or all your circle of friends … These are questions that come to all couples that envisage a union. And which differ according to tastes, but also the budget. In the United States, a recently united couple decided to avoid this constraint by simply making their wedding entry to their relatives. Their goal? Avoid paying everything from their pocket.
A VIP formula to be placed at the forefront is the bouquet!
Marley Jaxx, 34, and Steve J. Larsen, 37, two love entrepreneurs wanted to break traditional codes. What was initially a joke between them became reality: to attend their union, the guests (excluding the nearby family) could choose between two formulas:
- The first, a classic ticket at 57 dollars (around 49 euros), gave access to the ceremony and reception organized on August 1ᵉʳ in Honalee Farm, in Idaho;
- The second, a VIP pack for two people at a price of 997 dollars (around 857 euros), offered a program spread over three days, with in particular rehearsal dinner, wellness activities, brunch, as well as first row squares for the ceremony.
In total, the couple sold a hundred conventional tickets and 30 VIP packs, reimbursed their fees and even received a surplus of $ 132,000, which they gave to an association. And if the bride admits that the method seems “disruptive”, she refutes to qualify it as vulgar or interested.
“”We create an experience to celebrate our marriage with people who wish to participate, and contributions are used directly to make this possible without going into debt, while supporting one of our favorite causes. “
Go to a wedding as to a festival
Paying the presence of guests at a wedding, however, has something to question, about the place you give to your loved ones, on what you want to share as the psychologist Amélie Boukhobza specifies:
“”A marriage, normally, is an invitation … to celebrate love. We invite you to a moment of life. To be “witness” of a commitment. There, the couple chose something else: transform the invitation into an entrance ticket. As if we went to a concert or a festival “.
And this is where the approach loses its meaning when we talk about love. The psychologist believes that this practice questions. What do we put in the center of a wedding? We no longer really talk about love and link … but rather performance and budget. An impossible alliance: paying to attend, it sounds wrong.
“Do we stay in sincere emotion, or do we become a customer of an event. We are not just celebrating, we buy our place”.
On the couple side also, it inevitably blurs the initial intention. “A marriage is a symbol. It is lived in exchange, human warmth, free gesture. Put a price at the entrance … that changes everything. Yes, and that is necessarily a point that completely changes the symbolism of marriage”.
A choice that will leave traces
Finally, the psychologist points to a risk of exclusion: “A marriage is also supposed to bring together. There, we introduce a filter: those who can pay … And the others. What does it mean? That a close childhood, a childhood friend can be excluded because he does not have the budget? We clearly go from an emotional choice to a financial selection. And that transforms all links: we are no longer talking about” who counts for us “but” who can offer our marriage “”.
In a moment that should unite, we then install a border: that of the wallet. “”And that, inevitably, will leave traces in family and friendly relationships “.
An idea to throw in the basket according to our expert, therefore. And you what do you think?