Why are many young couples postponing their weddings?

Many couples have already taken wedding photos and set a wedding date, but then postpone this momentous event in their lives – their wedding ceremony. Why is this happening?

Afraid of getting into debt after the wedding.

According to the original plan, Ms. Do Phuong Kieu (31 years old), residing at 32 Vo Van Hat Street (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City), was scheduled to get married on March 1st. However, she and her fiancé have changed their minds. "I don't know when we will hold the wedding," she said.

She recounted: "The reason for suddenly postponing the wedding was… a headache over financial issues. When relatives heard that the wedding was temporarily postponed, many were surprised. They advised us to go ahead with the wedding, as it's a momentous event in our lives, regardless of the potential cost. However, we, as the couple, felt immense pressure because of the money."

Some couples have already taken wedding photos but... postpone their wedding due to financial pressure (PHOTO: THANH NAM)

It's not just Ms. Kieu; many young people who had planned to get married have also canceled their plans. The reason is simple: the cost of organizing a wedding reception is beyond their financial means.

"With about two months left until our planned wedding, we felt anxious because we were facing immense financial pressure. So we both decided to cancel our wedding plans," said Tran Phuc Truong (33 years old), residing in alley 17, Duong Van Cam Street (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City).

Sharing about the financial burden of such an important day as a wedding, Nguyen Tien Nhan (28 years old), residing at 112 Huynh Van Banh Street (Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City), said: "The restaurant required a deposit of 70 million VND. That's not including the cost of clothing and decorations for both families. Wedding photography also costs a lot… By our rough estimate, we found the total cost to be around 350 million VND. We can't hope to 'use wedding gifts to cover the expenses'. After much consideration, we didn't want to be in debt right after the wedding, so we decided to postpone the wedding."

On the social media platform Threads, there are also many posts from young people sharing stories of arguments with their families over wedding plans. "We wanted a small, intimate wedding, but our family insisted on a lavish ceremony, renting a luxurious venue to show off to relatives and acquaintances. If we followed our family's wishes, we could easily fall into debt after the wedding. So we chose to postpone the wedding," said Nguyen Thi Thao Trinh (32 years old), who works at Duc Hoa 3 Industrial Park ( Long An province).

According to many young people, organizing a wedding requires a considerable amount of money to cover expenses such as wedding photography, wedding decorations, restaurant rental, etc. (PHOTO: THANH NAM)

To avoid pressure, a minimalist style is preferable.

The author's observations at several wedding venues in Ho Chi Minh City show that costs are increasingly high. For example, the price of a wedding banquet at one location on Au Co Street (Tan Binh District) reaches 6 million VND per table. Meanwhile, the price at another location on Ly Chinh Thang Street (District 3) is nearly 7 million VND per table.

"Let's say we invite around 250-300 guests, with an average price of about 6 million VND per table, that's about 150-180 million VND. That's not including wedding photography services, which cost around 15-20 million VND. Wedding decorations are also a significant expense, around 20-30 million VND. Then there are wedding invitations, rentals, and many other unforeseen costs… It means we need several hundred million VND to organize a wedding. This amount of money puts a lot of pressure on people with low or average incomes," said Vu Tien Khoa (31 years old), a resident of Duc Khai apartment building (District 7, Ho Chi Minh City).

According to Khoa: "My girlfriend and I had planned to get married last February. We envisioned a wonderful wedding. But looking at the expenses, we were a little… overwhelmed. Many costs were too high, beyond our financial means, so we had to postpone the wedding. We didn't want to have a lavish wedding and then have to work hard to pay off the debt for many years afterward."

A minimalist wedding style can help reduce financial pressure (PHOTO: THANH NAM)

Mr. Do Thanh Binh (36 years old), who works at 54 Lieu Giai (Ba Dinh District, Hanoi ), said: "If couples feel their finances are insufficient, postponing the wedding is necessary. Because I once hesitated about whether to hold a wedding or not. And when I decided to go ahead, I had to borrow money from many places. After that, I had to constantly save money for many years to pay off the debt."

Mr. Binh added: "From my own experience, I see that many young people today are under a lot of pressure because their families believe that 'a wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event, so it must be a lavish celebration.' This belief leads many young people to blindly organize extravagant weddings. And the result is that they end up drowning in debt."

A member on the social media platform Threads stated: "After officially becoming husband and wife, we constantly argued about the debts we had incurred to organize the wedding. From there, the prolonged pressure and conflict led to separation, then divorce, just months before the wedding."

According to many opinions, it is necessary to change notions such as "weddings must be extravagant," "we must have many banquet tables," etc. (PHOTO: THANH NAM)

According to psychologist Do Thao Hanh from Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, it is true that many couples postpone their weddings due to overwhelming financial pressure.

"I think both young people and modern parents need to change the notion that 'weddings must be extravagant and grand.' Don't try to organize lavish, expensive weddings with borrowed money just to 'avoid embarrassment or shame in front of relatives and friends.' Instead, you can have a simple but meaningful wedding. Because the ultimate goal of a wedding is to have a lasting and happy married life, not just to have had a grand wedding costing hundreds of millions of dong," Ms. Hanh said.

According to this psychologist, the wedding belongs to the bride and groom, so they have full權 to decide on the scale of the celebration.

"Nowadays, many couples are organizing minimalist weddings. They take photos themselves with their phones or ask friends to take them. They design the wedding space themselves and hold it in small, cozy venues. They also scale down the event, inviting only close relatives and family members. This helps reduce expensive costs," Ms. Hanh explained.

According to Thanh Nien Newspaper

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vi-sao-nhieu-cap-doi-tre-hoan-dam-cuoi-185250330095845406.htm

Source: https://baolongan.vn/vi-sao-nhieu-cap-doi-tre-hoan-dam-cuoi-a192623.html