In the Philippines, it’s common tradition that the couple would shoulder some, if not all, of the expenses of their wedding entourage including their attires. This would of course include both sides of the inner family circle (parents, siblings, nephews and nieces), Maid of Honor, Best Man, Secondary Sponsors, Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, Flower girls, Bearers and sometimes even the outfit of the Principal Sponsors (Ninongs/Ninangs).

But, since time has changed and the notion of “practicality” ensues, these old traditions of shouldering all the cost seemed to be frowned upon by the younger generation. Well, the question is, would that be okay? Or should the couple still follow this tradition? Besides, who on earth “invented” this idea in the first place?

Typically,  young Filipino couples who are planning their wedding these days would opt for budget-friendly, DIY-styled weddings. This practicality would even stretch to the point where the couples would even prefer to use artificial flowers instead of the real ones, or would even rent than go to a designer to have their customized wedding gowns! Just the thought of budget for a wedding is a nerve-wracking experience, so what more if you’ll have to think about extra expenses that you can disregard in the first place?

In our case for example, since both sides of the family were the traditional type and because we’re quite keen with our wedding details, Garry and I decided to shoulder some of the cost of the wedding entourage attires. “Some” doesn’t imply to “all”, so technically, we only paid for what we can and informed our wedding entourage about the other things that we can’t afford to pay anymore.

Although it was quite a tough decision at first, followed by a lot of explaining to do, thankfully everyone understood our sentiments. We explained politely that we are on a tight budget and as much as we would love to pay for everything, we’re only ordinary employees who only lives from paycheck to paycheck. No drama ensued between us and other wedding entourage because even from the start, we were extra careful in our selection. We chose only those people whom we are comfortable with and who were close to our heart. From this, we were confident to know that these people know us very well, who would surely understand our decisions regarding our wedding and who won’t judge us for little things of no true value.