"Regrets That May Last a Lifetime: What Do Senior Brides Have to Say About Their Experience of Saving Money?"

2020.04.13 published

What are the "regrets from saving money" at weddings?

Weddings are a major event that can cost hundreds of thousands of yen.

When choosing things like food, flowers, and dresses, the quotes can quickly rise if you select higher-quality options, leading to feelings of dread... Many people might relate to this experience, right??

Of course, if the budget allows, you would want everything to be top-notch and to your liking! But in reality, it often isn’t that simple.

Therefore, I think many brides carefully consider their desired performances and items, making a clear distinction between points where they can save and points where they should not.

However, one thing to keep in mind is

"Make sure you don’t regret saving money later!"

It seems that this is a common issue.

What do experienced brides regret about their choices?

I asked for some firsthand experiences!

Regret from saving money #1: Dress

I regretted saving money on my dress.

There was a dress I really wanted, but it was from an import brand that only had limited options, and there was also a fee (around 50,000 yen) for bringing it to the venue, so I gave up on it.

The wedding venue package I contracted included rental fees for dresses worth 300,000 yen, so I chose from those options. (There were actually a few dresses I liked more for an additional fee, but since I thought if I couldn't wear the dress of my dreams, anything else would be the same, I became depressed and chose from the lower tier.)

The wedding was very enjoyable, and many people complimented my dress, but the dress of destiny kept flashing in my mind.

If I was thinking about that dress so much, I regretted not just splurging and buying it despite the cost.

About six months after my wedding, I attended a friend's wedding, and she wore the dress I wanted!

It looked truly wonderful from every angle, and the friends I went with couldn’t stop talking about the dress, saying, “That dress is amazing! I wonder what brand it is?”

I felt sad that even though my friend wore it, I wanted to wear it first. I also wanted my friends to look at me the same way they looked at her.

So, for those who have a dress they truly love, I think it's better to prioritize your feelings and choose the dress rather than the price.

Right now, I'm receiving estimates for my new home, and 50,000 yen for a bring-in fee feels like a trivial amount, making me regret saving back then.....

Regret from saving money #2: End Roll

I decided not to have an end roll to save money.

End rolls at friends' weddings are moving, but I thought I would only watch it once or twice after the wedding anyway,

and since a regular end roll costs around 50,000 yen and the same-day recording would cost even more, over 200,000 yen, I cut it first.

On the day of the wedding, I thought the guests enjoyed themselves even without the end roll, and I was glad I saved money.

However, when I visited my husband's family during the New Year, there was a newly married cousin present.

In front of all the relatives, they played the end roll, and everyone was excitedly talking about the wedding.

My grandparents seemed pleased and happy.

After a while, they said, “When you (my husband) guys had your wedding, there wasn’t any end video. But it was still a great ceremony.”

I thought, if I had requested an end roll, the conversation with relatives might have been more lively…!

The end roll is like the highlight of the wedding.

Even if it was a bit expensive, I think I could have shown it to relatives and friends who couldn’t attend, even if my husband and I didn’t watch it much.

I cut it out right away, but if I were to have another wedding, I would consider having one.

Regret from saving money #3: Traditional Attire

I dreamed of a Shinto wedding in a white kimono, but my husband said he didn’t want to, so I gave up and wore a wedding dress in a chapel.

Since I couldn’t have the Shinto ceremony, I wanted to do photo shoots in traditional attire but thought it felt wasteful to spend millions on a wedding…

However, even after the wedding, I still wanted to wear traditional attire at least once! So, I planned for a post-shoot.

When I mentioned the post-shoot idea to my mother, she said, “You’ve finished the registration and the wedding, and now you want to wear a white kimono for photos? You’re living in a dream world. It’s time to end the bride’s feeling.”

I was shocked by her reaction.

Of course, I could still do a post-shoot, but I lost motivation completely and missed the opportunity…!

Since I’ve admired traditional attire since I was little, I wish I had done a pre-shoot without saving money.

I think I will regret this for the rest of my life. I just wanted to see myself in traditional attire.

Regret from saving money #4: Album

I decided not to order an album to save money.

Albums are expensive, costing several hundred thousand yen, and I opted for a plan that includes all digital images, thinking I could select my favorite photos later to create an album.

However, after the wedding, I found it troublesome to make the album, and it remained untouched.

There are many vendors who can create albums, and there are too many decisions on materials and paper quality, and I needed to design the layout myself, which was quite challenging.

Selecting about 100 photos from the roughly 1,000 images I received to put into an album has been a struggle.

I ended up not knowing what was best, and even now, six months after the wedding, I still haven't made an album.

In hindsight, I wish I had just paid the money from the beginning to have a good album made.

Ultimately, the most memorable things are the photos and albums, a realization I didn’t have at the time....

@nagisa_marry

To avoid regrets from saving money...!

I shared the regrets of four graduates from bridal experiences.

Saving money isn’t a bad thing, but you don’t want to regret what you skipped.

A wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

While it’s common to hear stories about regretting saving money, I rarely hear stories about choosing something I didn’t truly like.

When saving money, consider carefully whether you will regret it later. Regrets don’t come to a good end.

May you have a happy wedding that you can look back on without any lingering worries♡

➡ What else is there? List of articles on "things regretted at weddings"