Vawn Himmelsbach
5 min read
When Jim’s grandmother passed away, he didn’t just inherit her favorite teacups or photo albums — he inherited $100,000, and with it, a dream she always had for him: building a future, buying a home and starting a family.
Not long ago, Jim proposed to his girlfriend of three years. They’d been planning a small, intimate wedding with a budget of around $20,000 — part of which would come from their parents. They hadn’t saved much of their own money and didn’t want to go into debt for just one day.
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But since Jim received news of his inheritance, his fiancée has seemingly switched gears. Now she wants a glitzy destination wedding, a designer dress and a much longer guest list. Jim wants to stick to their original plan, but now she’s calling him “stingy” for refusing to spend “our inheritance” on her “dream” wedding.
Now Jim’s questioning how well he really knows his fiancée and whether they share the same life goals — or if he really is stingy for saying no.
Maybe you can’t put a price on love, but you can definitely put a price on a wedding — and that price is getting even more expensive. According to Zola’s First Look Report on wedding trends for 2025, the average cost for a wedding is projected to hit a high of $36,000, up from $33,000 in 2024.
Of course, the price tag depends on location. New York City was the most expensive place in the U.S. to get hitched, averaging $65,000. Destination weddings aren’t cheap either, averaging $41,312.
Zola also followed up with couples who got married in 2024. About 20% said they went over budget by $10,000.
If Jim and his fiancée stuck with their original plan, they could use that $100,000 to get on solid financial footing as they start their life together. That could mean an emergency fund, paying off high-interest debt or boosting retirement contributions.
If they want to buy a home, the money could cover a 20% down payment on a $500,000 property. If they plan to have kids, it could help start a college fund. Or they could invest it for long-term goals — for example, if Jim invested the money with 6% annual returns, it could grow to more than $300,000 in 20 years.
