Groom asks guests to help pay for dream wedding

Weddings are expensive. In fact, the average wedding right now costs over £27,000.

So, is it all that bad to ask for a little financial input from your guests?

One groom didn’t think so. When he realised that he was unable to afford his dream wedding with his girlfriend of six years, Ben Farina came up with a business model for his big day.

He asked each of his guests to contribute £150 towards the event, which will be held in June next year. This would include a three-night stay at the venue in Derbyshire as well as food and drink.

Calling it “an all-inclusive holiday” for the guests, Ben said that the idea had “gone down well” with all 60 adults already paying deposits to attend.

“People always pay a large amount of money to go to a wedding anyway, so why not have it paying towards the actual wedding rather than just to a business owner?” he told the BBC.

“I sold it to them a bit like an all-inclusive holiday, so all the food and drinks will be incorporated in that cost.”

“The venue also has a spa, an indoor swimming pool, a games room, it’s very close to local amenities, there’s a lake, so it is like a little holiday resort.”

He came up with the idea after realising that guests would normally pay around £150 to attend a wedding anyway.

His business model has managed to cover the majority of the wedding costs with the 60 adult guests contributing £9000 in total and the 20 children (whose parents are being charged £50) coming to an extra £1000.

The couple, who already have a three-year-old daughter, are spending £2000 of their own money to cover everything from bridesmaid dresses to stocking up the bar.

“I had it all mapped out before I proposed,” he added. “I knew her reaction would be ‘we can’t afford to get married’ so I started showing her how we could.”

Luckily, his now-fiancee agreed, saying: “I never thought we would be able to have a wedding like this.”

“We had spoken about marriage because we’ve got a little girl together and I always said we wouldn’t be able to afford to do it, or it would have to be a registry office wedding, not a big wedding,” commented Clare Moran.

“This is a brilliant way to do it and I can’t wait. He has put a lot of thought into it.”

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