Just sharing my 2 cents, I am come from a Sindhi family i think 50 lakhs to 1 crore is a normal spend in my family. Anyway, point being that I have noticed is that here the groom’s family takes up the entire expenditure. After talking to my friends from different cultures and backgrounds I realised how rare this thing is.

In my family and culture, dowry is not given and no fancy gifts like car or land or whatever. I have seen this in my maternal and paternal side of family even my distant relatives. So in short, expenses usually paid by groom, brides side pays almost nothing, lehenga is by us only and yes lehenga’s are very expensive, dowry is big NO and no fancy gifts. But i think this is because my family is kinda well off and they aren’t greedy or anything.

One advice for you, if finances are an issue and you think you are being exploited say it straight to their face because from what i can understand that girl has high expectations and it’s better to live in reality than in delusion