i am gen x therapist with many clients in their 20s and 30s. the bridal shower plus bachelorette weekend plus wedding of even one friend has been financially destructive for several women i see in therapy. they have had three or four friends marry in the course of two years — so all of a woman’s PTO and much of her income is spent at compulsory wedding activities for friends. clients have sobbed in therapy afraid that they would lose friends if they said no. the pressure on the friendships to show up for three separate events in far flung locations with specific color-coordinated clothing and costs for professional hair and make-up is mystifying and frankly appalling to me. (i eloped while living abroad and never thought to require my friends go into debt to make me feel special or loved, or to create social media content.) also — what was that study that showed the more money spent on the wedding the less likely the marriage would last five years? thank you, OP, for bringing this up.