You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Weddings are more expensive in many countries when compared to the past. What is the reason behind this? Is this a positive or negative development?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words. 

It is common to see that people spending an exorbitant amount on weddings in several countries. There are two main reasons behind this trend, and it can be assumed that spending beyond the limit is negative.

The first probable reason behind this trend is because of the increased economic independence of people when compared to the past. In the past, weddings and other auspicious occasions had more social involvement, whereas financial extravanganza was not much prominent. As the economic standards of people got upgraded, the situation started to reverse. For example, the expense of a wedding in many rich families would be more than a small firm’s annual staff salary.

The second reason behind this appears to be the changing social attitude of people. In the past, marriage functions were not so materialised. However, now, people want to exhibit their economic status to others, and they feel that ceremonies like wedding are the most appropriate circumstances to do that. Thus, marriage became significant not just only to the bride and the groom, but also to their families, friends and so called ‘special invitees’. Naturally, the budget would go high.

Although it is acceptable to have a decent celebration on such auspicious occasions, when it crosses the limit, it normally becomes a huge economic burden for many. To explain it further, in many places, spending more money on marriages has now become a social custom. Contrary to their intentions, many such marriages are making huge financial liabilities to many families. This extra money could have kept as a financial investment to the new family instead. 

To conclude, though it is acceptable to spend some amount of money to make wedding ceremonies memorable; it is totally unwise to have an  extravagant spending.