Who pays for the wedding? Traditional etiquette doesn't always hold

Clothes, travel, food, liquor, flowers: There’s no end to expenses when it comes to traditional weddings. With the ages of first-time bridal couples going up, who's paying for weddings and how much? Lizzie Post of the Emily Post Institute says etiquette on paying for weddings these days is squishy and requires candid money conversations with parents at the very start of planning. Other wedding experts agree. They say not to assume that parents are paying for weddings, especially if the elders are in dire straits or on fixed incomes. Among users of the wedding planning site The Knot, parents on average contribute slightly more than half the wedding budget.