A guest on This Morning stunned viewers after revealing she has had to move back in with her parents after forking out £13,000 attending friends’ weddings in four years.
Georgina Childs gave up her flat after being invited to 14 marriage ceremonies and 13 hen parties since 2014, leaving her with huge credit card debts.
She has spent £1,500 on outfits and £4,000 on hotel bills, as well as huge travel costs and bar tabs, and was faced with either declining the invitations or moving back in with her mum and dad, and chose the latter.
But viewers hit out at Georgina for not finding cheaper ways to attend the weddings or simply saying no.
She said: “Initially there’s that excitement. It’s always nice to be invited to a wedding but then when you start to look into the finer details — where you need to travel to, the accommodation you need to book, the gift list, all that — you gulp as to how much you’re going to spend.
“You haven’t necessarily budgeted for the accommodation so it’s easy to think, ‘Just put that on a credit card’, and then things mount up.
“Not many people have weddings in a really convenient place, so you might be travelling to the other end of the country by train. It all adds up.
“I was living away from home and I got to the point where I thought, ‘If I want to keep going to these weddings and see my friends walk down the aisle then something has to give’.
“That was the thing I decided and went back to my parents’ house.
“I’m lucky. Not everybody would want to live with their parents but mine are quite laid back. They weren’t slapping my wrists when I came home.”
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She said the trend for midweek weddings, which are cheaper than weekends for the bride and groom, meant even more added costs.
“You’ve got to take a day of annual leave, maybe two, you’ve got to travel up, it means an extra night of accommodation, and there’s quite a trend for people to do a night before or a day after, so it doesn’t tend to be just a day’s event any more.
“It has taken me abroad as well. Obviously that’s lovely but I’m not sure my bank manager would agree.
“Some people say I should start turning down the invites that are for once-removed friends or someone I’m not as close to.
“It’s easy to say that but it’s not as easy to turn down the invite. It’s seen as a faux pas.
“It is an honour to receive an invite, and so to turn it down could be seen as an offence.”
Viewers criticised Georgina on Twitter for not managing her spending better.
Woman who lost her home, cos she couldn’t say no to going to friends weddings, I have no sympathy for her at all, If you can’t afford something don’t go or buy it #ThisMorning
— JakeyMiller (@Jakestar84) April 23, 2018
Is this woman for real on #ThisMorning say bloody no! Using attending weddings as excuse for being in debt! Now it’s don’t go abroad etc for hen/stag do cos she or people can’t afford it, don’t bloody go! Most people only want to marry once, so they want to have a good hen/stag!
— Ƙαуℓєιgн (@K_D89) April 23, 2018
@thismorning we had 8 weddings last year and managed it fine alongside a mortgage! Book cheaper hotels! Reuse outfits! 👗 say no if you can’t afford it! Simple as! #weddings #thismorning
— Tasha McMullin (@tasha_mcmullin) April 23, 2018
‘My Friends’ weddings cost me my home’. Oh give over, seemingly sweet girl, but you obviously have a credit card problem.If you can’t afford things say No.I had to say No to a wedding a few hundred miles away, as with hotel and train fares, too expensive. #ThisMorning
— Theolovesalf (@theolovesalf) April 23, 2018
Georgina told hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby that she didn’t want to be “sat at home when you know 15 of your friends are out having a jolly to celebrate someone getting married”.
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She said brides should have less extravagant celebrations, adding: “People need to start being a bit more modest about hen do’s.”
Could you turn down a friend’s wedding invite? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!