Marriage has been a pillar of society for centuries. Most young Australians still support the concept, but financial concerns have made them more apprehensive about having large, traditional marriages.
Choosi recently released its Cost of Love Report. The purpose of this report was to understand the views Australians hold about marriage and the decisions they are likely to make.
Some of the core findings are listed below.
Marriage is the greater sign of commitment
It is widely assumed that most young Australians would rather cohabit with their partners then get married. The Choosi report shows this is not the case. Their poll showed that 70.8% of Australians feel that getting married is a greater sign of commitment than sharing a mortgage.
Some Australians might be postponing marriage, but they still support the institution.
Is all the wedding planning with the stress?
Although most Australians support the idea of marriage, they also find it stressful. They prefer to keep weddings simple, to minimise the stress, cost and frustration.
This is one of the major reasons that smaller weddings have become more popular in recent years. The Choosi report showed that 43.9% of couples planned smaller weddings, because they were less stressful to organise than larger gatherings.
The report also shows that Australians have taken a rather individualistic view of marriage. Five out of six respondents said people typically get married for themselves, rather than for the rest of their family. This suggests they might not want to go through the stress of planning a wedding around the needs of everybody else in their lives.
Aussies are partaking in cross-cultural weddings and even virtual weddings
The average Australian still prefers traditional weddings. The Choosi Report found 67.1% prefer such ceremonies over non-traditional weddings. However, cross-cultural and virtual weddings are starting to become more popular.
Only a few Aussies said that they had a cross-cultural wedding themselves. However, around half have attended one and 27.2% found them more enjoyable than more traditional events, which suggests they might be more popular with younger couples. The report also found that 82% of respondents felt cultural traditions should be incorporated into the ceremonies.
A growing number of people have expressed interest in virtual weddings as well, with 46.6% of respondents saying they would consider participating in a livestream wedding if they were unable to attend in person. However, most people would rather be at the wedding in person if they had the opportunity.
Cost of a wedding
The cost of getting married in Australia is rising. The average couple spent $24,660 to get married in 2018. The overwhelming majority (90.7%) of Aussies feel the cost is too high. They are cutting back on unnecessary expenditures to get married on a tighter budget.
