A woman named Erin recently caught the attention of over 700,000 people on TikTok after she shared how much she had to pay to go on a bachelorette vacation.
In her video, she says, "So I'm packing right now to go on a bachelorette trip this weekend – not a bachelorette party, but a bachelorette vacation. We are flying across the country for five days...I wanted to ask you guys: How do you feel about the bridesmaids paying for the bride's portion of the bachelorette party?"
Erin goes on to explain, "We paid for the bride's flight and her portion of the Airbnb. It wasn't like we talked about until after we booked the Airbnb, which I find a little weird. So I booked the Airbnb. I put it on my credit card and it was supposed to be like $240 a person — not too bad. But, we each had to book a $400 flight."
"So, after we book this Airbnb, one girl drops out so that made it a little more expensive for everybody, but then as everyone was Venmoing me back, since I was the one who booked the Airbnb, the maid of honor (MOH) texted in our bachelorette group text — which the bride wasn't in — and was like, 'Hey, I just saw that the bride Venmoed Erin, what did she Venmo you for?'"
Erin explained that the bride Venmoed her for her portion of the Airbnb. The MOH texted back in the group chat that Erin should Venmo her the money back, saying that they all were responsible for paying for the bride's portion of the Airbnb AND her flight, then texted how much each person owed for the bride. "I don't know – the whole thing is just weird to me because obviously, I agreed to go on the bachelorette party, so it would be weird for me to back out after I already booked the Airbnb," Erin says in the video.
"And when you're in a group message with nine other girls, you're not going to speak up and say, 'Oh, I don't think we should be paying for this, or I didn't realize this, it's out of my budget, XYZ.' I think I just have a problem when someone tells me how much I owe them without asking me if that's an amount I'm comfortable with. Everyone makes a different amount of money and everyone has a different comfort level when it comes to spending money on a trip like this. So, what do you guys think? Is this normal? This is my first time being a bridesmaid for someone other than my sister. Is this expected? Should I be expecting this every time I'm asked to be a bridesmaid? Just for context, the bridesmaids are also paying for the shower too. We each gave the MOH $300 for the shower," she concluded in her TikTok.
Right away, people in the comments agreed that the bride's trip fees should not be the responsibility of the bridesmaids.
And then it opened up conversations about how costly weddings are in general for the wedding party.
Let's just say not everyone sees eye-to-eye on wedding party expenses and excursions.
And that includes the bridal shower...
However, there were a few brides who peeped up letting people know they were the ones who actually took on the financial responsibility of their bachelorette parties.
Which I'm sure was very appreciated.
