We need to have an honest conversation about the cost of weddings in South Africa, as no wedding celebration is ever really cheap.
"Weddings are expensive, there is no way around it. You don't get a cheap or inexpensive wedding," said wedding planner and founder of Extravaganza Weddings, Ntombi Damane.
HuffPost sat down with the Gauteng-based businesswoman, who is of the view that many couples want the wedding dream without realistically determining the cost involved — ending up hugely disappointed or worse, in serious debt.
Damane feels that social media has a huge role to play in this.
"Social media makes everyone feel like they need to lift the standard and reach this mark, and that these are the things that need to be in a wedding for it to be deemed a success."
The 29-year-old has the following tips for anyone considering planning a wedding in 2018, or ten years from now — and it all starts with doing thorough research.
1. Do your research
"The only way to curb disappointing yourself or setting yourself up for failure is to research how much it costs you to get the things that you want."
2. Average wedding cost per person
"If you look at an average wedding now, you're looking at about R1,000 - R1,500 per guest attending, so times that by the number of guests you have..."
3. Compromise
"If you're going in with a budget, you need to compromise – and that's the hardest part; people don't want to compromise."