Should I Pay If It’s Their Custom?
Question: My fiancé and his family are from overseas. I asked his sister and three Australian women to be my bridesmaids. I realised that it was the custom in their country for the bride to pay for the dresses, but I explained to her that this was generally not the custom over here and that the bridesmaids would be paying their own way. She and the rest of my fiancé's family think this is very rude. Any advice?
Answer: by The Knot
As if you don’t have enough to worry about — future sister-in-law crisis! But it seems in this case it may be best to keep the peace and just suck it up and pay for her dress, or offer to pay for half. (That’s a nice compromise, right?) You don’t have to tell the other bridesmaids, and if they find out, just say the groom helped pay for his sister’s gown. (In fact, get him to help — don’t shell it out all on your own! You’re doing this to make nice with his family, after all.) In the long run, it might be better to not turn his whole family against you right before the wedding. (Of course, make sure this doesn’t set a precedent — don’t let them push you around after you’re married!). At any rate, it’ll solve the problem and you won’t have to waste any more time stressing out about it.
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