the very happy to vote for most of them to read. i expected it to be a beats, to be a big color to these process, these electron that to you. but to what you discover these, that it was very peaceful. peacefully had that noise. and i also spoke to one of the men just interviewed their us human rights lawyer done call the like, who was observer as we saw up the russian presidential election. he said he was flagged upon returning home. when i arrived in chicago, i was greeted by 2 customs agents who were waiting for me and they pulled me aside and interrogated me about my visit to rush. so they wanted to know why was there where i, when to funded, et cetera. so it wasn't so much that they made any statements to me,

but they wanted to know what i was doing and it, you know, i was very honest. one thing you never want to do is lie to a federal law enforcement official. and i was honestly that i went to the hair so no bloss, which is probably a red flag for them. so we'll see if there's follow up. but, you know, literally this is never happened to be worth customs officers were actually waiting . uh, you know, for me as the plain door open, i was bracing myself because of the video you showed from the state department. they said that they were going to hold people accountable, who were of election observers any singled out the people in the new regions in what was ukraine now? is russia and that's where i was and they are sign or blocks, of course is not. that's not a democratic thing to do it. can we actually talk about your experience a little bit then at done? did you, did you witness anything in terms of violations when you were here?

because you saw quite a lot at was there anything in the voting in the counting procedures that, that looked in this? no, not at all. i mean things went very smoothly. but the system was set up so that you had a secret ballot. you know, you went behind in a curtain to be able to, to fill on a paper ballot which was then put into a, a transparent box there to be counted later. and they showed us the system, they had to collect the ballots in a secure way so that they could be co counted later. and so all votes would be counted at all. by the way you could vote with either a russian or ukrainian passport. either one will do, they did not discriminate against be based on that. the wes tried to claim people or forced to vote. i didn't see anything like that. in fact, there was kind of

a festival atmosphere to it back there literally was a festival being carried out in front of the main polling place in the city we were in people were celebrating, being put back part of russia. being able to vote, are i switching gears for the next half hour or so? why is it so expensive to get married? are we being sold accounts are on the memories of that one special day worth? the price tag, the cost of everything with christie. i delves into that one the, the over the past few years, social media has changed the way that people plan their wedding, the average cost of whether you have gone up consistently over the past 5 years.

now, before social media, plenty of wedding was something that was done on weekends or after work. today there's instagram and pinches pages, all full of wedding ideas to plan the perfect, enviable instagram of a wedding. i'm christie, i. today we're delving into the world of weddings, unpacking the cost trends and cultural nuances that make each terribly meaning. the weddings are deeply rooted in cultural traditions from the colorful celebrations in india to the minimalist elegance of japanese ceremonies. each culture brings its unique touch. the differences impact not only the ceremonies, but also the associated costs and planning dynamics. today, we're seeing a rise in intimate personalized ceremonies, and there's a shift towards unique menus and experiential elements that reflect the couples personalities. the planning

a wedding involves various expenses from the venue and catering to a tire and the core couples need to plan their wedding carefully to avoid unnecessary financial strain. and it is crucial to find a balance between creating a memorable event and managing costs responsibly. now the costs of wedding can sometimes skyrocket. high end menus elaborate floral arrangements and custom design . the tire can significantly increased costs. additionally, couples under estimate hidden expenses, such as a pre nup efficient, was letting planners, wedding cakes and photographers. the biggest and most variable cost is food and drink, which depends on how the gas to plan to have for a $141.00 guest wedding. it will be about $10000.00, but for weddings with more than $300.00 people catering costs can quickly surpass $20000.00. but why these are not just about love? they're also a major economic driver from the new bookings to floral arrangements. the industry

contributed significantly to various sectors, creating jobs, and fostering economic growth. hospitals and restaurants are among the most direct beneficiaries of weddings, out of town. guests need accommodation and wedding parties, often book lots of rooms for their guests. and this not only provides revenue for the hotels, but also all of the ancillary services, such as when service laundry and dining restaurants to benefit from rehearsal dinners, wedding reception, and the influx of guests looking for meals before and after. wedding events. local vendors, including taters, photographers, videographers, and rental companies, also see a search and business due to weddings. however, today, millennials spend weigh less on their weddings, the older generations to millennials. views on the cost of engagement rings are also a good example of this. well, engagement ways tend to cost an average of around $3500.00 to $4000.00. millennials

prefer that their engagement rings fall in the $1000.00 range. one survey found that millennial women agreed with this mentality and 90 percent said that engagement range should cost no more than $2500.00. and now we're joined today by aisha hockey. so i shop how have you observed the overall cost of weddings changing over the past few years, and what factors are contributing to these changes? yeah, absolutely. i'd be so in before the pandemic around 2018. 2019. um. i'm based in the us. so i'm going to give you us prices, but uh, weddings were about, you know, on average, across the country, taking in the high price. and the low parts was about $33000.00. you know, um, but then, you know, obviously when the pandemic hit, it changed everything changed. and then now we're getting right back into it and, you know, the average cost has come down now it's about $30000.00 for wedding. but um,

there is definitely, you know, an uptake every single year. so that's sort of what i'm seeing in terms of like the financials of a wedding. and can you break down the typical expenses associated with weddings and highlight areas where costs tend to escalate? yeah, so weddings, you can expect to spend about 30 percent of your budget, your savings on a wedding. and the biggest 2 costs are your venue and your catering. now the 3rd cost that's actually, you know, it's very flexible. but the decor, because you can do something very simple and elegant, or you can do something very extravagant. then over the top there's, you know, the skies and limit here. so, it really depends on, you know, the couple. and they're, you know, what their ideas are and thoughts, but usually like the catering and the venue are the biggest expenses. everything after that is, is, you know, it's, it's nominal, non nominal, but it's

a lot more affordable then. then you know the cost of the venue and the catering and now what current trends are you seeing in the wedding industry, particularly in terms of wedding sizes these and then you choices, you know, before cove it, it was just like, you know, a free for all there was like big what it was, big strapping gathers everything and then obviously during cove, it all of a sudden it will just like, well, we'll have 10 people that are where they go. okay, maybe we'll max out at 50. you know what i'm seeing though in terms of like the effects of cove it is that now i feel like the guests are getting just a little bit more selective. and the reason why i say that is, i think people want to have a more experiential wedding and they really want it to be about coast family and friends. and they want to bring all those people together to have, you know, the quote unquote loves us. so i feel like the numbers are a little small right now, as opposed to before the pandemic. but you know,

things always change so it could go bigger, could go smaller. but right now i feel like people are being very selective on who they're inviting. and then also having a big enough to where it's still a. busy refund party, but not like, you know, like a 1000 people anymore. so, and how do you as a side on cultural shift influence the preferences of couples when planning their weddings suicidal shifts cultural shift. you know, every time people are always looking at like the new generation. so right now we're at gen z. so, you know, it kind of follows what, what jen z is thinking in general. i mean, they're concerned about the planet. so i'm seeing more requests for sustainable weddings for more sustainable options within the wedding. obviously people are, you know, all kinds of dietary restrictions, so they're making sure that they have things for begins. they have things for you, no pets. good. terry ends for quito, people. you know, they're trying to be a little bit more thoughtful in their approach. and then the last thing that i think, you know, that, that, that,

this new generation wants is they want something experiential. but they also wanted to be something that they can share on social media with their networks. so there's, you know, this whole sort of like sort of shift in what the wedding actually looks like. now instead of being, you know, just like this, there is now like more smaller aspects of it that they're focusing on. because they want to make sure that it's, you know, the things that i just said that it's following those thought processes. destination weddings had become increasingly popular. how does the costs of destination weddings compared to local celebrations and what factors should couples consider one planning one? yeah. so destination weddings are um they're, they're an interesting concept. i think they're very, very fun. they're probably the best weddings i've ever done, but it depends on where in the world you are, you know, so, obviously if you look it up from a global scale paris, you know,

the most romantic city in the world is, is number one in terms of destinations lot of people go to italy again, you know, it speaks for itself, india, the whole idea of it. you know, it's so spiritual and magical, but you know, again here in the states, you know, people sort of tend to think of a destination wedding. the number one spot would be the caribbean or places where i am in miami or puerto rico, you know, depending on visa requirements of their guess. but the thing about destination weddings, which kind of to sort of makes it cost effective, is that is specially if you have like a very big guess list. destination weddings are very natural weight tools like natural selection, bring it down to a smaller amount because only the people who really care will take on the expense of actually flying down and doing it for you or being a part of your celebration of the other thing which a lot of people don't know, and you really, when you're doing a destination wedding work with a plan or work with somebody who knows what they're talking about. because if you

have a certain amount of rooms blocked, you know, so your guests are actually paying for their own rooms. in most cases, sometimes the dining room will pay for a few. but like say you have 50 rooms in your block, the hotel or the resort may offer you enhancements for that, you know, for an hour up, up, up sell or upgrades for you know, the fact that you're bringing them so much in business. so your plan or your travel agent or someone who deals in destination weddings can help you get things like a free welcome reception or, you know, extra desserts or, you know, 10 appetizers. you know, things that you wouldn't really think about if you weren't, you know, if you didn't know. but a lot of times you can really like bring your costs down because the room block, the bigger the room block, the more the hotel is going to give you things. the other thing with destination

weddings is they tend to be a little bit smaller, but yet again, 300 people are not gonna fly down for your wedding. i mean, they do, but in most cases it's usually around a 100 or less. and then you can sort of put some of the money that you, you were planning on spending into, you know, a more luxurious experience because you're not spending it on so many people. so it does cost a little less. but you know, like, like with anything with a wedding or with anything, it really depends on your choices and your vin use and where you're going. but an experience plan or a person who deals in destination weddings will be able to find you. the best deals for what you're planning on doing. thank you so much. i shall, but please stick around. we had an event planner, i saw a hockey hole stay with us right here after the break. and when we come back, we'll discover the latest trends and weddings that offer

a more budget friendly option. stay tuned for more details the same just to save house because of the application and engagement trails. when so many find themselves will support. we choose to look for common ground, the the

not surprisingly, the average cost of hosting an m radi wedding is now over a $185000.00, making it on average the most expensive country for weddings. while many couples do choose to hold a more modest affair, the high cost is driven largely by normative pressure to conform and avoid criticism that may impact family honor. australia is also expensive, with the average wedding costing just under $70000.00. and this is followed by the u. k. at an average of $35000.00 and a us at $33000.00. indian weddings had the largest average gas count of about $524.00 people per wedding. and these are multi day events. but even with this huge gas list, the average cost of weddings in india ranges from $15000.00 to $22000.00. now, of course, 20 percent of couples will spend more than $45000.00 on their wedding. however,

an indian wedding in north america is a completely different story because of the high mark up on wedding services in north america, the average indian wedding costs between $75000.00 to a 150000 dollars with many spending a lot more in major metropolitan cities, the average cost is more like $225000.00 to $285000.00. indian parents spend years wishing, hoping, praying for their kids get married, so the celebrations represent love and commitment. and also it promises the endurance of traditional family values. and although the pandemic locked downs are a thing of the past, the us is still struggling with rising inflation. this has now ushered in the era of micro weddings and zoomed ceremonies and american culture. usually the bride's family covers the majority of the expenses. however, in chinese culture,

the grooves family is expected to pay for most of the expenses, including the wedding rings ceremony and the wedding banquet. on top of that, the grooms family is also responsible for sending patrols or gifts which may include golden jewelry, wine and traditional chinese wedding cakes. but couples today are gravitating away from this tradition and increasingly choosing to split wedding expenses. and not only are these smaller, cheaper weddings, less stressful, but a studies show that a higher expenditure on your wedding could be to an increase likelihood of divorce . this is due to the financial burden and stress caused by why days that have run if occasions, later on down the road, when it comes down to saving money for a house or for our child. so for this and more, let's bring in again event planner, i shall hockey. now i shop how the cultural traditions impact the cost and scale of weddings in different countries or communities. ultimately, you know, the wedding,

the most important parts of the wedding is the ceremony. and then people like to have a reception um, or some sort of a feast afterwards. however, in countries like india in china, some parts of traditional africa, there's a lot of like the smaller ceremonies that kind of lead up to the big day. so it really depends on, you know, what are your family traditions? what are things that you believe in? and which one of those ceremonies that you know you want to have as part of your wedding? so like in india, i mean, i've seed weddings or people have been celebrating like 3 months out, you know, there's this event now this event, now this event, now this event, and then the wedding will happen and that will have something on the 4th day. and then the 10th day and then the 15th. so they really stretch out the wedding because they, you know, they can and they want to. so it really, really depends on, you know, where you're from, what's your community expecting, what's your family traditions? and sometimes in the states, you know, where we know all of us here are

a little bit more or, you know, where, like, where a hyphen, where like i'm from focused on and i'm americans on my back to sunny americans. so that hyphen culture, we sort of like maybe tone down a little bit of like the cultural stuff only in terms of, you know, people work 9 to 5. you can have them coming out every single night. you know, um, so we'll do a few and then end up with the ceremony and the reception. but it really just depends on what the influence of social media do. you see couples being more influenced by trends and the desire to create instagram, where the weather is, weddings. i hate the word trends because i feel like in this day and age with social media, the minute you say something and to it is a trend. people have moved on to something else. you know, there's all these challenges that are always showing up. and you know, yada yada yada. so i think so. busy that a lot of my clients do show me pictures that they see on instagram, on tick tock on pinterest and say, i like this, i like this,

i like this. and you know, because, you know, i'm a planner. i'm seeing this all the time. so what i try to do is say, okay, somebody has done that now let's try to take that and personalize it, and let's make it yours. you know? so that's a really nice way to sort of take what something that something that people consider a trend and sort of make it into something new. i think that's very important because you don't want your wedding to look dated. so like a couple years ago everybody was doing champagne walls, you know, the green wall and by today everybody's doing neon signs. so i always try to push my clients to go just a little bit further than what they're seeing currently. because you don't want your wedding to look like it was a trend, but yes, social media does influence because it's the, it's the information we're seeing on a daily basis. and it's beautiful. i mean these, you know, these videos and these photos are gorgeous. so it's, i guess i want to do something like that. but again, the key to it is like take it and personalize it,

you know. and then on the flip side of that equation, is that when they do have the wedding, you know they want to see moments or vin yet that they could photograph or where people can stand in front of and take a photograph or here's a place i can do a video, so we're looking at, you know, when we're putting an event together, we're also looking at the lighting of the space. you know, you want to make sure that the food looks pretty, even though you're using up lights or whatever. you want to make sure that, that visual is, looks good on somebody's cellphone because ultimately that's how it's going to end up. in the long run, it's going to be shared. it's going to be, you know, broadcast. so you want to make sure that the whole events, you know, your little like areas and the overall experience, sadly, or maybe not so sadly is phone ready? so yeah. the coven, 19 pandemic, has undoubtedly affected the wedding industry. how have couples adjusted their plans and have you observed any lasting changes in the wedding trends or spending

habits? yeah, so co rid was the code was a beach, did i read the i it was, it was, it was the amount of, you know, pivotal changes we had to make it the less i'm going to do to, you know, now we have a right now it's falling now it's being now it's, you know, flowing whatever. but i think one of the things that has sort of lost it after cove it is that people really do want to celebrate with their loved ones. they want to be close to them. they want to, you know, the mark their union with them there, including, you know, my, my mom's favorite flavor for cake is, you know, better become, so can i include that in, or, you know, my uncle who i'm really close to. he really likes the color blue. how can i bring that in? so people are sort of, you know, beyond the couple they're really looking at like the they're, they're, they're close the closest loved ones and saying, ok, how can i bring them in?

i'm going to have so, and so give a speech i'm going to have, you know, so and so make the 1st toast. i'm going to bring my, my, my, my, my niece into the 1st dance because she's so close to me. so people are really finding ways to celebrate their loved ones, because i think, you know, during cove and we were a so far apart, and now people are really realizing is that, you know, these unions means something, these relationships matter. and i want them to be a part of my most special day. and are there emerging trends in the virtual or hybrid weddings and how do these impact overall cost? that's a great question because, you know, during cove, it all of us and everybody was like, i need to have it like, you know, live stream. i need to have a, you know, posted to facebook and we actually started making plans for that. so it wasn't just, you know, somebody standing in the corner with their phone. we actually had teams come in and film and in fact i didn't one where um in the wedding was in the us and their family was in india and they were

a big bollywood family. so we have multiple cameras, you know, switching back and forth for the live streaming. so it felt like they were watching a movie rather than just like one static camera. i mean, it's pretty expensive. um setup that we had. what i've noticed say afterwards is that people are still seeing that you know what? so and so can't make it from china. you know, my, my great grandmother is too old to travel, so i'm going to live stream is and my cousin over there is going to like you to put it up for her to watch. so i am noticing that especially like, you know, since we are like more of a global world, and everybody is from everywhere that people are streaming parts of this are many, maybe not the whole thing. parts of the ceremony, parts of the reception and having it available for people around the world to tune in so that they can share in these festivities and before cove it, it was a thought it wasn't really there. but then you now with zoom being so ubiquitous,

it's just become so much easier to do so. and i think more more couples are finding parts of their celebration that they want to live stream for their loved ones. now, planning a wedding and balls significant financial decisions. what advice do you have for couples navigating the balance between creating their dream wedding and also managing costs responsibly? they say that, um a wedding is going to cost somebody about 30 percent of their savings, you know, and that's, you know, sometimes that can be a significant amount. so my, my, my, you know, i, i try to be very practical about this. i get, you know, having a wedding is a very emotional decision and people are like, oh my god, i've been thinking about this my whole life. you know, fairytale, yada yada, yada. i always tell them, think of your dream wedding, you know? no holds barred, put down every idea you want on paper. now, on a separate piece of paper, let's put down realistically what your cost is. you know,

how much do you have to spend without going into debt? that is the worst possible thing. you know, parents usually comfortable with these days a couple is also picking up a large, large part of that responsibility. and then you know, take your to, to, to list and, and find a happy medium because that's where you're going to find something magical. and a lot of times it's, again, it's a very emotional decision versus a very analytical logical decision. so there is a little bit of like tension finding that space, but again, working with a good plan or somebody who can sort of walk you through that and say ok, if you only want to spend x amount, you know, let's focus in on this part which is on your dream list, and then we don't have to focus so much on this because this is something that you don't even have listed on your dream thing. so the biggest advice i can say is be realistic about your expectations. be flexible,

be creative in your approach because in creative and you find magic. and then most importantly, your wedding, although it's again, a very emotional decision is not worth going in debt for because it's for one day, but your union, it's going to last a lifetime. and so think about, you know, i need to save some money for that down payment for a house, or i need to, you know, know that, you know, i have these, this life journey ahead of me. and i'm going to have to have money for that. so don't go into debt, be realistic, and you know, be creative in, in how you go about doing this. thank you so much. i shift for all your time today . so it seems like once the ring goes on the pressure to find the perfect cake book, the perfect venue for the reception and coordinate, the biggest blow out is on couples. even struggle to find the perfect wedding hash tag as a way to brand their own nuptials. thanks to instagram,

pinterest and snapshot the way industry is booming from couples, trying to outdo each other for their special day. because of social media couples are able to easily connect with vendors, read reviews, and view portfolios, allowing the way business to flourish. but the cost and exposure and pressure can stress, can have real and negative impacts on couples. and ultimately, social media has also created unrealistic expectations as couples are exposed to these extravagant weddings. but that might not align with their budget or personal preferences which then leads to disappointments as i'm christy. i thanks for watching and we'll see you right back here next time on the cost of everything. the

. the headline stories as the idea of some ongoing offensive kills almost $150.00 at gals is out of shape a hospital. since monday images emerge, reporting to show doctors and journalists being detained and blindfolded by the as really on the poland as president claims. russia is preparing for a direct confrontation with nato, saying it could happen within the next 2 years. a warning based on some of the evidence are simply fear mongering by warsaw. we investigate the top you printing and official insults the senior chinese diploma live on tv deliberately using an obscenity in mispronouncing his name.

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