There they are, counting their riches and snickering over their good fortune at being parents of the groom. But hang on — these people have a few financial obligations of their own. The groom himself is usually responsible for wedding gifts and ring for the bride, gifts for the groomsmen, and the honeymoon. His parents take care of the following expenses:

• Officiant's fee

• Rehearsal dinner

• Flowers: bride's bouquet, mothers' and grandmothers' corsages, boutonnieres for groomsmen

“That's it?” you ask. “Where's the rest?” Well, in a traditional setup, you've already paid for the rest. Is this fair? Perhaps in the days of dowries and arranged marriages it was a suitable system. However, in contemporary times, the uneven balance of the bride's family paying for the bulk of the wedding seems outdated. Tradition is sometimes overrated, wouldn't you say?