Before the end of the first half of the year, Le Trong Hieu (28 years old, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi) was invited to 3 weddings, 2 full-month ceremonies and a first birthday party of his friends' children.
Hieu was not too surprised because the end of the year is often considered the “wedding season”. However, when the invitations continuously arrived, the office worker could not help but be startled.
“After the social distancing period, many of my friends got married, even though they were only able to hold small-scale weddings. Not only that, many other friends or colleagues were also pregnant or gave birth during the pandemic, and now they are holding birthday parties for their children,” Hieu shared.
After the social distancing period, many young couples took the opportunity to organize wedding parties. Illustration: Thach Thao
Wedding money pressure
According to Hieu, he could not attend all the weddings and parties that were organized by some friends in his hometown. However, he sent money or gifts to congratulate them.
“If it weren’t for the pandemic, I would definitely go to my friend’s house to share the joy. From afar, I send each person a red envelope of money, 2 million VND for weddings, 1 million VND or a little less for birthdays and full-month parties,” Hieu said.
For Hieu, he never thought about money when his friends invited him to their weddings because they were all close friends. But when the weddings took place at the same time, he was somewhat confused and had to find a way to balance the expenses.
“My salary is not too high, and I have not received a Tet bonus yet. This January, I expect to spend nearly 10 million VND to celebrate my friends’ happy days. Right now, I just hope the company’s bonus is a little higher so that this Tet, I can have ‘banh chung with meat’,” Hieu said.
Huong Linh (25 years old, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi) is in the same situation.
Last year, after working at a financial company for only 2 months, Linh received a wedding invitation from a colleague.
Even though she didn't remember the whole room or had a fixed salary, she still enthusiastically attended and sent money like the other members to "integrate into the environment".
Hieu at a close friend's wedding
“At that time, I was still in the probationary period. My finances were not very stable, but it was difficult for me to refuse invitations from my roommates. I thought that weddings only happen once or twice a year, so I shouldn’t calculate the pros and cons too much,” Linh said.
However, in the next 3 months, she was invited to 3 weddings and 2 birthday parties of her colleagues' children.
From happily accepting the offer, Linh became worried when the gift for these occasions took up a fixed part of her monthly expenses, while her bonus decreased sharply due to the pandemic.
At the same time, Linh's friends were also getting married, making the economic situation even more stressful.
“At my age, all my friends are getting married. I can’t refuse invitations from colleagues, whether we’re close or not, because I often meet them at work. Each time I have to pay about 300,000-500,000 VND, I can’t help but worry,” she sighed.
Asked about marriage
Every year, seeing his close friends getting married one by one, Hieu feels a bit sad because it has been 5 years since he ended his most recent relationship.
Without his family urging him, he asked himself: "When will it be my turn?"
That is also the story of Nguyen Thanh Huong (27 years old, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City). Since the beginning of the year, she has attended 3 weddings and 2 full-month parties for her friends' children. As Tet approaches, Huong feels even more pressured when thinking about being questioned by her family about her lover and dating.
“I think I’m the type of person who spends my youth attending friends’ weddings. In my boarding house, three of my friends have gotten married, leaving me alone. It’s frustrating to think about, but I just let it be and wait for the right time,” the female media employee laughed.
Talking more about the financial issue after each occasion to celebrate with friends, Huong confided: “Last year, due to the epidemic, my income was affected quite a bit. At the end of the year, I wanted to save money for Tet, but the weddings and full-month parties kept coming, putting a bit of financial pressure on me, so I had to save money to save money. However, because they were all close friends, I didn't calculate much."
Thanh Hoa at a birthday party for her friend's child
Meanwhile, Thanh Hoa (26 years old, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi) is still quite comfortable enjoying her single life. For her, living alone is still very fun, being able to be free in both time and finance.
However, in reality, when seeing many friends getting married and having children, Hoa herself also thought about wanting to "have a couple".
“As the year comes to an end and I prepare to enter a new age, my parents keep reminding me and urging me to get married. I can feel their anxiety and impatience every year. But the time has not come yet, I just hope my parents understand and sympathize,” Hoa said.
In the last months of the year, Hoa attended 4 weddings of friends, a birthday party and 2 full-month parties of close friends’ children, each time giving envelopes ranging from 500,000 VND to 1 million VND. Many friends teased Hoa, “When will you get your money back?”
“Although I spent a lot on my friends' weddings, I didn't feel too pressured or think about needing to 'recover my investment'. Instead, I was happy for my friends when they had new families, children and lots of joy," Hoa confided.
According to Zing