双语新闻:看美国人办婚礼时省钱的五大诀窍

2014-04-25 14:38:48来源：可可英语

　　The average price of a wedding in the U.S. is $26,000, according to wedding-industry trackers TheWeddingReport.com. But an increasing number of couples are embracing frugality by tossing out the preconceived notions of the big-ticket wedding.

　　据婚庆行业研究网站TheWeddingReport.com的数据，美国人在婚礼上的平均开销是26,000美元。不过，有越来越多的新人选择摒弃人们认为婚礼就得有奢华排场的习惯性思维，开始追求节俭朴素的婚礼。

　　This year, more than 2 million wedding ceremonies will take place in America, and although 34% of the couples will spend more than $20,000 on nuptials, another 39.5% will spend less than $10,000. The substantially smaller price tag of the latter group is a trend that saw an uptick during the recession, and it's one that's here to stay, notes Andy Brennan, an analyst at research group IBISWorld.

　　今年美国有会有超过200万场的婚礼，但其中计划花费超过20,000美元的新婚夫妻只占34%，另外有39.5%的新人婚礼花费将不超过10,000美元，像后者这样大幅缩减结婚费用的做法已经成为了一种趋势，在经济不景气的环境中，有越来越多的人效仿。研究集团IBISWorld的分析师安迪·布伦南(Andy Brennan)指出，这样的势头还会持续下去。

　　One reason: The cost of getting married has soared. From 1980 to 2012, wedding costs jumped 460%, according to IBISWorld, while the cumulative rate of inflation grew only 178.6%. Another reason is that more people are delaying marriage because of the still-stagnant economy. According to a 2012 Pew Research Center report, 20% of people aged 18 to 34 put off marriage because of tough economic conditions. 'The landscape has definitely changed,' Brennan says. 'People tend to have more of a focus on their careers and get married at a later time because they're much more conscious about what they can save and when they should get married.'

　　一个原因：婚礼费用已经飙升得太高了。根据IBISWorld的数据，从1980年到2012年，婚礼费用增长了460%，而同期累计通货膨胀率也不过178.6%。另外一个原因是，越来越多的人因为经济依旧不景气而推迟结婚。据皮尤研究中心(Pew Research Center) 2012年的一份报告显示，18至34岁人群中，有20%的人因为经济不好推迟结婚。布伦南说，情况无疑已经发生了变化，人们愿意把精力更多地放在事业上，并为此推迟结婚，因为他们在考虑能存多少钱和何时该结婚的问题上变得更加地理智清醒。

　　So for all those frugal brides and grooms, here are some ways to save.

　　那些想节俭办婚礼的新郎新娘们，这里有一些省钱的诀窍。

　　Go digital for save-the-dates

　　发送电子预请帖

　　This year, nearly $200 million will be spent on save-the-date cards, according to TheWeddingReport.com. But that time-honored tradition of mailing a wedding reminder several weeks before receiving the actual wedding invitation is starting to be viewed by some consumers as antiquated and a waste of money. In fact, save-the-date spending is anticipated to diminish over the next four years, according to TheWeddingReport.com.

　　据TheWeddingReport.com的统计，新人们今年花在预请帖(save-the-date card)上的费用将接近两亿美元。预请帖就是在发真正的婚礼请柬之前的数周邮寄出的一个婚礼日期通知，是一种有着悠久历史的婚礼传统。但是，有一些开始认为这样的做法既过时又费钱。实际上，据TheWeddingReport.com称，新人们在预请帖上的开销预计将会在未来四年内不断减少。

　　So while spending $97 per wedding for save-the-dates (plus postage) isn't a huge expense, many couples have forgone lickable stamps and paper. In 2012, nearly one in three couples created and/or sent save-the-dates online, compared with just one in five in 2009, reports theKnot.com. Why the shift? The rise of online shopping has helped change perceptions of what's appropriate wedding planning behavior, notes IBISWorld's Brennan. 'It was once considered cheap to put a save the date online, but now it's accepted,' he says.

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