Financial rationality vs traditions: on wedding costs of medium income urban families in Kazakhstan

Talking about weddings in Kazakhstan can be reduced to one phrase – very beautiful, but very expensive. A plethora of rituals accompanying the wedding, from matchmaking to post-wedding visits, determines the scale of expenses incurred by the families of the bride and groom. Traditions endow the bride and groom with specific expenses, which leads to the separation of their wedding budgets and the fear of not being generous enough compared to the other side. To “decode” wedding accounting, some wedding expenses and sources of their coverage were analyzed in detail using the examples of several Kazakh families who had organized a wedding or were preparing for it. The article provides an estimate of wedding expenses and systematizes the resources that allow the family to bear this financial burden. The ways to reduce costs without reputational damage are discussed separately. It is shown that using the relatives’ help as an alternative to bank loans is embedded in the society. Social environment support in covering wedding expenses forms a system of mutual obligations that firmly bind families within the framework of the gift exchange economy.