Summer is almost over, so it may be an excellent time to start wrapping up all the summer-related topics, including the one we will talk about today – the actual costs of being invited to a wedding. Think about the things that need to be done before the ceremony and the toll it takes on our wallets, all while learning about the causative have and get.
I think it’s safe to assume that everyone has been to a wedding party at least once in their lives. Of course, the wedding preparations differ depending on who is getting married. It’s way cheaper to attend the wedding of a distant relative than that of a university best friend. The inspiration for this piece came after a short conversation on the costs of weddings with one of my B1 students and the language that emerged during this lesson. Afterwards, I searched for an infographic and a short article about the burden of being a wedding guest, something that not many people like talking about.
Don’t miss out on this summer topic, and scroll until the end of the post to get the presentation, the worksheet, and the teacher’s notes for free!
Besides talking about the costs of being a wedding guest, the objective of this lesson is to understand the use and structure of the causative with have and get. For this reason, I decided to start the lesson by asking students to imagine they are planning a wedding. Show them a list of things that need to be done before the ceremony and ask which of them they would pay someone else to do for them. Some options include taking wedding pictures, buying the rings, or organizing a stag/hen party. I knew that stag and hen parties may be new for B1-level students, therefore I decided to present them at the beginning stage of the lesson. Allow students to discuss the topic and justify all the options mentioned.
Finish this part by discussing the cost of throwing a wedding in students’ countries and whether this price has increased or decreased in recent years. Shift the focus from being a bride and groom to being a wedding guest and whether students have ever attended a wedding and what their roles at those celebrations were. Do they remember how much they needed to invest in this ceremony?
Read an article introduction written by My Dream Wedding titled The True Cost of Being a Wedding Guest and answer the questions about the pre-wedding costs and how they compare with the costs on the wedding day. Do students agree with the amounts mentioned in the text (€200-€250 each), or do the prices differ in their countries? Think if it’s possible to reduce the costs of both celebrations.
The following content was inspired by a simple infographic presented on the aforementioned blog. This is a fun activity that could lead to an interesting group discussion. Look at what people spend money on when attending stag and hen parties. Ask students to vote on who spends more on those parties – men or women. Elicit a few answers and ask students to justify their responses. Then, you can either continue as a group or put students into pairs and give them some time to think about who spends more on each category and allow them to justify their answers. Share the answers as a group. If you have this lesson on Zoom, you could use the poll option to check the vote distribution. If you have this lesson in person and still want to keep it exciting with a poll, why don’t you download and print out the signs below, so students can express their opinions by lifting one of them?
Now that students are warmed up and know what people usually spend money on during the pre-wedding celebrations, give them time to think about six things they need to invest in as a wedding guest. According to the infographic, people spend the most on outfits, wedding gifts, accommodation, travel, taxi, hair, makeup, and nails. Once you have the answers written down, give them additional time to think about which of these they would pay someone else to do for them and which ones they would do themselves.
Up to this point, students were using the active structure to talk about someone else doing things for them, for example, I would pay someone to do my nails. Introduce the causative by showing two sentences and eliciting which refers to someone else doing something for us and which refers to us doing the thing ourselves. Point out the structure have + object + past participle and say that it can be used in any tense desired. It can also be less formal by substituting have with get.
To assess students’ understanding of sentence structure, I have prepared a task in which they need to write down eight sentences. Students identify which pre-wedding preparations they would have done for them and which ones they would do themselves. The challenge lies in considering the task from both perspectives: that of a bride and that of a wedding guest. Monitor the activity and check if students have any problems using causative.
I don’t often engage in role-plays, but I think it’s time to change this habit. I have prepared an activity in which students work in pairs and discuss their wedding preparations. Student A is the bride and Student B is the bridesmaid. The students go through a list of tasks and discuss whether they are going to have all the things done before the big day. This speaking activity not only solidifies the causative structure but also allows students to practice using the causative in different tenses.
Click on the files below to access the presentation and worksheet, along with the teacher’s notes.
Have you attended any weddings this year? How much did you spend on them? Is there any way you could lower these costs?
