Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Why Weddings Make Me Itch

I was watching TLC's Say Yes to the Dress and was horrified as I watched someone send $27,300 on her wedding dress.

Her wedding dress.

On Say Yes to the Dress I've seen teachers and secretaries have dress budgets in the $7,000 to $10,000 range. And while I'm sure some people save for their wedding before they get married, I'd put quite a bit of money on th fact, that, for most of these folk the dress and wedding are going on credit.

People go into massive debt for one day. One day. Women spend ungodly sums of money for a dress they will wear once. Once. And all of this hoopla for you to celebrate the day you marry the man you're more than likely going to divorce.

Okay that was mean.

But with the average wedding today costing $29,000 and with your average couple going over their budget by 50%, I'm just at a lost at why you spend so much money on the beginning of your relationship.

I can see you dropping major cash for a ten or twenty year anniversary, but just to say "I do?"

I don't think so.

Barring you being fabulously wealthy, there is just no need to drop that kinda cash on your wedding day. You could take that $29,000 and use it as a down payment on a house or start a college fund for your future kids...or hell, pay off your debt. This is America. Most everybody has debt.

But to put yourself into more debt at the beginning of your relationship when money is the number one reason for divorce in this country...well...that's just stupid.

Personally, I never wanted a big wedding.

As a kid I was planning what my corporate offices were going to look like, not what my wedding was going to look like. And to this day I don't understand what the big hoopla is about for the "special day."

Unless I marry (assuming I get married) a really wealthy guy who has $29,000 to blow on a wedding, I won't be having a big wedding. Hell, possibly no wedding at all. Just elope and have a really big reception for everyone when we get back.

Simple.

And cheap.

The thought of doing anything more...spending $29,000 on my wedding day...just makes me itch.

8 comments:

ImitationAngel said...

I can't blame you for this one. I actually have to agree. I watch a lot of wedding shows and always ask why they spend the amount of money they do. If I get married (which I don't plan on doing) I'm wearing jeans and a tshirt down to the courthouse (no wait since it's special I may wear a dress) and get it over with. Those thousands of dollars will be going towards a new vehicle or computer lol.

Anonymous said...

Stuff like that stems from the screwed-up mentality most people have when it comes to weddings. How many times is a bride told that the wedding is her day, her dream come true? Wedding are set up to be such a fantasy that most folks think nothing of spending an ungodly amount of money on them because after all, it's "their" day.

My aunt thought that way and ended up spending so much money on her wedding that she and her husband couldn't even afford a honeymoon. Long story short, they separated THREE months after the wedding!

Dallas Black said...

Ok, this itch is bothering me. Lets get you some Benadryl. But I agree, lets spend the money to pay down the house with a little on the honeymoon suite in Atlantis in the Caribbean...oh yea..buck bucka wow wow.

Anonymous said...

I know that's right! spend that money on a house and the honeymoon

I want to have a nice wedding but I aint goin into debt over it

Seems like if you mention its wedding ppl start talkin about special packages or whatever, u might as well say its your birthday and get shit cheaper

Anonymous said...

A and men!! I wish people would focus as much on the relationship as they do the wedding. There would be far fewer divorces.

Anonymous said...

When you said that weddings make you itch, I swear you reminded me of that episode of "Sex and the City", where Carrie broke out in hives trying on wedding dresses.

Paying a large amount of money for a dress is so overrated to me. $30,000 could have paid for the entire wedding alone, why spend it all on the dress?

Unknown said...

That's why I got married at the courthouse, more important things to spend money on

Anonymous said...

You can have a nice wedding for much less than $29K (I certainly did and I got married last year in a high cost of living area, so I KNOW it can be done), but people don't even TRY to economize, they think they have to spend ridiculous amounts on dresses and whatnot because it's "their day."