Wedding Costs....

   / Wedding Costs.... #2  
When I got married 25 years ago, we did a "budget wedding". My wife (now ex-wife) loved to sew, so she made her dress. At the time, I was working for an accounting firm and wearing a suit every day. So, instead of renting a tux, I bought a new suit for not much more and got several years of use out of it. Simple church wedding, 1 attendant each. A friend and his father provided the music for the ceremony on their violin and cello (both were concert musicians). Reception was a cookout in my old business partner's back yard. We rented a tent, pre-cooked a bunch of chicken and finished it on the grill. Our friends jumped in for grill duty while we socialized. A couple of cases of wine and a keg of beer (one of my clients was the local Coors distributor - I got a deal on it! :)) and we were set! All in all, I think we spent somewhere around $1000 for everything.

About the same time we got married, the next door neighbor's youngest son got married. His parents offered the couple $5000 that they could use for either a down payment on a house or a trip to Hawaii. Of course, they took the trip. As far as I know, they're still renting.
 
   / Wedding Costs.... #3  
David, are you some sort of fifth column subversive? You keep on with this crazy talk and the entire US economy will crumble. :laughing:
 
   / Wedding Costs.... #4  
When I got married 25 years ago, we did a "budget wedding".

If you call that a "budget wedding", I can only imagine what you'd call ours 50 years ago.:laughing: My wife was living with an aunt and uncle and we had the wedding one evening in their house. Her uncle did make a delicious champagne punch, they bought her a beautiful wedding dress (which she still has), I paid $110 for her rings, I wore the same suit I already had, the preacher came to the house to perform the ceremony, and my parents, one of my cousins and his wife, her aunt & uncle and their son and daughter were there, along with a professional photographer her uncle had hired.

It was quite an evening. The preacher got lost and we'd almost given up on him coming when he called to ask for more directions. And before he arrived, but with everyone else there, the lady who lived across the street came in carrying a loaded and cocked .38 revolver. She had bought the gun for home protection, without knowing anything about them. She thought she heard someone outside the night before, so she got the gun, cocked it, then didn't know how to "uncock" it. But she knew I was going to be there that night for the wedding and would know how to uncock it, so she was bringing it to me to "fix" for her.:laughing:
 
   / Wedding Costs.... #5  
I'd like to know how women would vote on this topic vs. men.

I think I know the answer.

I also think I know who would win the decision.

MoKelly
 
   / Wedding Costs.... #6  
I've wondered how long the marriages of some of those elaborate and expensive weddings last. I can remember a sergeant, who was working for me, taking out a second mortgage on his home to pay for a huge, expensive wedding for their daughter. Of course it was none of my business, so I certainly didn't say anything, but to me, that borders on insanity.
 
   / Wedding Costs.... #7  
Sharon and I had a simple wedding 44 years ago. The ceremony was in the Presbyterian church around the corner from her parent's home. The reception was in the local Grange Hall. The food was homemade and brought to the reception by family friends. No music, no spirit beverages.

I don't think either one of us has ever felt like we missed out on something or that our wedding wasn't 'good enough' in some way or other. The folks who mattered to us were there to share the occasion.
 
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   / Wedding Costs.... #8  
My wife and I had a pretty frugal wedding ... married in our Church, a small reception at the hotel we were staying overnight before leaving for a week to a golf/tennis resort in Northern Illinois.

All was good (she agreed to everything) --- except we didn't get a limo for the trip from the church to the hotel. My Dad drove us in his car. My wife trying to get into the car with her wedding dress was, well, shall we say challenging. Getting out was even more fun.

To this day (24 years later), she will sometimes mention that to our kids about how "cheap" their father was on the wedding.

Women are different --- they never forget. They are good at forgiving --- but they do not forget.

MoKelly
 
   / Wedding Costs.... #9  
With a fifty percent divorce rate, why not forgo the expense and have a BIG celebration after twenty or so good years?

Frugal women are what men should be looking for. (Hey, spending money on equipment, isn't really spending it as it holds it's value, got that sweetie?)
 
   / Wedding Costs.... #10  
How do most men define a wedding? An expensive way to get laundry done for free. :thumbsup:
 
 
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