This is my first time watching this show on TLC, and I was not impressed with this couple. The bride was way to bitchy and whiny. The groom should have run away if he knew what was good for him. Now, onto the finances.
Budget: $35,000
Actual spent (bride & groom): $42,000
Over Budget (bride & groom) : $7,000
Flowers & Dress (parents' gifts): $8000
Total Wedding Cost: $50,000
Wowzers! That is a lot of dough!
I thought to myself, if instead of blowing all that money for one night, the couple had taken the $50,000 and invested at an annual return rate of 10% for 40 years, they would end up with $2,262,962. That's a pretty sweet retirement!
Realistically speaking, there must be some middle ground between $50,000 and nothing, and that middle ground may be different for all of us. But the above example of putting your wedding costs towards a retirement savings plan just goes to show you, the extreme of how you can take things, and very different outcomes.
I remember one night when my sister and my girl friend went out for dinner, we were on the topic of weddings and their outrageous cost. One of my good friends from high school had just got married, and my friend's brother was soon to be tying the knot. We were all appalled at how money was being spent on one day! Being the nerds that we were, we actually crunched the numbers.
Call us a bunch of cheap, and unromantic single girls, but we ranted about all the crazy wedding stories we knew, and at the moment, we all didn't even want to get married just to avoid all this craziness. Two things we all wanted to avoid that usually comes with a wedding: becoming Bridezilla and family politics.
Since when did a wedding become a day where Bridezilla gets to exploit her status of leaving singledom? Brides can make outrageous demands, and they all must be met, it seems. No matter how impossible, no matter how much time it took, no matter how much money needed to be spent.
Even though the wedding is costing the bride and groom a load of money, don't forget about the money that the brides maids and grooms men are shelling out, too. Bridal shower, brides maid dresses, bachelor / bachelorette parties, gifts, etc., are all costing somebody something.
Sometimes, it's not all about the bride. Sometimes, it's about the family. I was appalled, again, at the crazy amount of family politics involved. Having to be careful not to step on anyone's toes, to try to make sure everyone is somewhat happy.
Having never planned a wedding, or ever been married, I have to say that these factor do not make a wedding seem very appealing at all.
I want to get married one day. To someone I love, whom I respect, whom I admire and someone I want to spend the rest of my life with. And I want to share that moment with my friends and family. But, I know I don't want to do it in the form of a big wedding, or maybe not any wedding.
I don't want to start out our new life together pondering over flowers, or napkin colours, or name tags. I don't want to start out arguing and trying to please too-opinionated family members, or other family politics. And I don't want to start our new life together up to our eyeballs in debt.
I want to start out by taking our time, and planning our life together. Know that our lives are rich, because we are blessed with each other and the people whom we love. And just enjoying the simple things everyday, together.
Having said that, it would be nice to look like a princess for day. So I decided I would consider hiring a photographer for a few hours to shoot some pictures of my honey and I, where I could look like a bride. Rented bridal dress, with professional hair and make up in a beautiful park.
What are you thoughts on wedding costs?? How much did your wedding cost you?? And did you think it was worth it??
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