Posted on 09/05/2009 9:58:31 AM PDT by Cecily
With their wedding day quickly approaching, Vanessa Caldwell and Cole Parker are still hammering out key details: cupcakes or a tiered fantasy in frosting?
But they know how they’ll pay for the big day. Or — more precisely — who will pay for it. Their guests.
The 75 invited are being asked to pony up cash to cover everything from the champagne toast to the candy favors to the silk fabric for the wedding dress.
So much for the rules of yesteryear. Used to be, guests gave fine china and silverware toward the couple’s new life together. Asking for cash was a big no-no.
Traditionalists say it still is. But for Parker, 36, and Caldwell, 28, asking guests to pitch in is practical and savvy.
“We don’t need pots and pans,” said Caldwell, who lives in Sandy Springs. “The idea is to allow our friends to be a part of the experience and contribute to our love.”
From cash bars to setting up “wishing wells” and money trees at the reception, some brides and grooms are turning to their guests to keep the dream alive for a picture-perfect wedding day.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
TACKY.........
Expensive wedding bashes are tacky, no matter who’s paying for them. I was happy to see the low-cost, low-key affair my nephew and his bride had last month. They could easily have afforded to spend 10 times what they did, but extravagance wasn’t the point, and they weren’t interested in impressing their guests with how much money they have, especially given that some of their guests are people who have recently lost jobs and have serious financial problems. Their gift registry was loaded with inexpensive, practical items like pots and pans, and his mom made the table decorations.
I said years ago as the cost of weddings was rising amazingly, that sooner or later someone would come up with the idea of a pot luck wedding, where the guests would bring a dish.
Now: If we could just get some people to dig a hole and bury us we could save a quick $15,000 dollars on funerals. Bring your own shovel funerals. I think is’s atrocious the cost of throwing a dead body in a hole.
I wonder who they voted for.....
This is not really a real picture or couple is it? Did you forget the sarcasm or satire alert?
If so, America is doomed.
Here’s Parker and Caldwell’s wedding Website, called “Dollar for a Wedding” (!)
http://www.dollarforawedding.com/
It’s the second marriage for both of them...
LOL I like bring your own shovel funeral...I told my kids to cremate me and edge the head stone, dump my ashes in the troth and you won’t have to pay for their interment...We have a large family and they stand around the grave so no one would see them digging.....My daughter insist I be with her father (he’s already in the grave) so she said thumbs down on just letting me blow in the wind....
I can only assume, with that kind of attitude, that they're Democrats.
I met Zack's fiancee when I was down in MS last month, and she is just as sweet and level headed as can be! I'm happy he found someone so nice, cause he's just a great kid!
*
My old room mate was the daughter of a minister who did many very simple weddings. The exchange of vows, a couple of witnesses, some cake and punch, and the couple was just as married as anybody who spent a fortune. People are so lost these days, it seems. There is more emphasis on the hoopla than on the actual marriage, and weddings are a big industry.
That's because people won't pay attention to what is going on around them and before you know it, some funeral directors org has pressured their favorite congress critter to pass laws requiring cement liners in graves, sealed coffins etc. Government is the main reason it cost so much to bury people. He**, you can't even bury your pet in your own yard any more.
Cremations cost about $2,000 these days.
Hope I’m not invited
Its a pretty common deal at most Asian weddings. At the dinner the guests hand over red envelopes with cash inside.
Its a very long-standing tradition.
While the bride and groom danced in front of the 1000 or so guests, people came up and showered them with money. After the dance was over, the bride and grooms's mothers gathered the money off of the floor into large plastic garbage bags.
There was at least one garbage bag full of money that was then hauled upstairs, and the banquet was paid for then and there in cash.
I seen this with my own eyes to know what I'm talking about. And when I say at least one I mean at least. The most most I've ever seen was four garbage bags full of cash (and I'm talking the big lawn clipping sized bags).
I hope you were tipped well out of those bags of cash!....;)
I come from an ethnic background (Ukrainian) where it’s traditional to give cash to the married couple. In fact at the reception, there is a point where the wedding party lines up at the head table, the band plays a traditional “march” and the guests line up, congratulate the couple, drink a shot with the groom or best man ( smart grooms only sip a little!) and hand over an envelope with cash as the wedding gift, then get their slice of wedding cake.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.