[JZelle]

Some of those birthday parties for little kids can go pretty overboard too.

[PeterFinn]

Wow. This is important.

[ahayes]

"We have watched friends get sucked into the tidal wave that is the emotionally manipulative wedding industry -- now totaling $50 billion in sales a year." Saying the marriage ritual has turned into "a circus of decadence," Martin says, "Not only is the egregious spending offensive in a world where too many have too little, but the meaning of the ritual is all but lost amid the designer dresses and lobster dinners."

Phooey. What, are they putting a gun to your head forcing you to spend a load of money? If you don't want to spend it, just don't spend it. That's what we did.

[Red Badger]

If you think wedding costs are high, check the cost of divorce!............

[MineralMan]

Ridiculous. I like the garden wedding at the bride's parents' home. Close friends and relatives, followed by a potluck.

That's what my wife and I did, and it's a great memory for us. There's no evidence that a big, fancy wedding does any more to solemnize the occasion than a simple garden wedding.

[Kenny Bunkport]

Definitely true about kiddies' birthday parties.

There's no reason weddings can't be simple.

[American Quilter]

A new reason for the irresponsible to avoid marriage. Ridiculous.

[dhs12345]

"Saying the marriage ritual has turned into "a circus of decadence"

Like it never was? It is traditional and an opportunity to show off. Happens all over the world.

[Centurion2000]

Who the hell is spending 20K on a one day party?

[inkling]

I've been to lavish blow-outs and Justice of the Peace ceremonies. A wedding is always just as good as the relationship of the couple getting married.

[eraser2005]

No kidding... Birthday parties should be cake, soda, games - no reason for it to even reach $50....

But with some careful shopping, there is no reason for wedding costs to go so high... You can still get all the major parts together and do a fancy wedding and reception for under $10k if you put some time into it, negotiate a bit, and don't go for all the frills no one will notice anyway...

[JmyBryan]

Best weddings are the ones with an open bar and music to dance to.

[mouse_35]

My daughter got married in March. We had a small ceremony with just the parents, grandparents and two friends of the bride and groom. Including the wedding dress (which my daughter found on sale for less than $300.00) the entire thing cost right around $1200.00. Most of that was for the B&B where she was married. It CAN be done inexpensively if you WANT to.

[mouse_35]

My daughter got married in March. We had a small ceremony with just the parents, grandparents and two friends of the bride and groom. Including the wedding dress (which my daughter found on sale for less than $300.00) the entire thing cost right around $1200.00. Most of that was for the B&B where she was married. It CAN be done inexpensively if you WANT to.

[RMDupree]

Viva Las Vegas, hon. ;-)

[inkling]

I have two toddler girls. I plan to give them each a $10K wedding gift. They can use that for a wedding, a honeymoon, appliances... whatever. But if I were them, I would do a quick ceremony at church, then start looking at real estate.

[CT-Freeper]

My wife and I married almost a year ago - July 29th.

My wife is very frugal with money, so we shopped around for deals and made cuts here and there. For example, the reception hall was going to charge us $65/head for dinner, but we negotiated it down to $45/head by reducing the 5-hour open bar to 1 hour and making it a buffet-style dinner instead of waiter served.

For flowers, we went to a wholesaler instead of a private florist and made our own bouquets and centerpieces.

For the limo, my brother-in-law had a friend whose family owns a funeral parlor, so we got to use the limo for free (just had to tip the driver).

There's lots of ways to save for weddings.

[Pukin Dog]

A shared six-pack and a couple of lobster can be just an intimate and memorable.

[TASMANIANRED]

Cost of fancy pants weddings is up.

You can still do it for the cost of a liscense.

[LanPB01]

I got married in March at a small chapel for about $500, and that included two nights in a cabin. My wife and I agreed spending a large amount on a ceremony was a bad idea.

[MD_Willington_1976]

$1500 Canadian, that was in 2000... pretty cheap, more like $700 USD then, my wife planned all of it... She's the CGA of the house.