Today, a married woman tells us why she thinks that weddings are not only not the best day of your life, but also a huge waste of money. Expensive weddings are a waste of money because they are not directly proportional to having a happy marriage. According to several statistics, the more money spent on a wedding, the less likely it is that it will end in divorce. Spending more money on your wedding doesn't promise you happily ever after.
Focus on making your wedding memorable for you, one that you can cherish for the rest of your life. It's your wedding day, yes, it deserves to be special. However, don't let it become a burden on the big picture, your life together. Couples who fight over money, work extra shifts to get things paid just to pay off debts without spending time together hurts relationships.
We used the rest of the money we had saved for the event during our 1.5-year commitment for our honeymoon, combined with credit card points, for a two-week trip of our life. Being Greek means a great Greek wedding, however, it doesn't mean expensive. Include music, food and alcohol at reception. Our church room is perfect because you don't get kicked out at 9 or 10 at night.
Greek receptions last at least until 1 to 2 AM. Nowadays I feel like most non-Greek weddings look like children's birthday parties and most aren't fun, it's a little sad. I'm not sure how much our wedding cost. My mother made my dress, my bridesmaids are hers.
The flowers were simple and the cake was a gift from a baker my husband worked for and a friend took the photos. In addition to the cake, there was punch, nuts and mints at the reception in the scholarship room (basement). Big dinners weren't the tradition then. We had it in our church, where my father was a pastor, so everyone was invited.
My father gave me a gift and performed the ceremony, but I don't think we paid him anything. I was a few weeks away from my 18th birthday and my husband had turned 19 a week earlier. Since we will celebrate our 61st anniversary in a couple of months, I think it went well for us. I see a wedding as a great opportunity to visit and enjoy family and friends and also to celebrate how two people commit to spending the rest of their lives together.
The stress of organizing one (either with 21 people or 500) is only to the detriment of such a celebration and I think keeping it simple is the path to success. Weddings are challenging in the sense that any event designed to accommodate many attendees tends to be difficult to coordinate. Feeding more than 100 people is going to be costly, labor-intensive, or both. At the same time, many couples see weddings as communal, so they*not* involving the community is not an option.
That's according to a recent survey by Novi Financial Inc. Participants were asked to rate different wedding expenses and share what they felt were not worth it or were a waste of money. Of those surveyed, 48.5% said wedding planners weren't worth it, followed by 36.7% who said videography and 36.1% said wedding favors.
