thrifty wedding
The Burbank airport is so small that there are no tables to eat at, so I took my meal into the bar to eat. The bartender was talking about her upcoming wedding and some one asked her where it would be. She said in a friend's back year. She said she would rather have the money to spend on clothes and shoes than blow on a fancy location for her wedding. I'm so down with that that I wanted to high five the woman.
Then she told us about how for gifts they are registered at only one place: a travel agency. So the only gift they want is a donation to the agency that their honeymoon is booked through (to help pay for the honeymoon). I would much rather make a donaion as a gift than have to drive to some department store to buy something a couple is registered for and wrap it and try to remember to take it with me to the reception.
I love how sensible this woman is. She also bartends at a country club where people spend $20 to $30k for their weddings and receptions when they can't even afford it. To me it makes a lot more sense to get married in a park or back yard and use the $20k instead toward a down payment on a home. I would still have the costume ball wedding I was inspired to do when I read about one in a magazine when I was 13 years old. But that can be done without spending ten to twenty grand. And it's the person you marry that matters, not the size or expense of the wedding.
Then she told us about how for gifts they are registered at only one place: a travel agency. So the only gift they want is a donation to the agency that their honeymoon is booked through (to help pay for the honeymoon). I would much rather make a donaion as a gift than have to drive to some department store to buy something a couple is registered for and wrap it and try to remember to take it with me to the reception.
I love how sensible this woman is. She also bartends at a country club where people spend $20 to $30k for their weddings and receptions when they can't even afford it. To me it makes a lot more sense to get married in a park or back yard and use the $20k instead toward a down payment on a home. I would still have the costume ball wedding I was inspired to do when I read about one in a magazine when I was 13 years old. But that can be done without spending ten to twenty grand. And it's the person you marry that matters, not the size or expense of the wedding.
I would rather spend the money on the honeymoon and the photographer, and go low budget on the reception and ceremony ;)
you can do it low cost but have it still be a fun event :)
Count me as another person who doesn't see the need to spend so much on a wedding. When I got married, the ceremony was held for free on the shore of a local lake, and then the reception was held at a local restaurant and the guests all put in for the food as a wedding gift.
I like the whole inexpensive-but-still-classy wedding/reception. My sister did the large and traditional one and that really suited her and Derek. Andrew and I needed something a bit less formal. :)
That being said, we and our families are finacially blessed at this time and we already owe a home and 3 nice cars. If we didn't have a house...maybe I would cringe about spending so much on a wedding....and while it is ONLY one day, I know it will be the only wedding I have and the only time in my life I can embrase "wedding culture".
For our registry I thought about doing the travel thing but what we really wanted was new dishes and flatware whih was going to cost around $500. We registered for tons of stuff and returned nearly all of it to get what we wanted since only one person actually bought us some of the plates from the dish set. We are so beyond happy to have really nice dishes and flatware finally.