Another thread tonight got me thinking about the obscene amounts of money some people spend on weddings. I didn't understand it back then, and I sure don't understand it now, how people can correlate the size of a wedding celebration with the hope of a successful long-term union. (Maybe it was the Yahoo story on the Sultain of Whatever's daughter's $20-million wedding, that has this rolling around in my head).

So I'll post a little challenge, to anyone who's thinking about spending big or even moderately big-bucks on a wedding. Is it worth spending all that money/taking the chance on it being worth it? Shouldn't people be thinking simpler, smaller? Just in case?

We were young and very poor, and I got forced into getting married (nope, wasn't pregnant, just wanted to move-in-and-live-with future DH, and the family didn't take that very well). DH's parents gave us $50.00 for a wedding present, and that just covered our wedding and attendant expenses for the day. DH wore his best leisure suit (oh, the 70's!), and I happened to have a white "Sunday" dress which sufficed. The $50.00 covered all our fees for blood tests and license, with some left over for us to have a few beers at the local tavern while waiting for the blood test results. I wore my mother's wedding ring 'cause that's all that we had. We splurged on 2 polaroid wedding photos ($1.00 each! One has disapeared over the years, but I still cherish the one wedding photo that has survived.) Our "honeymoon" was a few beers with friends and back to our new apartment.

And it's now 36 years later. Our $50.00 wedding stood the course. We've been lucky.

I'm rambling here.....but y'all should chime in. Did you have a big wedding? Do you feel it was worth spending the money? Is smaller better? Or do you think that your "day of a lifetime" is/was worth that huge expense?