Just Say No

So for anyone out there who is considering getting married and is about to start planning for your big day, I have some advice for you... Just say no. I'm not suggesting that you say no to your man's proposal. However, I am suggesting you say no to everything society calls a "traditional" wedding. Lets think about this for a minute...

Marriage, especially eternal marriage, is such a happy event in a couple's life... Why do we insist on ruining that small, simple joy by stressing our families, our pocketbooks, and ourselves out with wedding plans and unnecessary expenses?

Typically the most expensive item in a working girls wardrobe cost her, what? $100? I mean there are always those girly girls out there who insist on designer things. They simply HAVE to have them now (even though they can't afford them), so they buy them now instead of just waiting 3 months for them to go on sale. (I will NEVER understand those girls) But even those girls' most expensive items usually top out at about $500. Now answer me this... What is the average price of a decent, non-DI, wedding dress? Now I've done a little research on this, and I discovered that your average, mid-range wedding dress in the United States costs between $500-1000, and brides as a whole spent an average of $1,046... Now remind me... how many times are you gonna wear that sucker???

Then there's the always fun invitations. Now, I'm not even going to talk about the hours spent searching for decent priced invitations that look good, or the option of assembling them yourself to save a little dough. I choose to focus this paragraph on the guest list. I mean, your wedding day is supposed to be all about you and your significant other right? So can somebody please explain to me why your brother-in-law's second cousin twice removed who you've only met one time when you were 3 years old will feel as though you've ripped her heart out and trampled on it if she doesn't get one of those blessed invitations? As if she's going to come anyway... And it's not as if you only have to worry about making one list. There are several different guest lists you get to worry about and lucky you, each comes with its own special worries and concerns. For example, which of your wedding guests are you going to invite to your bridal shower? And if you're one of those lucky people who gets to be tortured with those super fun shower games and humilated with embarrassing presents and horrible hats made out of the wrapping paper on more than one occasion... is it bad manners to invite one person to both showers? What if you work with a friend? Obviously they're getting invited to both... Hopefully they dont feel like you're just trying to get as many gifts as you have room to receieve... Or is that what you're doing?

The final thing that I'd like to focus on today is the food that you're going to serve. The first choice that you need to make is whether you're having a meal or just dessert at the reception. Once that decision is made you would think the rest is just a piece of cake (literally). But I've got news for you friend, nothing in wedding planning is that simple. First off, it's probably not your brightest idea to serve anything with peanuts, shellfish or other foods that people are commonly allergic too. You're probably thinking to yourself, "Well shoot, that's easy! Besides, I dont even like shellfish." (And really who does?) But that's just the beginning... I mean, there's always the possibility that your sister-in-law is going to chose your exact menu for the family dinner at your neice's baby blessing a month before your wedding. Watch out for that one, it's been happening to unsuspecting brides around the country. Next, for the sake of this blog (or novel), let's just say the groom's father doesn't like cheese. Or maybe your grandma and her sisters don't like chocolate. Or maybe the groom's mother doesn't like ranch (and is allergic to roses). Ok this one is pretty easy to get around cuz there's like a million different kinds of salad dressing but seriously... What kind of people don't like cheese, chocolate, and ranch??? Its insanity I know! Good thing I just invented those completely random people and their dislikes for the sake of proving a point in my blog...

So the question remains, why do we do it? I mean the gifts are always a plus. But think about it, for all of the money you save on not buying a dress, invitaions, postage, food, a reception hall, entertainment, flowers, etc, chances are you could buy all of your gifts yourself AND pay for a hotel room for a few nights. So since I obviously don't have this pounding headache for the gifts.....

Maybe it's because every little girl dreams about her wedding day, and it's the one day in a woman's life when she can truely feel like a princess. Besides, don't we always want to share the happiest days of our lives surrounded by the ones we love?

Nah, I guess I'll just have to keep thinking on it and get back to ya. =)