My wife came home the other day and told me that a friend of hers, who has been waiting to get engaged, finally had the question popped. Of course, as women always do, the conversation immediately switched over to the ring. She described this ring as "big", "wow", "I wonder how much that cost, etc." It got me thinking about how commercialized the entire engagement/wedding process has become. This "expensive" ring is just the beginning of a ridiculous outflow of money. Now that the ring is out of the way, discussion always moves on to the wedding. Preliminary talk is of 400 guests. Grandma's list alone is 75 people. I've been to enough expensive weddings lately to know the stress, pain, and lack of fun that this couple will be forced to endure over the next year. If only they knew what was coming. Everyone thinks their wedding will be different but they rarely are. A friend of mine got married awhile back at what I would consider a pretty expensive wedding (his band cost more than my whole reception). As weddings go it was fairly typical - which means boring. The bride and groom threw in the towel at 11:00 p.m.
"Hey, everyone's moving on to that bar across the street." "Yeah, we're a little tired. I think we're going to turn in for the night." "But it's your wedding night?"
I asked them a couple weeks later what their favorite part of the wedding was.
Groom - "The bus ride."
Bride - "I don't remember. The whole day was just a blur."
$25G spent on one day and that is the best you can do?
I remember another expensive wedding I went to at one of the more exclusive locations in town. The wedding couple broke the two most important rules of a reception - feed your guests well and give them plenty to drink. There was no open bar - not even for the basics and the food consisted of one table of appetizers. Well, I figured, at least it's at a nice place. Then a bus pulled up and another bridal party got out. A cameraman followed and started taking pictures of the group all over the grounds around us. Then a second bus pulled up and another bridal party got out. Shortly after there was an announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen. The next reception has arrived and we have to vacate the premises." I checked my watch - it was 2:00 in the afternoon and I was getting kicked out. I couldn't help but think, "this cost $20,000?" So here we are at 2:00 and everyone's wondering, what do we do now? The answer was there really wasn't a plan. So they winged it which resulted in an uncomfortable romp through a couple establishments finishing the night off at a gay bar.
This is the bride that bought her own engagement ring. Her husband had limited finances and proposed to her with a cubic zirconia - which was supposed to be temporary until he could afford the real thing. Of course the cubic zirconia was at least a carat. She accepted but didn't tell anyone it was a fake diamond. I think eventually the stress got to her so she went out and bought herself the ring she really wanted... only she eventually decided it wasn't the ring she really wanted so she went out and bought another ring which really was the one she wanted... only now she's considering upgrading its already hefty 1.5 carats.
Another wedding I went to was at one of the finest churches in town, however the couple were not members as it was clear when the priest mistakenly switched the name of the bride with that of her sister (the Maid of Honor). Throughout the entire ceremony he kept talking about how great this couple was, every time giving the wrong names. Actually it was pretty funny, though there was some embarrassment afterwards.
So a couple days ago my wife came home saying her friend that just got engaged is really upset. It seems she took the "huge" ring in to get sized and the jeweller asked if she was aware of the equally "huge" visible inclusion. It seems her boyfriend bought the ring online. I figure one of two things happen. Either he got taken. Or her purposely tried to buy the biggest, but worst quality diamond he could find. Neither is good.
Let the stress begin.
As for my own wedding. My wife and I bypassed all the stress by getting married abroad, just the two of us. Two hours before our ceremony I was swimming in the ocean. It was a great day. When we came home we had a small reception with a very limited guest list of only 50 people. The whole atmosphere was relaxed and we were able to give each guest some quality time - not to mention plenty to eat and drink.
"Hey, everyone's moving on to that bar across the street." "Yeah, we're a little tired. I think we're going to turn in for the night." "But it's your wedding night?"
I asked them a couple weeks later what their favorite part of the wedding was.
Groom - "The bus ride."
Bride - "I don't remember. The whole day was just a blur."
$25G spent on one day and that is the best you can do?
I remember another expensive wedding I went to at one of the more exclusive locations in town. The wedding couple broke the two most important rules of a reception - feed your guests well and give them plenty to drink. There was no open bar - not even for the basics and the food consisted of one table of appetizers. Well, I figured, at least it's at a nice place. Then a bus pulled up and another bridal party got out. A cameraman followed and started taking pictures of the group all over the grounds around us. Then a second bus pulled up and another bridal party got out. Shortly after there was an announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen. The next reception has arrived and we have to vacate the premises." I checked my watch - it was 2:00 in the afternoon and I was getting kicked out. I couldn't help but think, "this cost $20,000?" So here we are at 2:00 and everyone's wondering, what do we do now? The answer was there really wasn't a plan. So they winged it which resulted in an uncomfortable romp through a couple establishments finishing the night off at a gay bar.
This is the bride that bought her own engagement ring. Her husband had limited finances and proposed to her with a cubic zirconia - which was supposed to be temporary until he could afford the real thing. Of course the cubic zirconia was at least a carat. She accepted but didn't tell anyone it was a fake diamond. I think eventually the stress got to her so she went out and bought herself the ring she really wanted... only she eventually decided it wasn't the ring she really wanted so she went out and bought another ring which really was the one she wanted... only now she's considering upgrading its already hefty 1.5 carats.
Another wedding I went to was at one of the finest churches in town, however the couple were not members as it was clear when the priest mistakenly switched the name of the bride with that of her sister (the Maid of Honor). Throughout the entire ceremony he kept talking about how great this couple was, every time giving the wrong names. Actually it was pretty funny, though there was some embarrassment afterwards.
So a couple days ago my wife came home saying her friend that just got engaged is really upset. It seems she took the "huge" ring in to get sized and the jeweller asked if she was aware of the equally "huge" visible inclusion. It seems her boyfriend bought the ring online. I figure one of two things happen. Either he got taken. Or her purposely tried to buy the biggest, but worst quality diamond he could find. Neither is good.
Let the stress begin.
As for my own wedding. My wife and I bypassed all the stress by getting married abroad, just the two of us. Two hours before our ceremony I was swimming in the ocean. It was a great day. When we came home we had a small reception with a very limited guest list of only 50 people. The whole atmosphere was relaxed and we were able to give each guest some quality time - not to mention plenty to eat and drink.
posted by Trent at 7:08 PM
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