Weddings: Expectation, Costs and Fun
I love weddings. I love them more if the newly weds are very very close family members or friends.
Yesterday was another example of how much fun they can be, and should be. It was also another example of why the wedding industry will continue to make more money.
Let's start with expectations.
There are huge expectations for newly weds these days. Everything from a line up of bridesmaids and groomsmen to having the perfect flower draped over the perfectly symmetrical arch. To me, these are all that's reflected on the surface of the wedding. Something that one needs to project to everyone to show that they have true best friends and so that they have picturesque photos. Yesterday's bridal party had the complete opposite personality. Just like the groom, his team had the fun loving and high energy group of guys. And just like the bride, her team had the quietest (with the exception of the groom's sister), and shy group of girls. Now, you wonder why two contradictory stories still hold true: opposites attract and birds of a feather flock together.
Now comes costs. and maybe along with it, stress.
Weddings are expensive. Period. Every detail: the venue, the dress, the tuxedo, the decoration, the food, the much-needed open bar, the photos, the DJs, the invitations and the list continues. Weddings are running at an average of $30K in the US, that is a 5% downpayment on a $600K house! If you save $1K a year, you take 30 hard-tough-discipline months to get there. And if you don't, you better wish you qualify for a loan on top of your student loan or your parents have some cash to spare. Now, weddings should be nice, but they should not be sooooo expensive. The stress level due to the financial burden is constant, and hopefully non-existent in the 5 hours that you are actually enjoying your wedding. Yesterday's wedding was in a beautiful venue, with every item on the checklist crossed out beautifully, and it is all worth it, but basing it on a rough guess on the cost, it is way to expensive.
Lastly, Fun.
Weddings are fun but you have to make it fun! Weddings are otherwise no different from watching your favorite royal couple walk down the aisle, clapping as hard as possible and making yourself a nice appetizer and a piece of medium rare steak plus a nice piece of dessert. As everyone comes together to celebrate weddings, it should be about the couple. It should be about making sure the couple gets the best respect from each other and the crowd, everything from staying silent during the procession to hitting the dance floor when called upon. Yesterday's wedding was again an interesting mix. All speeches were beautifully delivered, reminiscing closely with the bride and grooms characters. However, some of the crowd started leaving early, presumably getting READY FOR THE NEXT WORK DAY!!!! That, I felt was disrespectful, if you truly are a guest, you should be staying till last least the end, it is after all a party that the newly weds thrown for you, at a very high costs. I saw a great mix of people of good sport and people to tied to their phones. I see that in ALL weddings. There's so much to do, you can catch up with people around you, get to know them, participate in festivities like dancing, drinking, chatting, doing crazy things etc. but ultimately, you should stay.
I still truly enjoyed the wedding last night and my wife did an amazing job in her speech.
Finally, I really do there's a weather controlling machine that can be available one day for the purpose of eliminating the stress of a weather change for an outdoor wedding. I have also been very lucky with my own wedding which I felt was a lot of fun, met most expectations, not stressful and very well cost managed!
Yesterday was another example of how much fun they can be, and should be. It was also another example of why the wedding industry will continue to make more money.
Let's start with expectations.
There are huge expectations for newly weds these days. Everything from a line up of bridesmaids and groomsmen to having the perfect flower draped over the perfectly symmetrical arch. To me, these are all that's reflected on the surface of the wedding. Something that one needs to project to everyone to show that they have true best friends and so that they have picturesque photos. Yesterday's bridal party had the complete opposite personality. Just like the groom, his team had the fun loving and high energy group of guys. And just like the bride, her team had the quietest (with the exception of the groom's sister), and shy group of girls. Now, you wonder why two contradictory stories still hold true: opposites attract and birds of a feather flock together.
Now comes costs. and maybe along with it, stress.
Weddings are expensive. Period. Every detail: the venue, the dress, the tuxedo, the decoration, the food, the much-needed open bar, the photos, the DJs, the invitations and the list continues. Weddings are running at an average of $30K in the US, that is a 5% downpayment on a $600K house! If you save $1K a year, you take 30 hard-tough-discipline months to get there. And if you don't, you better wish you qualify for a loan on top of your student loan or your parents have some cash to spare. Now, weddings should be nice, but they should not be sooooo expensive. The stress level due to the financial burden is constant, and hopefully non-existent in the 5 hours that you are actually enjoying your wedding. Yesterday's wedding was in a beautiful venue, with every item on the checklist crossed out beautifully, and it is all worth it, but basing it on a rough guess on the cost, it is way to expensive.
Lastly, Fun.
Weddings are fun but you have to make it fun! Weddings are otherwise no different from watching your favorite royal couple walk down the aisle, clapping as hard as possible and making yourself a nice appetizer and a piece of medium rare steak plus a nice piece of dessert. As everyone comes together to celebrate weddings, it should be about the couple. It should be about making sure the couple gets the best respect from each other and the crowd, everything from staying silent during the procession to hitting the dance floor when called upon. Yesterday's wedding was again an interesting mix. All speeches were beautifully delivered, reminiscing closely with the bride and grooms characters. However, some of the crowd started leaving early, presumably getting READY FOR THE NEXT WORK DAY!!!! That, I felt was disrespectful, if you truly are a guest, you should be staying till last least the end, it is after all a party that the newly weds thrown for you, at a very high costs. I saw a great mix of people of good sport and people to tied to their phones. I see that in ALL weddings. There's so much to do, you can catch up with people around you, get to know them, participate in festivities like dancing, drinking, chatting, doing crazy things etc. but ultimately, you should stay.
I still truly enjoyed the wedding last night and my wife did an amazing job in her speech.
Finally, I really do there's a weather controlling machine that can be available one day for the purpose of eliminating the stress of a weather change for an outdoor wedding. I have also been very lucky with my own wedding which I felt was a lot of fun, met most expectations, not stressful and very well cost managed!
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