Today people all around the world have been waking up early, to stare in awe at the royal wedding. Don’t worry–I’m here to be a curmedgeon about the whole thing.
You see, weddings have already become a too expensive nuclear arms race of too-large guest lists, too expensive bands, and Marie Antoinette-type excess. And yet modest weddings may be a key to happily ever after.
If someone else is paying for your wedding, then they will want to have a say in it. If you are paying for it yourself, then why not have a modest wedding and keep the rest of the money for a down-payment on a house? Or even better, save it for retirement or pay off debt.
I know people who go tens of thousands of dollars into debt for a one-night party that passes in what seems like minutes. You will be pulled in so many directions the day of your wedding that specific events will be hard to remember.
So, as you watch the royal wedding today–with the London Philharmonic Orchestra playing and six figures worth of flowers, try not to believe such excesses are necessary.
Nobody wants to be paying for a one-day even years later. The gifts you receive from your wedding will be minimal compared to the cost of an expensive wedding.
Nobody wants to have a future marriage endangered by fights over money–particularly fights over debt created by the wedding day.
You may not have a “royal” wedding, but you may have a better chance at a happy and blessed marriage.
Chris Thomas, owner of the online freelance writing and web-copy company, FreelancePF. Chris’s interest in personal finance stems from leaving grad school with six figures in student loan debt.