But I Can't Afford It

Early last year, Kathryn Vasel shared some numbers that caught me by surprise:

“The average cost of a wedding climbed to a record high of $35,329 last year, according to The Knot's 2016 Real Weddings study. That's up 8% from the 2015 average.  Meanwhile, the number of guests has dropped.  "Couples are spending their budgets to focus on guests, they are taking care of them and showing them a very personalized experience," said Kristen Maxwell Cooper, executive editor at The Knot. "But personalization is not cheap."  Last year, the average number of wedding guests was 141, down from 149 in 2009. Smaller invite lists mean guests are getting pampered: Couples spent an average of $245 per wedding guest last year, up from $194 seven years ago.”*  Later in the article it mentions that “the most expensive place to get hitched was in Manhattan, where couples spent an average of $78,464 in 2016. Couples in Arkansas spent the least on their big day at $19,522.”        

I was dumbfounded when I read this.  $35,000 for a wedding?  Who does that?  Apparently enough are spending that much to bring the average price up to that number.  Now I’m going to have to explain to my own kids how they were short-changed.  What a social embarrassment!  I’ll never be able to hold my head up in polite society again.  Just call me Ebenezer Scrooge.  Ok, rant over…(smile).

On a more serious note, wouldn’t it be great if more people today were as willing to invest in the strengthening of their marriage as they apparently are to invest in its beginning?  There are numerous good books, seminars, and retreats on the subject that cost a mere fraction of $35,000.  But for some reason, all of a sudden, such things become “too expensive.”  Then there’s also the investment of non-monetary things like time and effort.  “But I can’t afford it.”  My friend, you can’t afford NOT to invest in your marriage!

God loves you!

Mike

*http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/02/pf/cost-of-wedding-budget-2016-the-knot/index.html