by A. Moulton

Created on: January 24, 2009

Every girl grows up dreaming of her wedding day, regardless of if they admit it or not. So, after years of creating an ideal thought of how her wedding is going to be - it happens. That big day when Mr. Right pops the question and wants to spend the rest of his life with you. After the initial shock that it's happened, the new bride-to-be starts buying magazines, watching extravagant weddings on TV and the dreaming starts. It's easy to get out of control and over budget, and fast. One question remains, is it worth the cost?

In order to further explore this topic let's focus on what the cost adds to the day, and ultimately the marriage in the end. First, most people think high cost equates to high quality. So in this sense, spending the extra money seems to mean you'll have the best of the best and live like a princess. That's what every girl wants, right? Like any industry, people see a chance to make money and the seize it, so while you're paying top dollar thinking you're getting the best, it may not always be the case. Chances are vendors here "wedding" and think "dollar" signs. So unless you're using vendors that only deal with high quality services and products or the most elite of clientele, chances are, what you're getting is not worth your money.

For the moment we will assume that the budget you're spending is something you can afford. Big budgets usually mean big planning, lots of involvement and thought going into making the perfect wedding. Realistically, no wedding can ever be perfect. No amount of money can fix everything or prevent things from happening. The extra planning the bigger budget brings just results in added stress. More decisions, more opportunities to have something go wrong. What it really does is take away your ability to sit back and relax on your wedding. Not being able to relax makes you more likely not to enjoy one of the best days of your life, what the big budget does is steal away part of your enjoyment of it all.

Now back to the affordability of your big budget. What if the vision you have isn't in line with you budget? For some brides, having that dream wedding is so important they are willing to risk relationships and beg, borrow or steal to get it. If this is the case, the bride in question usually has a rough and rocky road ahead of her. Relationships are risked when expectations of who is going to foot the bill don't align. If Mom and Dad don't have the money, the bride may feel like they don't care. Sometimes the bride and groom choose extra debt as a way to make their dream day come true. Starting off their new life together in the hole, with nothing to show for it. This big cost could have disastrous effects on the couple's financial well being in the future.

The moral of the story is that the true cost of a big wedding doesn't equate to a better wedding. Instead it has the possibility to being ripped off, stressed out and in debt. All of which will take away from the wonderful experience of one of the best days in a couple's life together. Adding unpleasant feelings and memories to a day that doesn't have room for them. So is it worth it? The answer is no.

Learn more about this author, A. Moulton.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.