[onewhippedpuppy]

Very nice article. I was in a super fancy wedding (at least by my standards) a few years ago. The rehearsal dinner for probably 60 people at easily $40/plate and a full open bar, limos for the bridal party, fancy outdoor garden/fountain setting, wedding dinner at the Kansas City Convention Center with hundreds of people, open bar, and meals at another $40/plate. Everything professionally managed and catered. The marriage lasted three years, and I really wasn't surprised.

We were married in a church, rented a hall that we had to decorate ourselves, bought Mr Goodcents sub sandwiches and big side dish tubs from Sam's Club for the meal, bought some kegs and liquor and had a friend bar tend, and hired a DJ. Except for the DJ we/family did everything ourselves. Going on 12 years later I still have friends tell me that our wedding was the funnest one that they have ever been to. Oh yeah, the marriage is going pretty good too.

I have seen so many people get together and thought, "that's not gonna last". Sadly I'm usually right. We had to take marriage prep courses as part of being married in the Catholic Church, they covered simple stuff like managing finances, kids (yes/no/how many), dealing with your new in-laws, etc. We once talked with our priest about why such simplistic things need to be discussed prior to marriage. His reply was that many couples get engaged without even discussing the practical side of marriage, and that course helped root out potential conflicts prior to the wedding. Scary stuff.......