When my DH and I were married almost 8 years ago we were looking forward to being married but not the actual wedding/reception. What started out as a simple, fuss free plans for a wedding turned into arguments, disagreements(not between DH and I, but amongst our families) and unnecessary stress. So to save heartache and relationships and nontheless money, we found a celebrant and asked 2 very close friends to witness and we were married. It was perfect. Later in the month we held a party and invited 40 friends and families to our home and had an absolute ball. All in all including the party catering and the celebrant we spent less than $1500. I didnt have a wedding dress, just a new outfit. We didnt go on a honeymoon, we had a 4 week old baby.

The reason I started this thread is my sister is planning on getting married and wants the fairytale wedding with all the bells and whistles. My argument to her is money can be better spent on things such as a deposit on a house or more practical things(seems like commonsense to me)She wants to spend huge amounts of money on a magical day that in years to come all she will have is photos( and expensive ones at that!) to show for it. I really dont think your marriage is going to be better or last longer just because you have a fancy wedding. Sometimes I think more time and effort is put into organising the ceremony than the actual relationship itself. Dont get me wrong, I would never judge her on what she chooses cause its her life and her money but am curious as to what everyone else has experienced.

Sorry about the long post, a hard one to write in a couple of sentences.