Rant: Weddings

There was a report on NPR last week about people scaling back on lavish weddings due to the implosion of the economy. "Hallelujah," I exclaimed to myself and felt instantly better even though I was slogging North along congested Rt. 295 in pouring rain on the way to the Baltimore Airport. "If there is anything positive for our culture that will come out of the recession, this must surely be it." They were interviewing a woman who was shopping for a wedding dress at a thrift store. She really wanted a fairy-tale wedding, she said, but was worried that she would lose her job later this year, so she was sticking to a strict budget. "Attagirl," I thought. "Let's hope that this is the beginning of a major trend in our society." Then she dropped the bomb -- that budget was $15,000. 15K on a wedding when you're about to lose your job?! What would she have spent if we weren't in a recession? THAT number, it turned out, was more like $35,000. What the hell are these people thinking? And where do they get that kind of money? They blow everything they've got, or borrow it, apparently, and then can't afford a normal down payment for that McMansion they so want, so they take out an ARM with no money down, and we all know where that got us. Thirty five thousand? Even here in DC, one of the most expensive areas for real estate in the country, where house prices in desirable neighborhoods are off no more than 2-3%, $35K is 10% on a very livable condo. And they blow it on a single day of frilly tackiness, bad food, worse music, and drunken revelry they won't even remember the following day. Any wonder we're in such a mess?