Do You Really Need an Expensive Wedding?

Recently I was discussing weddings, expenses, and bratty brides who get what they want or they will cry until either someone gives them their way, or they end up split up before they could even say 'I do'.
The thing I don't understand about weddings nowadays are costs. I don't understand why woman think that they need this entire ceremony, and hugely expensive wedding just to say ' want to be with you forever.' Why do they feel they need ice sculptures in shapes of hearts, or butter blocks in shapes of roses, and watermelon carved out to resemble a chariot?
I'm a 25-year-old gal with wedding bells on the mind, and yes these dream weddings have always appealed to me as a child. Where fairy tales seemed all to real, however these supposed fairy tale weddings I have attended all too many times, and you know what? There is nothing fairy tale about them.
After attending 3 of them as a bridesmaid, I have come to realize that these big extravagant weddings all have a lot in common. The more expensive weddings I have attended the more I realized they were like cookie cutter weddings, with all the same shit as the next. All the same expensive shit, and for what? To dance around your little ballroom, act like a fairy princess and think that your guests actually give a shit about you and your new hubby? Most likely all of your guest will leave hating you, wishing you a divorce, and angry that you just cost them money for your own stupid selfish ceremony. Most of these supposed fairy tale weddings cost anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000+. Most of these weddings I have attended all ended in a divorce just a few years later. Poor chaps should have known though, they ended up marrying selfish little spoiled brats who wanted a 'dream wedding, or else'.
A tip to men, if you hear the word, dream, fairy tale, or chariot, run... and run early. Girls like this are after nothing but the richer things in life. They don't marry for love, they marry for money. It's just too bad that it takes $50,000+ to figure that out. By then you will already be in debt praying you can afford the divorce.
But hey, I'm no guy... I am a girl... but those warning signs should be fair enough that you got yourself a gold digger. However this article is covering wedding costs, my next one will be about gold diggers. I'm sure I will have tons of women hating on me after this one, and that one. But bah! Whatever.
Anyways, back on topic to weddings, like I have said before, I should want a dream wedding. I fall right into the age category of girls who get what they want, or they move on to the next victim. But I have actually, (I know this may surprise some of you); I have actually fallen in love. Once I fell in love I realized I didn't need this white horse to carry me to the chapel. I didn't need a carpet of silk roses, nor did I need the ice sculptures, the expensive food, the DJ, or the catering. All I needed was him. I don't need a $50,000, 10 hour event just to say I want you forever. I already knew that, what did I have to prove? Do I need to spend this much money just so 'others' know how deep our love is? The answer to that is hell to the NO.
What is the point of this whole speech?
The point is to try and get girls with platinum wedding minds to get over themselves, and to know that they can have a lovely wedding party for pennies on the dollar, if they are just willing to put aside their own selfish needs and think about their future with this person, and not the one day where you say your vows. Remember, a wedding is just one day, the rest of it lasts a lifetime.
A tip for the bridezillas, *tantrums make you look pathetic and needy, but also odds are if you don't shape up, he one day is going to ship you out, and like most platinum weddings, they end in divorce almost as fast as you can say 'I do.'
My wedding will consist of a back yard barbeque like Britney Spears and K-Fed. A small group of close family and friends, my dad at the grill, a few balloons, and the exchange of vows is just enough. But even after all of that, all I really need is him, what more could I ask for?
Tips for a cheap yet lovely wedding:
1. Blow up your own balloons, rent a helium machine for a few bucks, and buy some white balloons. Heck, use any color you would like. Decorate your back yard with tons of them. You can even make your own balloon archway by tying balloons together in clusters.
2. Place tons of candles in the yard, or make your own lit walkway with the candles.
3. Have a family member do the grilling. You don't need caviar and tar-tar. Throw out some chips, soda, dips, and vegetables. Buy some hot dogs, buy some buns.
4. Let your wedding party wear what they want, so long as it's not jeans and a t-shirt. Save them some money for cryin out loud. Not everyone can afford an expensive wedding, but keep in mind not everyone can afford to come to your expensive wedding! Make things easy on yourself, your budget, and everyone else.
5. Leave cameras on tables around the yard. Let your guests take photos, you really don't need to hire a photographer. You'd be surprised to learn that cheap one time use cameras work pretty well, and you also will be surprised that your 5 year old cousins can take some pretty professional photos.
Honestly there are tons of easy and beautiful ways to make a lovely wedding for pennies on the dollar, just use a little of your own imagination, and before you know it, your $5,000 wedding can easily be just as graceful and lovely as some 'soon to be divorced' bridezillas $50,000 wedding.