Anonymous wrote:But still....$20k for a party for one day.

So god damn stupid.

Totally agree. Nothing could ever possess me to do that.

Ok so if wealthier people have a lower divorce rate, but people who spend over 20K have a higher divorce rate, it would seem that those who can't really afford a 20K wedding are mostly likely to divorce. This kind of makes sense since issues with money is one of the leading causes of divorce.

Anonymous wrote:But still....$20k for a party for one day.

So god damn stupid.

Eh. Depends. We didn't spend that much, but I don't regret the money. Most of it was food and drink for our guests. And it was really about the guests--we had family and friends from all over the country and the world, all stages of our lives--when else do you get all your most important people gathered under one roof to celebrate?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck getting married for less than 20k. At least not if you want a traditional (read: not lavish, but has the cake, white dress, dancing and booze) wedding.

We married in 2009 with all of that and our budget was 10K. Lovely elegant event, everyone had fun.

Totally doable. 2009, 150 guests (I have a ginormous family) and $15K. And we splurged on the steak and shrimp skewers. (Gotta have fuel if you're going to dance until midnight!)

But still....$20k for a party for one day.

So god damn stupid.

Anonymous wrote:Good luck getting married for less than 20k. At least not if you want a traditional (read: not lavish, but has the cake, white dress, dancing and booze) wedding.

We married in 2009 with all of that and our budget was 10K. Lovely elegant event, everyone had fun.

Spent 5k and marriage is still going strong 19 years later. Fingers crossed. I have noticed that my friends who spent less or who paid for their more modest weddings themselves are still married.

Everyone I knew who paid 15k or more (about 20 years ago) or had much more elaborate weddings are now divorced. Most of them could not afford it or their parents had to take out loans or max out credit cards to do it.

Anonymous wrote:Our marriage was at the justice of the peace and going really strong. So anecdotally this is true for me.

I spent over $20k.

Still married, but I guess we won't really know how it all worked out until one of is dead.

Our marriage was at the justice of the peace and going really strong. So anecdotally this is true for me.

Anonymous wrote:This is useless without having any reasons why. My theory would be that a lot of these big expensive weddings are first weddings of young couples primarily paid for by the bride's parents and there was a higher divorce rate because the couples were younger.

Second and beyond marriages are more likely to lead to divorce than first marriages.

Anonymous wrote:Well, we only spent about $3K and our marriage lasted 22 years before divorce. What do the experts have to say about that?

Maybe if we spent more, my misery would have ended sooner, lol.

I've read lately about how older people are divorcing more and more. So, no worries, you still fit into some stat or another. Good for you for ending your misery!