I remember loving to talk to my childhood best friend about our dream lives and our dream weddings. We wanted to live together in the same house, and we wanted to run a bakery that specializes in cookies. But the one thing we would always talk about was our dream wedding. I wanted mine to be at Disney World with a ballgown dress and the “perfect man.” Of course, that vision has changed a lot over the years. 

Something I didn’t think about as a little kid was how expensive weddings are. There is no way to get the money back that you put into a wedding, and there are many other things that you could put the money towards like a house or investment. According to The Knot, a popular wedding blog, the average wedding costs around 34,000 dollars. The dress alone is typically around 1,300 to 2,500, not to mention all the other stuff such as the venue, ring, music and cake. Why spend all the money when you could just have a BBQ and save the gifted money and put it towards a house or a car? For a lot of people, their wedding day is one of the most important days of their lives, so I can understand the desire to spend big. However, most newlywed couples don’t even own a house, so it makes more sense to have a tiny ceremony and use the money to invest. That would start your married life on a better foot instead of going into debt for one day. I attended four weddings by the time I was 10 or so and I remember none of them. It stands to reason that most people don’t remember half the weddings they’ve been to. 

That said, I have dreampt of the fairytale wedding that little me would have loved to have for who knows how long. I used to gush to my friends about the perfect wedding day. Of course, that vision has evolved some. For example, I would not like my wedding to be at Disney World. It makes my heart flutter to think of everything being perfect for one day: the dress, the rings, the flowers. My dad walking me down the aisle off into, hopefully, my soulmate’s arms. I also know that it doesn’t help anyone to rush into things. Seeing all the couple trends on social media and the gorgeous wedding dresses makes me feel like I’m missing out on that part of my life. 

Weddings are a celebration of moving from one stage of life to the next. They are a show of how much you love each other. They’re something most people look forward to for most of their lives, and I’m no exception.