Proud Dad
I am a proud Dad. My son is getting married January 1, to a delightful young woman who makes him happy! His younger sister is already married-so he is the last in the family to get hitched. His Mom and I are looking forward to the festivities.
You may be wondering, what has this got to do with personal finance? Well I’ll get to that, in due time. But keep in mind, it’s my blog and I will write what moves me!
My son, on their wedding website/blog, posted the 10 reasons why he loves Beth:
Ten reasons why Beth is Best
- She is cute. Not just how squirrels are cute, but like big time 100% even-when-sweaty cute.
- She is funny hilarious. For evidence, just have a 30 second conversation with her. Really.
- She uses the TAB key on a keyboard. 1% of you will even know what I’m talking about but it is, no lie, the coolest thing ever. Ever.
- She is patient. I am one of the most impatient people on the planet. I want everything to happen right now and as efficiently as possible. As a result, I can be amazingly difficult to get along with. Beth, however, just let’s me ramble for a while then tells me, politely, to shut the hell up. For this she deserves a Nobel Peace Prize (well, one before they started giving them out to just anybody).
- She has a great memory. During our second or third date I mentioned in passing that I’d like to look into something. I don’t remember what it was but it was some topic that I’d been meaning to Google or whatever to find out more information. A few hours into the next day I received a totally unexpected email from Beth with the information in question. That probably doesn’t make any sense – she probably remembers but that’s all I got!
- She is mushy.
- She works hard. It seems that a lot of folks our age, and perhaps folks of all ages, are just plain lazy. Beth is the opposite. She is always doing something and doing it well.
- She is a great friend. Not just to me, but to others as well. She has about a bajillion friends on Facebook and unlike me knows and keeps up with almost all of them.
- She is smart. Way smarter than me.
- She loves me. Nuff said.
Dr Dean (Dad) Says:
I haven’t gotten to know Beth well yet, but am looking forward to it. But if she moves my son to make a public declaration of love in that manner, then I know she is a wonderful person.
Weddings and Money
Now getting to personal finance. They have made the decision to have a small wedding, with a small number of family and close friends to celebrate their day. They have set up a budget, and as far as I can see, are making wise decisions on their choices of where they want to spend their money.
Not being cheap, but deciding between themselves what is most important, and spending money on those things. It will be their wedding done in their own style.
Many seem to think that a wedding has to be over the top, with thousands spent on accoutrements, that a year later, will not mean anything to anyone.
Your wedding is a sacred covenant to each other and God, and should be a celebration of love, not an orgy of consumerism and worship to the altar of bling!
It is sad that so many couples weigh themselves down with debt that takes years to repay, to have one day that represents their idyllic dream. Instead, I suggest they work harder on living that dream, every day, for the rest of their lives.
Choices, Choices, Choices
I don’t stand in judgment of those of you who choose to spend money you don’t have in this way. Life is full of choices-I have made my share of wrong ones….
I just want to make sure my unmarried readers understand -they don’t have to have the celebrity wedding to make their day special.
If you are surrounded by those you love, and who love you, celebrating the day that you make your promises: to love, cherish, and care for the other forever, then that seems good enough to me.
It has worked for me for 30 years! 
Congratulations Will and Beth,
Your Mom and Dad Love you!
Tags: spending on wedding, wedding budgets, weddings and money, weddings and nurses
How nice!!! Very sweet!!! Just over 19 years ago, we had a VERY small wedding because thats what we could pay for. We didn’t want to start our life together in debt. Since then, well its been a bit of a different story! But thats a story for another day!! Congratulations to your family!!!
Thanks so much! Look forward to hearing, “The rest of the story!”
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This is so sweet! Congrats to the whole family!
Thanks Danielle! We are excited!
What a touching post. I had the luxury of going to many weddings before I had my own. The ones that were the most fun were the ones where the reception was held at someone’s home. That’s when I realized spending $20K or more on a wedding wasn’t what made it memorable.
Yes, the emotions are what make it memorable, not the trappings.
my daughter had $6,000 in her wedding and it was awesome!! very sentimental and emotional. According to comments from many of our guests, her reception was one of the best they ever attended. It was a day that my daughter says she will never forget…perfect! And the best part was that it didn’t costs us an insane amount of money.
Hey Doc! Congrats mate! Well done!
But wait, who’s paying again?
Congratulations!
Thanks, and thanks for stopping by!
My youngest just got married a month ago. She and I both agree that it IS possible to create a very memorable day without spending your entire life savings or mounting extreme credit card debt.
I have to say that her beach wedding was the most beautiful I have seen. And while the reception was lots and lots of hard work, we did it all ourselves without caterers. Of course we live in an area where we have many sources of stores that fix party platters, etc. But it was much cheaper than caterers. We did all the decorating, setting up, food, etc. all for a very reasonable price and it ended up being the wedding of her dreams!
It’s insane to spend your life savings on a wedding. It should be, as you stated, a celebration of love. There are many ways to cut costs and still have a beautiful ceremony and reception.
What a testimony to what can be done, and the memories stay positive, without those credit card bills reminding you that you spent too much!
My husband & I were supposed to get married last May in Mexico. Then…H1N1 emerged and our trip and wedding were canceled. We planned a wedding locally 4 months later and did end up spending quite a bit (only because we live in Toronto and the venue was very expensive as there aren’t many choices with 3 months to spare). I don’t regret a single thing and know that I could have gone way over the top. Having said that, the best part of the whole day was that we finally got married (we have been together for almost 10 years this January- since high school). My dad now has cancer and looking back- I’m just glad I got to share the day with him…not the bill.
Congratulations Dr. Dean & family!
Thanks for your best wishes. As a father, I am glad you got to spend that special time with your dad! Best wishes to you!
Congratulations!
I like that jab at Obama, even though his getting the nobel peace prize wasn’t his doing…
My wife and I had such a frugal wedding that if it cost any less, we would have made money off of it…
Great message, and good luck to your son, sounds like he found the perfect woman!
My son’s sense of humor is highly tuned. You have to be paying attention. He got that from me…. Thanks for your good luck wishes!
That may be an idea-selling tickets to the reception. Maybe selling drink tickets as well!