Two crazy people in the world find each other, decide against all odds – for the short time they have here on this earth – that they want to spend their days committed to honoring and serving each other. And then, they invite you to participate in that process.

Weddings are wonderful, aren’t they?

They are usually peacefully festive and relaxing. There is usually some crazy uncle that gives a ridiculous toast. Some cousin that is way too excited about catching the bouquet. And some groomsman that is trying to pick up his next date.

And the cake!

I love going to weddings for no other reason than what most all weddings beautifully have in common: They have wedding cake.

But, before you rush off to hurriedly plan that wedding that is a “mere” year away.

Keep these 3 things in mind.

1. It is a big deal.

Before you start, understand how big of a deal having, and planning, a wedding is. You have the dress. The tux.  The bridesmaid dresses. The cake. The decorations. The flowers. The flower girl. The photographer. The invitations. The minister. The location. The music. The reception. The food for the reception. The drinks at the reception. Travel arrangements. Honeymoon plans. And each of these is going to take anywhere from 2 – 3 appointments and even more phone calls to arrange. Outside of a wedding planner, taking 50+ appointments (on top of hours of indecision) to arrange a wedding weekend and honeymoon, and hundreds of phone calls is not a small undertaking. Planning a wedding is a big deal.

2. It is stressful.

Absent all distractions, getting married is by itself a monumental and stressful event in your life. Add to that somewhere between fifty and a few hundred people, and everything listed above that makes a wedding such a big event to plan, and the stress really starts to add up. Throw in to that a few demanding parents, a gossipy aunt, and a hard-headed sibling, and it will feel like you are trying to diffuse a bomb while being forced to smile. Having a wedding is stressful.

3. It is expensive.

Last I saw, the average wedding cost was like $26,000. Is that even right? Who knows. It’s probably not far off though. That’s just crazy. $26,000 for a two hour party? Say you can stretch it into 3 hours. That still comes out to spending $144.44 per minute for three hours straight. In addition to the monetary cost, however, is everything I have already said. There is a non-monetary cost as well that is spent in time and stress.  A wedding is expensive monetarily, and emotionally.

You could take $26,000 and buy nearly 20 percent of a $150,000 house.

Grab a Justice of the Peace, and two plane tickets to Key West, or Jackson Hole…

Marriage is honorable, beautiful, and to be cherished.

But the wedding?

I don’t know, I would elope if I were you.