Post Eight: A marriage from hell?

If I could hand you a thousand pounds, what would you spend it on? How about if I was feeling very generous and gave you a million? Maybe a mansion in the Caribbean, so you can sun yourself whenever you please, or maybe a private jet to fly you away whenever you fancied the ride. What about £3.200,000? Now that must be even more difficult to think about, 2 houses maybe, 2 planes and maybe if your feeling generous and you can’t possibly think of anything else to spend your money on, give some of the money to charity. You could even pay off 10% of Africa’s debt. Hilary Clinton's daughter spent this on her wedding day.

That’s a 99% percentage difference on the cost of my wedding, a £3,196,500 difference, a hell of a lot of money difference. I wonder if she was happier than I am going to be on my big day? I wonder if money makes a difference to how you feel on the day; whether it improves the romance or the words you say and feel as you say your vows. Or is spending that amount of money on your wedding day all for show, a way to tell people how rich you are and what a lavish party you are able to hold as you have money growing on your trees in your back garden? As I sit and ponder that thought, whilst at work (I should totally be working!!), I come across an article from the BBC News titled ‘A marriage made in hell?’.

The article describes the modern wedding. The scary women rushing into a Bridal Sale and pushing others excited brides out of the way to get the bargain dress. Or a over enthusiastic bridesmaid ordering a male stripper for the hen do. 

A clinical psychologist Dr James commented that, "Brides are more prone to wanting to signify their importance to others through grand material displays. Classic keeping up with the Joneses."  I guess this is true for most brides nowadays. Some brides are dictated to by their parents and traditional is followed so strictly that the extras cost extra. Lavish presents for the mother of the bride and groom, presents for the bridesmaids, presents for the groomsmen, high profile photographer..etc..etc. Some brides forget the reason they are getting married and concentrate too much on the look, the colours and how they are going to greet and feed their guests. I am not convinced this makes a marriage from hell but it creates a lot of pressure and anxiety for the bride to make things just perfect. I am not sure how I will focus my thoughts on the wedding yet, certainly not a wedding that thinks about it's guests more than Terry and I, but I do hope I remember the true meaning of a wedding. To show Terry my commitment to him and to tell him how much I adore him. Rather than getting stressed out over which expensive car I'd like to arrive in.