Last night, I went with my son to look for a place to have his wedding and reception. He and his fiance have started the arduous process of budgeting, planning, adjusting, re-adjusting, and re-re-adjusting the commencement ceremony.
The first shock to him was the amount of money that this ceremony could devour. He is a frugal person who was appalled to see that this place required a bar expense of $22 per person. First, he doesn't drink alcohol himself and, second, he thinks that anyone who consumes $22 of alcohol shouldn't drive home.
Well, I agree with the second point except that the charges at such functions are always inflated, so that's just a few drinks over the course of the entire evening for most folks. But he is right in that there is no real reason to spent $4-5,000 for booze. He leaves open the possibility of a wine and champagne bar, but isn't even too happy about that. His fiance has been told by friends that weddings without alcohol are always a bit boring. Maybe they need to get a life!
Well, as I said, the process is just starting... and that's the easy part of marriage. 30 or 50 or so years later you get a different perspective about the commencement ceremony.
