I've been in a situation where life sucked and racked up some debt and fouled up my credit, so I can sympathize to some extent, but what I thought was pretty ba

I've been in a situation where life sucked and racked up some debt and fouled up my credit, so I can sympathize to some extent, but what I thought was pretty bad debt (including student loans) was less than that 'average' wedding figure. After spending a year or two putting all my extra income toward successfully retiring the debt, my future wife and I looked at engagement rings and weddings and thought, "this is crazy." She has no engagement ring (wedding band though) and we eloped, and we're just as married as my brother and he spent $30k. I have a friend whose parents offered to give them money for a down payment or to pay for their wedding. They chose wedding. What the hell people? It's one day. The wedding madness is just nuts. "Hey, we might want to buy a house and have kids soon. Let's spend all of that money we might need entertaining a gaggle of family and friends, half of whom each one of us doesn't particularly like."