Over the weekend, a Wall Street Journal story titled What a Wedding Really Costs caught the attention of wedding experts and even turned some into writers to give their views of why the WSJ should stick to financial news.
Essentially, it is felt the writer slanted his views towards a shift to cautious wedding spending, even questioning the expert opinion of Carley Roney, editor-in-chief of the Knot. Most planners and sources weighing in had no real opinion of their own or were not willing to share their thoughts. But a new, outspoken eWedNews source, Brad Junell, owner of CoordEgy didn’t mind sharing his views.
“In a time of ongoing economic anxiety and with the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in full swing, brides contend with slippery slopes beyond the media coverage of the Super-G. In a recent article in the online Wall Street Journal, Brett Arends asserts in no uncertain terms that rather than lavishly spending money on their wedding, brides could realize a 500% to 1100%+ appreciation in the value of that expenditure “Over long periods” if they saved it “four decades or more” instead.
Cha’, get real Mr. Arends! Can you say “Would’ a, Could’ a, Should’ a?” Let me think; forty-years ago if I:
1.) didn’t eat at McDonald’s I could’ a looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger did in his body-building hay-day
2.) played less pinball and with more Radio Shack 64-in-1 electronics kits I could’ a been sitting in Steve Job’s chair at Apple Computer Company
3.) invested that first $0.50/hr paycheck I earned raking leaves in my uncle John’s yard instead of buying a 3-Muskateers candy bar I could’ a now enjoyed a net worth of a mini Warren Buffet.
Thrifty advice for brides? I think not. Good advice for brides to be thrifty? Absolutely! There’s no denying that the pressures and challenges of the recent economy have prompted brides and vendors to seek bargains and reduce costs from all angles. But to insinuate that brides forego the cost of celebrating the “here and now,” that one special day in their lives that they have dreamed about since being a little girl, that one moment in time that often establishes the foundation of a lifetime of emotional investment, can hardly be quantified and summed up with a simple calculation of the future value of $1 invested today.
My first reaction to this article evoked a Homer Simpson/Forest Gump shout out loud: “DOH! What are you stupid or something?” I’m sorry but there are just some days in life where practicality takes a back seat on the bus ride of life. Call me old-fashioned. Call me sentimental. Tell me time and again that “a fool and his money are soon parted” all you like. Out of the 25+ years of being married, not once has either of us said to the other: Gee honey, you know, we could afford to buy that new 52” LCD high-definition TV now if we had only taken that extra $100 we spent for the really good band and saved it instead.
A lil ditty about Brad and Diane- two kids that didn't marry in the sand.
Honestly, not a day goes by in my life where there isn’t something I encounter or remember of that special day when I married my wife: a picture on the wall in our bedroom of a beautiful blushing young women in a beautiful dress standing next to a handsome young man on a cool September day (and how we had to kick the break-dancer kids out of the bandstand for the wedding pictures); the occasional watching of a video seeing my dad dancing in a Tuxedo; reminiscing with a groomsman of how he cut-off an off-duty policeman and got a ticket in the mail a month later; remembering the bittersweet feeling of being on deck in the early morning sunrise as our honeymoon ship returned to port for disembarking.
These Mr. Arends are all my priceless memories and are worth more to me than any single dollar that I spent some 25 odd years ago and they are even worth more than any future dollar value you could possibly calculate. My suggestion to brides is this: If you want news and opinion for financial investment instruments such as stocks and bonds then by all means consult the Wall Street Journal. But when it comes to advice and opinion on priceless investments such as marriage – leave that to the professionals,”
eWedwNews
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2010
Posted on 02/20/2010
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