Source: ‘Just us’ wedding trend: Couples ditch the guests – The Look.
“We just wanted it to be about us,” said Eustice, a 29-year-old dental assistant from Orlando, Florida. “At big weddings, I noticed the bride and groom are entertaining the guests and don’t get to spend a lot of time with each other — we love spending time together. And, it’s really about [us] at the end of the day.”
Weddings-for-two, as bridal planners call them, are a growing trend, says Kelly Karli, owner of Frosted Pink Weddings in Vail, Colorado. “It’s been popping up more and more,”
I am getting out of my element here talking about weddings. I have only had one and that was more than a quarter century ago. But that doesn’t keep me from spouting an opinion here. I don’t know of a guy who really loves big weddings. Most of us would have just wanted to keep it simple. It is interesting to see this trend of going small. One of the things not mentioned in the article is the outrageous costs of weddings now days.
When Yvonne and I got married we spent about $3,000 on the celebration ceremonies. We were both forty or above and working so maybe we looked at the numbers differently than many do today. It was a nice day and included all the usual stuff and had about 100 guests. I just looked it up and the average wedding today costs more than $25,000! I, being a guy, can’t imagine spending that much money on a one day event. $25,000 would make a great down payment on a bungalow for years of use.
It is nice to see that some sanity might be returning to this wedding business, but if it becomes common there this is yet another industry that will suffer the consequences. Wedding planners, like travel agents, will just have to move on to other things. The 1%ers could probably use more full-time hospitality managers to help them spend all their discretionary income. Maybe that is a possibility? Maybe the local tech college can start a program for that. I always try to help out all the out-of-work folks to find a new field…. ;)
But I’m just a simple guy so what do I know….
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 
Gosh, The only “just us” weddings are second marriages. I appreciate the family weddings with receptions in the backyard. Our kids’ weddings were smaller, and then I heard much moaning that our friends were not invited… Sigh. The kids I know who are getting married after living together a long time seem to have the largest, most expensive weddings. My nephew and niece on law planned their wedding for two years and were delighted to have a huge geoup come to dinner with them. I don’t get it- they are certainly not rich- but it was their dream…
Seems the young 30 guys are just as into the party as the bride.
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Call me cynical, but it seems to me that people have fallen for the big business marketing of weddings. A lot of people make a lot of money by training us to believe that we are obligated to throw large expensive parties and follow that up with a honeymoon cruise or trip to a foreign country. I see this over and over…and I know they and their parents can’t really afford it. As always, many people are like sheep and will follow this ever expanding wedding scenario. I love to hear about the lesser known simple weddings that are held in the backyard or a park or somewhere like that… with only good friends and family attending. Our neighbors for example, held one for a friend in the yard in the fall that had picnic tables, hay bales for benches, trees festooned with ribbons…it was great. Yes, it is nice to get together with relatives we don’t see otherwise, but after all this is about the couple. And I wonder how many guests are there out of “obligation” and find the cost of attending a burden? I would rather see these young people spend their money on their homes and paying their bills first and keep the ceremony and reception simple. If you’re older and can afford a big ta-do then it’s fine. Each to his own I guess. Of course, my perspective is as an introvert, so small and simple would be my choice no matter what :-)
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I am aligned with you here Jane. With so many middle class jobs being lost in the last dozen years and the cost of weddings going through the roof I imagine most weddings are paid for with credit card debt. That doesn’t make sense to me for a one-day event.
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