I was never the little girl who dreamed about her wedding, and as a grown woman, I still think the idea of an expensive, elaborate ceremony is overrated. If you’re on the fence about going all-out for your wedding or just taking things to the courthouse, here are just a few things you could spend all that money on instead:
- A trip around the world Weddings can get expensive — the average cost in the US is around $28,000. Between the caterer, the alcohol, the dress, and the venue, you’re racking up quite a bill (especially when you think about the fact that you’re buying dinner for every guest). Personally, I’d rather get a ticket for an extended vacation and see the world.
- A house Sure, a wedding is great, but what about a house to kick start your life together? I guarantee you can put on at least a down payment on your future home with all that dough. This house will be the place that you’ll create all your first memories as a married couple and where you might even raise your kids. Now that’s a memory that will last forever.
- Your family Your family has been there for you since day one, so why not spoil them? Buy your mom a new dress, or your dad a new watch. Take your grandmothers out for pedicures and treat your little cousin to a nice dinner. There’s plenty of ways to spoil your family and thank them for all the wonderful things they’ve done to support you.
- Charity If you’ve got that giving spirit, then you should look into giving your money to a charity that needs it. You’ll feel so good giving all that money that you would have spent on the wedding to the perfect cause.
- Time off We could all use a little time off from life, so if you’ve got money saved up for the wedding, you could always give yourself an extended leave off work, and live on the wedding savings for a while. Imagine sleeping in every morning, grabbing some tea, and reading a good book. I’m relaxed just thinking about it!
- Room to follow your dreams Take that money and use it to invest in yourself. Start that business you’ve always wanted to do, hire someone to build a website for your blog, quit your job and write your book. The possibilities are endless, and without the wedding, you have the funds to make it happen.
- Whatever it is that you’ve always promised you’d buy one day We’ve all got that one thing that we’ve always wanted to buy (mine is a big, giant bathtub to enable my love of bubble baths). It’s probably majorly expensive, and it might seem too indulgent or selfish. Use this as an excuse to give yourself permission to buy it and enjoy it guilt-free.
- Your bucket list I don’t know about you, but my list of things to do before I die just keeps growing and growing, and I often feel like I’m not crossing off enough things. The money for your wedding can easily act as a fund for your bucket list. Want to go skydiving? Now you don’t have to worry about taking the money out of your next paycheck!
- An epic honeymoon Just because you’re not going to have a lavish wedding doesn’t mean you don’t deserve an incredible honeymoon! Use the extra wedding funds to go for an even more luxurious honeymoon (did someone say a couple’s spa day?) or make it even longer. You can afford it now!
- Save the damn money. Obviously, this isn’t nearly as fun as all the other ones, but imagine the possibilities if you saved (or invested) all the wedding money. It could be a college fund for your future kid, your life raft if you ever get laid off, or an excuse to blow it on something fantastic in the future.