I'm sorry everyone, but they are. I just went to one this weekend that I'm sure cost quite a bit. It was VERY much like many others I've been to and it frankly sucked.

Location that had no meaning to the couple but looked nice in photos.

Food that I'm sure they spent a ton on that was mediocre. INCLUDING silly things like a make your own sundae bar

"Guest entertainment" photo booth. Really no one used it.

Wedding band playing covers of songs somewhat competently most of the time, but no one really dancing until late when they were super drunk. 150 people.

Photos that I am 1000% sure will look like all of the other photos of every single wedding I've seen in the last 10 years.

It was all a show for social media posts. I would gladly declined attending had it not been a family member.

Save your money. Go to the courthouse or just have something tiny. Put a down-payment on a house instead. Take a wonderful vacation. You don't need this.

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ETA: thank you for the awards, and I'm overwhelmed by the number of supportive DMs 🙂. I know this seems to have triggered some folks, but this is the forum for it.

As for the sundae bar which many have mentioned, my family is lactose intolerant and we made up most of the guests. It wasn't popular. It was just messy. I also eat pretty strictly for my fitness routine, so I personally wasn't interested no matter what. It was a cold day and probably would have been more popular during a summer wedding. Sounds like that's truly the most unpopular opinion.