$5k - Not OK!

A little more background on me…I am not a girly-girl. I never really could stand talking on the phone, I have less than 20 pairs of shoes, and I cannot see the logic spending as much on a handbag as would feed a small village in the Ukraine. Even in my early 30s, I’m little bit of a tomboy (albeit one who wears make-up and highlights her hair).

Unlike most girls, my childhood fantasies were never filled with images of my “big day”. In fact, when my kindergarten teacher asked the class to draw our future families…I sketched a series of three husbands. I believe they were all missing their torsos (I distinctively recall their arms and legs jutting out of oblong craniums like alien quad-pods) but in my mind the drawing served a pretty cool picture of what I my future beheld.

My girlfriends – on the other hand – are a bit more traditional. I had five college roommates, all who are still my greatest friends…and all of whom have been down the aisle already. Their weddings were practically turn-key. Seriously, they got the ring and flipped a switch. The Save the Dates (STDs, as I like to call them) were out the next weekend, the dress was fitted, and the planning was done by day six.

So my friends recently provided me with their wedding budget excel sheets (which they pulled out of their color-coded, three ring binders with built-in hole punchers) to get me prepared me for the financial hemorrhaging that was about to ensue.

It appears $5,000 is the magic number for every wedding vendor. Flowers = $5k; Photog = $5k; Caterer = $5k (not including staff, rentals, beverages, and appetizers). Um, do these people work 8 days a year or something?! I’m sure it doesn’t help that I live in the wedding capital of the nation, but pa-lease. I’d like to still be able to foot my mortgage bill once the big day is over…right?! Is this normal?