Why I Want to Elope

I don't even have a ring on it yet and I am already calling it quits on wedding planning. I'm a smart girl and capable of planning many a shin-dig, but I just can't deal with this wedding stuff... No matter how casual I try to make it, I just can't stay under $5,000. Just to try to ease my mind I googled "what does the average wedding cost for 100 people". It was my expectation that the average wedding would cost $100 per person and therefore, $10,000. All I would have to do is cut that in half. Boy, was I wrong. After several attempts at rewording my Google search bar the verdict was in. The average person spends $29,000 on their wedding. AVERAGE person. That's the average! I can imagine it. I can certainly imagine having an exquisite wedding of my dreams. A charming barn house wedding with twinkle lights and pony rides and endless food and drink and music and dancing. The problem is that I could barely cover the venue alone with the price range I am working in. So I started to think, what is the most important thing on my wedding day.... Marrying the right person. I have already married the wrong person, and had the wedding with the flowers and the music and the open bar and whatever whatever. It's clear to me that the amount you spend on your wedding in no way reflects the happiness you will have in your marriage. I would rather have a lifetime of happiness with the right person than one fabulous party. That doesn't mean that I don't want a wedding at all. I do. (no pun intended, but well done.)I want to be able to share the beginning of my marriage with my family and my friends. But why do I have to pay so much for it? The minute you start looking for a wedding the price of everything sky rockets. Is it too much to ask that I start my marriage with a little cash left in my pocket? I just want to run away from all this senseless spending! I want to stand on a beach, or in a field, or on a little hill and marry my best friend in front of my closest family and friends. Then I want to eat some BBQ and jump in a pool. Why does that have to cost so much? I wish I knew someone with a BBQ pit and a pool. I could make it well worth their while and still save a big lump of cash.