10 Things You Can Do With Your Money Instead Of Spending On A Big Fat Wedding

Yeah, I said it. Weddings are useless.

Just to be clear, I said weddings, not marriages. Marriages are cool, but weddings – the humongous waste of money ceremony – is a fucking waste of time and money.

There was a time I wanted to get married in a huge way too. That was 15 years ago (yeah, I thought about loud Indian weddings then). Then I got to the phase where I got curious and started asking questions.

 

And so much money is spent on them?

I looked it up and the normal cost of a middle-class wedding is up to 17-20 lakhs.

A working class family spends that amount of money on something that lasts 3 days. And there is no return on investment. That money is gone, never to be seen again.

That’s the reason they call it a wedding industry – replete with event planners and caterers. The Indian wedding industry is worth $40 billion (2.45 lakh crore).

The moment you call it a wedding industry the wedding lost its sanctity – cause its business now – and not a celebration of love anymore.

And all that money could have been better spent on-

1. A longer and pricier honeymoon and travels

Yeah, why not? Rather than treating random relatives (who’s going to complain about something or the other anyway), splurge that money on yourself.

 

2. Invested in all the correct places, wisely

If you’re not into travelling, invest. Reap dividends later.

 

3. Kept aside for the future kid’s college fund

That’s where the dividends can go. To give your kids a better future.

 

4. Buying a whole house or at least a down payment on one

Own land, if you can. That way, your money will multiply itself.

 

5. Simple shopping

Buy that freaking phone you’ve been eyeing since time immemorial. Paisa, kya kabre me leke jayoge?

 

6. Spent on higher education you always wanted to undertake

Invest in education. It’s never too late to learn. Build that Android app you’ve been dreaming of launching.

 

7. Feed the needy and the poor

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give” -Winston Churchill.

 

8. Getting healthy at a spa

 

9. Start a business together

Make in India, dammit. Not make biriyani in my wedding for 500 people.

 

10. Do nothing – put it all in a bank and forget about it.

And hey, if you do want to celebrate with your family, give them a lavish dinner. But weddings make absolutely no sense whatsoever. The priests are half of the time staring at their mobile phones and mindlessly chanting what are powerful mantras that will bind two souls till the end of time.

And let’s not even go to the divorce rates. They have grown at an alarming rate.
Why would you want to spend a fortune on something that has a 1/100 chance of failing?
Wouldn’t you rather spend it on something useful that will make the other person appreciate it more?
Something that has a tangible usefulness?

But, hey! If you like the customs and traditions and actually think that the ceremony makes your marriage airtight, that’s cool.

I thought that about my prayers before the exams too.

It is only later that I realized that a tremendous amount of hard work has to be put in before prayers kick in.
And, I do not consider myself to an expert, but it is the same for a marriage too.

It needs a lot of work before the prayers work.

Maybe we should have the wedding ceremonies a few years into the marriage – when it is successful and rock solid that even God is impressed with the job you did.

Cover image source