Love & Marriage

Weddings vs. Marriages

By Nina Atwood, the Singlescoach®

It’s that time of year - wedding season! Look around and you’ll see the signs everywhere - bridal magazines clog the newsstand with models wearing glorious ten thousand dollar dresses. Jewelry stores run ads featuring thirty thousand dollar engagement rings. Caterers and hotels are busy pulling together the last-minute details for their clients’ hundred thousand dollar bashes. Let’s face it - we are obsessed with weddings this time of year! But where does the marriage part begin and what does it have to do with the wedding?

In 2005, close to $125 billion - about the size of Ireland’s GDP - was spent on weddings, raising the average cost of weddings to just over $26,000. That’s average cost, so we know that lots of weddings cost much more than that. Parents are balking over the high cost, so the couple often pcks up a large part of the bill. Post-wedding, their wedding debt causes financial problems, not a good way to begin a life together, especially when you consider the impact: financial issues are one of the top three reasons that couples later divorce.

Now let’s compare the cost of weddings to the cost of premarital counseling. On average, a couple can complete a premarital course that will greatly increase their odds of staying together, plus some individual counseling, for somewhere between $500 and $3,000. Let’s see: wedding = $26,000; counseling = $3,000. Investment on wedding yields what benefit? Some great photos and a nice party for you and your family’s friends and acquaintances. Investment in premarital counseling yields a happier, more stable marriage. This is like an IQ test, yet it’s one that many, many couples fail.

Article Copyright © 2007 by Nina Atwood. All rights reserved. Contact Nina Atwood for permission to reprint.

About the Singlescoach

Nina Atwood, M.Ed., LPC, is a licensed therapist with twenty years in private practice. Nina launched the world’s first educational resource on the internet for singles, Singlescoach®, in 1996, simultaneous with the publication of her first book, Be Your Own Dating Service. Since then, she’s established herself as one of the foremost authorities on the intricacies of dating and love relationships. She’s been featured in innumerable national magazines and newspapers, on radio hundreds of times, and on national and regional television. Nina’s newest book, Temptations of the Single Girl: The Ten Dating Traps You Must Avoid (Wheatmark, 2008), was just released to rave reviews. Nina lives in Dallas, Texas, with her Soul Partner and husband, Mark.

www.singlescoach.com