Best Ways to Get Married on a Budget

Gee, does this mean people are still getting married? According to one of my adult kids, marriage is for fools. He's lived a series of shack-ups, and changes partners as often as teens do at the senior prom. No rugrats, no commitments, and as far as the old parents are concerned, no happiness. However, enough weeping and wailing. It isn't all bad, because one of our kids just got married, and did it on a budget made in heaven.

Well, not exactly heaven. It was in the more earthbound city where marriage is a thriving business ... Las Vegas. My daughter and her fiance checked out several venues for the ceremony, including Los Angeles and San Francisco. However, because they'd already booked a Las Vegas resort for the honeymoon, they decided to tie the knot in Sin City. Another factor was that in every other city, the price of hotel rooms started at $300 a night and soared up from there. Also, banquet rooms, food and all the other expenses were sky high. A modest wedding in San Francisco would have cost at least $10,000.

They bought a Vegas hotel package that included a block of rooms in an upscale Vegas hotel that cost $50 a night each, and the hotel tossed in the reception room at no extra cost. The total of 86 relatives and guests were thrilled to be invited to Vegas, and all paid for their own air and hotel expenses. Since most of them lived within an hour's flight to Vegas, round trips on Southwest Airlines were mostly less than $200. Some drove from their Arizona and California homes.

One of the guests was a longtime family friend, an ordained minister. His gift to the bride and groom was performing the ceremony. Therefore, the only actual cost of the wedding itself. was for the reception lunch, champagne, flowers and the cake. Since it was Vegas, everyone dressed casual; no one had to rent tuxes nor buy bridesmaid's gowns.

We, the bride's parents, paid all the expenses for the event, which came to about $2,000. However, are you ready for the big finale? The mother of the bride, a sedate lady who never did anything rash, decided to play one of the hotel's quarter video poker machines. She put in one quarter, and won five.

We were all crowded around her, and urged that she bet the maximum five quarters. Reluctantly, she did, and hit a royal flush. The payout ... $2,000. Now, how could anyone beat that cost for marriage on a budget?