Wedding belle blues

As the wedding expenses pile up and I watch my bank account dwindle, it occurred to me that things could be worse. After all, the only thing more expensive than being a bride is being a bridesmaid. Or, in some cases, a wedding guest. It's disgusting how pricey weddings have gotten. All we wanted was to have our friends and family get together in our favorite place which, for the record, is not some farflung tropical paradise. Still, people are forking out and while I'm really happy that they'll be there on the day, I feel terrible that it's costing them so much. I admit it--I bought into the wedding industry hype. I have the piles of Martha Stewart Weddings to prove it. If only I had Caitlin Flanagan to advise me when we got engaged. Not that anyone's listening to her advice these days.