Weddings stalled for basic needs

Viewpoints

October 23, 2009

Anonymous The Weatherford Democrat Fri Oct 23, 2009, 02:42 PM CDT

Phil Riddle

editor@weatherforddemocrat.com

Care to guess what the average American wedding costs?

About $21,000 according to costofwedding.com, which also reports most couples spend between $15,000 and $26,000.

That’s average, and it does not include the cost of the ring, which the diamond retailers tell us should be two months salary, or the honeymoon.

That’s not taking into account the looney money spent on celebrity ceremonies.

For instance, it was reported Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban forked over a cool quarter million to tie the knot.

That’s lunch money compared to the amount Paul McCartney and Heather Mills spent. The temptation to make a comment about the wedding costing an arm and a leg is tremendous, but I’ll just say the cost was reported to be about $3 million.

And when David Gest married Elizabeth Taylor in 2002, the bills tallied up to $3.5 million. That included a 12-tier cake and about 500 guests. And that was for a marriage that lasted only a year. That comes out to about $300K per month.

While we in the land of plenty are blowing obscene dollars on ostentatious wedding ceremonies, others in the world are hoping for more basic luxuries following the exchanging of vows.

In India, a national campaign is underway to keep women from marrying men without indoor plumbing.

Yeah. While Americans are renting clothes, feeding hundreds of guests and paying musicians, photographers and videographers, women in India are organizing to get bathrooms.

Indian brides are not arguing with planners about ice sculptures or when in the wedding to release the white doves.

All they want is a place to hang the toilet paper.

No nightmares about a designer original wedding gown or seating the mothers too near each other.

Nope. Just a little privacy when nature calls.

According to a recent Washington Post story, young Indian women are refusing to marry unless the house in which they’ll live comes with a loo.

About half the population of India lacks access to indoor facilities, but since the “No Toilet, No Bride” campaign began two years ago, nearly a million and a half bathrooms have been built in one northern state in India.

While American suitors are concerned with the carat size and clarity of the diamond in his beloved’s ring, prospective Indian grooms are working overtime for their wives’ convenience and comfort.

“I will have to work hard to afford a toilet, said a 22-year-old Indian man who hopes to one day marry. “We won’t get any bride if we don’t have one.”

That could bring about a new advertising campaign.

“Toilets are a girls best friend.”

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Weddings stalled for basic needs

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