Wedding Priorities...$25,000?!

The last couple of days I've been working on wedding plans! I absolutely love fantasizing about our special day and I've got the important things (colors, bridesmaids, dress, etc!) picked out. But moving forward, I'm running into some major problems: $1400, $1000, $350, and $2500.

These are the costs of the typical reception venue, the bar that is required even if you don't want alcohol at your wedding, one floral arrangement, and the catering for the reception. Seriously. The average cost of a wedding is $25,000, not including the honeymoon. That is insane.

Now the reason I'm so upset by this is not because we can't afford it; both sets of parents have been more than generous in being willing to help us out financially. I have such a visceral reaction to these obscene prices because I grew up in two places where $25,000 could change an entire village or town's way of life.

In Roundup, Montana, a town of 2,000 ranchers, farmers, and small business owners, $25,000 could renovate the park, start an after school program for kids, start a community beautification program, or give every family about $25 to spend on whatever they wanted.

In Vanuatu, $25,000 could feed a village of 100 people for a year. It could buy 1,250 pairs of $20 shoes for kids who've never seen a sneaker, let alone wear a pair. It could build 250 new houses for a village that has to move their location because of the rising sea level. It could build a school so more students can have the opportunity to get an academic education.

Who am I to spend $25,000 on anything, when I know it could change an entire community's future? I am so aware that this is the one wedding I get; the one day where I get to decide everything (!) and not worry about anything. It's a day that is so important and a day on which you begin something so special; but $25,000? Note: Just to be very clear, we do not have a budget of $25,000; a fifth of that at the most.

How did our society get to the point where it's acceptable--no, expected--to spend this kind of money on one day? What happened to love? Isn't that what the day is about: two people loving each other so much that they want to commit themselves to each other in front of every person in their lives that matters to them? So why should we pay ourselves into debt to have the day we want when the day is perfect if the two people involved go home together that night?

So. I'm designing and making my own dress. My bridesmaids, family, and I are making the decorations. I'm designing and making the invitations. We're getting married where my dad works. I'm going to buy single stem flowers and make my own arrangements and bouquets. We're not having alcohol. There is so much we can do that will cut the cost and still give us a beautiful day.

We need to bring weddings back from this crazy show of wealth to what they're about: love. I love my fiancé and I can't wait to share that moment I become his wife with my friends and family--with the budget and meaning I want.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

DNC Speeches and Wolf Hunting

What a night at the DNC last night! I was so thrilled to be watching the speeches! I'm not going to go really in depth on anything said, but I am going to post links to four speeches I thought were fantastic! I could write ten posts on these speeches--they were exactly what this 2012 campaign needed. As a friend put it this morning, "Michelle may have just won the election for [Barack]." :) I hope so!

Illinois House Candidate Tammy Duckworth's Speech -- Tammy is an Iraq veteran who lost both legs after the helicopter she was piloting was hit by enemy rockets. Great message, good delivery.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's Speech -- Governor Patrick is the kind of speaker who will bring Republicans to the left, in my opinion. He has the same kind of tone as every speaker at the RNC last week had: this is our policy and we're not changing it. I don't totally agree with that way of conveying a message, but it seems to be very popular among Republican voters.
San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro's Speech -- Keynote speaker Mayor Castro. What to say about him...Castro 2016! That might be premature; he doesn't have any Congressional experience yet...Castro 2020! I adored his speech. He is so charismatic; he reminded me of a young Obama at the 2004 DNC giving the keynote address. Hmm...foreshadowing?
First Lady and Mom-in-Chief Michelle Obama's Speech -- She absolutely nailed it! I want her for another four years! She can connect so well to the audience, and by this morning, Obama was back in favor among women voters! I could go on and on about Michelle; she is truly the largest asset to the Obama campaign.

In other news, this story came up today. It is about how wolves are being taken off the endangered species list in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming and, come October, they will be allowed to be shot on sight outside Yellowstone National Park. I am furious about this! I spent a few days every spring in Yellowstone with my family while I was growing up in Montana. Some of my best memories include these absolutely majestic animals. In fact, this summer when I was in Yellowstone and got engaged on the Lamar River, it was a wolf that we saw first after we got back in the car and were leaving the Lamar Valley.

It has taken us so long to get to this point of having a good number of wolves again! Before 1978, when grey wolves were put on the endangered species list, they were hunted nearly to extinction! I understand that cattle need to be protected and I also am aware that many wolves in one area will completely decimate a food chain, and then they themselves will die. However, according to the NPS site, the wolf population outside of Yellowstone has decreased 60% in only five years. There is less food for them outside the park (due to declining elk populations), which is why wolves kill livestock. While there was a bit of a decline inside the park, the wolves there have bison as an additional food source. In Wyoming there are 270 outside Yellowstone and about 100 inside; if every wolf was relocated so that they were inside the park, that would not work. The bison and elk populations in the park would crash.

Here's what I think should happen: if a wolf kills something you own (cow, child, dog, sheep, etc), you should be able to shoot it. I do not think it's okay to shoot a wolf on sight, though. Just because you see a wolf pack running across the valley does not mean the wolves are going to kill anything. If, for some reason, a wolf pack decides to den near your house or ranch but hasn't killed anything, you should have the option of asking for them to be humanely relocated. In my opinion, this is going to become a trophy race and the wolf population is going to plummet, yet again, and they will have to be placed back on the endangered species list. Seems to me like taking them off and then putting them back on is a waste of taxpayers' money. For everyone back in Montana reading this, please say something to your state senators and representatives! I, myself, will be writing to Gov. Schweitzer.

Montana State Legislators with Contact Info
Gov. Schweitzer Contact Info

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi