Weddings, Shmeddings: A Wedding Free Summer (So Far)!

Summer vacation is right around the corner for me. No, I am no longer a student. No, I don’t have a great trip planned along the coast of Northern California. And, thankfully, I’m not recently unemployed.  However, two years ago last weekend my wife and I became engaged to be married, which began our two summers of what I like to call Super Wedding Extravaganza Madness Parts I and II.  Finally, this summer I don’t have a single wedding to attend. This is truly a summer vacation.

Weddings are a double-edged sword during the summer. You’re usually rewarded with a meal, an open bar, and sweat-filled dancing. However, giving up a summer weekend for an open bar and dry chicken can often leave you feeling short changed when compared to your expenses: a shower gift, a wedding gift, dry cleaning before the wedding, a new tie, a new dress, new shoes, dry cleaning after the wedding, shame of seeing pictures of yourself dancing – and don’t even get me started about when the wedding is out of town.

Two summers when my wife graciously agreed to marry me, my calendar immediately got out of control.  Not only was my life centered on planning my own wedding, but I was also rewarded with five weddings of friends and family to attend. The entire summer became based around fitting in these five other blessed unions while also trying to decide what color linens best complimented my future wife's eyes. My wallet developed burn marks from the light speed at which money was shooting out of it. Had we been thinking clearly we would have made a pact with the other couples getting married to call it even on gifts. Or had I been really smart I would have had my wedding first and then short-changed everyone else at their weddings by $25, therefore, profiting off their generosity. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Needless to say, we survived what we refer to as the “Massacre of Summer 2009” and began keeping a nuptial tally for the following summer, which would climax (no pun intended) with our own wedding in October. As of Memorial Day last year we were preparing for SIX more weddings on top of our own. Our jaws dropped. Not only were we attending these weddings, but also we were in the wedding parties for two of them. We tried tweeting to Obama for a possible “Wedding Stimulus” plan, but I guess it wasn’t trending enough to get a response. I apologized to my new wallet. He was about to suffer the same fate as his predecessor.

Now here we are in May 2011. Not a single wedding this entire summer. This is truly a summer vacation - my first in two years.  Unfortunately, I’ll be putting all the money I’m saving into my gas tank.

How bad is everyone’s wedding count for this summer? Or is there something else that is preventing you from fully enjoying your summer months?