Mini Musings: Materialism gone mad...

All that use of the word marriage in the previous post has gotten me thinking about something which provoked/amused/appalled me earlier today. On the subject of weddings, my sister in law's mother was telling us over tea how she was going to a wedding of some cousin at the end of August. All very lovely indeed. Sure who doesn't love a good wedding? They eventually got around to the subject of acceptable amounts of money to give as a wedding present, to which point her mother pointed out that the last wedding she attended all the guests contributed 200 euro. Having managed the tricky task of navigating between choking on my tea and splurting it out all over the cat, I increduously asked was she mad. She replied that this appeared to be the standard amount people were giving these days. And when couples had lists of gifts they would like, they tended to average out around that mark too. I mean really. That's about two thirds of a minimum wage earner's weekly pay packet! Not to mention, you know, the R-Word. However when you consider the exorbitant amounts of money that people are spending on weddings these days, they probably need it to cover the costs. Banks certainly won't throw that kind of money at you now. Seriously though, who needs a ten grand wedding? Isn't marriage supposed to a momentous religious event/symbol of two people's love for each other/tax break, depending on your perspective? I would have thought all three would have warranted less materialistic indulgence. Next wedding I attend will get a sodding toaster and have done with it.