Want $1 Million? Elope

The bad news doesn't stop there. The huge cost of a wedding often means that the couple borrows money to pay for the affair, meaning the true cost balloons with interest payments. Wedding loans often come with double-digit interest rates and can mean that a newly married couple is still paying for its wedding years after the event.

The Gift That Keeps Giving

Instead of spending that money on a wedding, what if you instead invested the money? If you placed $35,000 into a Roth IRA, assuming you got married at age 25 and the money earns 9% annually, you would end up with over $1.26 million in your retirement account at age 65.

Here's a question that all people who are going to get married should ask: Would you prefer having an average wedding and beginning your married life in debt, or eloping and having a $1 million retirement fund? While a fairy-tale wedding may last a day, the arguments about the finances will likely last for years.

For most, it isn't an either-or choice. Eloping is not an option for many couples, but you can decide how much you ultimately spend on your wedding day. To make sure that you don't get caught up in the wedding industry hype and spend more than you should, here are some basic steps you should take to ensure you aren't still paying for your wedding on your fifth anniversary:

Talk about it: You should not lose track of the fact that your wedding will likely be one of the top purchases you'll have in your lifetime as a married couple. The easiest way to contain wedding expenses is to make sure that you both agree on what the wedding should be like and how much it should cost. If you can't come to an agreement on this important financial issue, it should be a red flag that money issues are going to be a major stumbling block in the years to come. By being honest with each other and compromising so that you are both happy, you can establish a foundation to work through financial issues in the future.