I had an expensive wedding. I cut it really close by the end and I was lucky. It didn't help that I got laid off from my job 4 months before the wedding and blew through my emergency fund. Luckily, unemployment covered my rent but I did end up selling my car to help with costs as they did start to get out of hand in the last month. By the time of the wedding, I had $400 in my bank account.

My wedding was the best time of my life. I don't regret the financial risk I took. I will also say that luckily, in my culture, wedding gifts are traditionally cash and that helped a lot with financial anxiety. I also had a job lined up to start right when I got back from my honeymoon so I knew my finances would be recovering.

There are some things that I wish I could/would have done to make the wedding cheaper and not so financially risky that I wasn't able to do for cultural/family reasons. My biggest piece of advice for trying to make your wedding cheaper - cut the guest list. The guest list increases your cost in so many areas that even cutting just a few people helps you save so much money.

Ultimately, I think weddings are worth it. You're celebrating so much love and are surrounded by friends and family who love you and your partner. A celebration like this, about you and your partner, is a once in a lifetime experience. You don't have to take the financial risk I did to have the wedding of your dreams though. Cutting your guest list and maybe changing your venue if you can could really help. I've heard a lot about r/Weddingsunder10k for help with cutting wedding costs, so maybe that can help you as well.