Is the money burnt, the Joy earned?

Stunning clothes , expensive food, the best of places available in town, music is a must and crackers too sometimes!3 months of planning, Suggestions from even the not so well known relatives, confusion all around the house, but we claim to enjoy it.Its takes 3 whole days for the boy to tie just 3 knots around the girl's neck....and shhhhhh no one here talks about how much all this costs, it just has to be spent, its just once in a lifetime afterall!

Feels like we are headed to making a status quotient through the occassion, everyone wants to make a big wedding.The rich ones have the money and they have to spend it, the not so rich ones have some money but then comes the 'once in lifetime' quote, the poor cant show that they are poor else how do they get their daughters married?, so even they have to spend...by hook or by crook.
We belong to the modern world ,we have girls who earn equally well .According to us dowry is a thing passe'.There are just two questions which go unanswered amdist all this,
One, are we moulding the so called 'dowry' to a much subtler version through lavish weddings?
Two, are we putting the burden through our weddings , jus because we could afford it, on to the people in the lower social strata?
This seriously needs a second though.