Even in the midst of an economic crisis, the average couple spends $3,215 on an engagement ring and $2,036 on wedding bands. Author Laura Vanderkam uses these numbers and other statistics to show how we tend to stress the wedding event over marriage:

The $5,251 the average couple spends on rings could be viewed as 105 nights of paying $50 to a babysitter so you can have uninterrupted conversation or neck in your car like teenagers. The average $11,000-plus wedding reception bill could cover a cleaning service for the five sticky years many two-kid couples spend in [the] babystage—when children spill milk just to see what will happen. The $1,240 brides spend on average to buy (and preserve) their dress and veil and shoes could cover 48 weeks of a laundry service …. The average $1,276 flower bill could be doled out as 127 $10 thinking-of-you bouquets offered once-a-month [for a decade].