Today the New York Daily News reported that Chelsea Clinton and fiancee Marc Mezinsky are spending roughly $3.3 million on their upcoming marriage celebration in New York.

Talk about a big fat expensive wedding.

Truth be told, excluding the Honeybee’s engagement ring and wedding band, I spent a little over $6000 on ours 14 years ago.

For the record, here is a quick-and-dirty approximate cost comparison between the Clinton/Mezinsky and Honeybee/Penzo wedding celebrations:

I know what a lot of you ladies out there are thinking right now: what a pathetic cheapskate.

But before you start feeling all sad and sorry for the Honeybee, let me just say that we had a great time.   At least that’s what we’ve been told – and the photos seem to back that up.

You also need to keep in mind that the massive and incredibly pernicious effects of inflation over the last 14 years skew those numbers somewhat.   So much so that six grand in 1996 equates to roughly $8400 today.

Okay, so it looks like the massive and incredibly pernicious effects of inflation didn’t help make my case so much.

Nevertheless, you have to believe me when I tell you that a big fat expensive wedding is a luxury that is best left to couples out there who: A) can truly afford it, or; B) have wealthy parents willing to pay for one.

For all of you other brides- and grooms-to-be, one of the worst things you can do is blow a big chunk of your savings on a big fat expensive wedding.

When people look at a happy bride and groom of modest means throwing a wedding soiree that would make Paris Hilton blush, I often hear many of them – the same types who think fancy cars are indicative of a person’s wealth – remarking how impressed they are with the couple.  Not me.  I always look at such financially delusional newlyweds and think this: dumb and dumber.

Yep.  Is there anything more stupid than people of modest means throwing hard-earned money away on an opulent yet fleeting wedding reception when they’d be better served having a more modest affair (okay, that was a bad choice of words) and using some of the savings for an awesome honeymoon or, even better, a down-payment on their first home?

Of course not.

And if you think that still makes me a pathetic cheapskate, well, so be it.