Wedding budget sacrifices force an impossible choice the moment planning starts. Your best friend invites you to their wedding in Cairo. Four days. Pyramids. Grand Egyptian Museum. $5,000 total. That's also 16% of the cheapest venue quote you just got for your own ceremony. Do you skip their day to fund yours?

Ryan breaks down the math that's keeping him up at night. First venue quote: $35,000 for 150 people, ceremony only. Guest list already cut from 230. Spreadsheets tracking every dollar. He wanted good food and a cool venue, not perfection. Good costs more than he thought. Shane shares how he only survived his own $30,000 wedding because a job offer two weeks later paid off the debt. Ryan doesn't have that safety net. He hasn't called his friend yet to say no. He dreamt about that conversation last night.

Discover why wedding planning's first real test isn't about flowers or music… it's choosing between supporting friends and funding your own day. Learn how couples cut guest lists by 80 people and still face quotes double what they expected. Understand what happens when the trip of a lifetime costs exactly what you need to make your own ceremony work.

Originally aired on 2026-01-13