Sophia, I'm so very sorry.

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Internal bra. You know, if I thought it would work long-term and lack complications, I'd be all over it.

This is a similar technique, but they use your own parts [link]

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Oh, this is priceless. Where can I get large enough hamster balls?!?!?

Neuter a fifty foot hamster?

I think a few weddings have been offered as more middle of the road examples, Daisy's comes to mind right off but I know that others have said in this discussion that they had pretty low key and happy making weddings.

Can I get some hivemind input?

I gather the economy is a bit rumbly of late. (I say "I gather," because now that I'm a bus rather than a car commuter, I'm not listening to as much NPR and therefore am getting less exposure to the news.) DH is worried that things are about to go pear-shaped in a big way, like a major long-term recession. Does this seem likely to y'all? If so, is it likely to be bad enough that people in their mid-30's should change the stock-bond balance of their 401(k)s? Bad enough that a person should hang onto his steady but underpaying public sector job when there's a chance of something with a much higher salary in a fairly stable corner of the private sector, and the raise would *really* come in handy for clearing some nasty debt left over from the LAST economic downturn?

I've been listening to this interview with Rebecca Mead author of One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding - now I feel as though I really must read it.

You can always go to an officiant, then announce that you are married three days later to a group of family and friends at your 50th birthday party. You will already have cake and gifts and a grooving party-vibe going and being able spring the happy surprise will be AWESOME.

Hey, worked for me!

My thinking is a recession is a fair possibility, but no one knows what the odds really are.

I could be wrong, as I don't follow the economic news super-close. There are a number of scary signs about our economy besides the sub-prime credit fiasco, but those other things have been scary for a while now, so who knows....

House prices around here are going down. There are a lot of homes in south Jersey that I could actually afford. I think I'ma buy a house. Fer reals this time.

Susan, I'm so very not an expert, but "underpaying public sector job", "much higher salary in a fairly stable corner of the private sector", and "clearing some nasty debt" sounds to me like, go for the higher-paying job.

Anyway. I had a very good wedding. If I get married again, though, it'll be on a beach somewhere with only a few people. Yes.

House prices around here are going down.

Susan, if people knew when and how bad recessions will be in the future, then they wouldn't happen in the first place.

I tend to be pessimistic about things, and I do think there will be recession soon. But even if I'm right about that, there's no way to know how bad it will be, and how long it will last.

Furthermore, recessions affect the economy in general, and tell you very little how it will affect particular individuals or companies. There are lots of companies that make out nicely during recessions.

And paying down your debt and having a diversified portfolio is always a good idea.

Susan, my thinking is that a person in their mid-30's is still looking at another 20-30 years of work, so I would count on being able to ride out any possible future recession.

Our 401Ks are based on age, so they're typically more agressive. We're planning on switching them when we hit our late 40's, but we're also hoping to be able to retire in our late 50's based on our short mortgage, combined with DH's pension and his substantial 401k.