wedding cakeFrom the venue and the invitations to the dress -- everything involved in planning a wedding is pretty gosh darn expensive. So it's not surprising that a newlywed couple from Pennsylvania wanted to save a few bucks on their big day by supplying some of the food for the wedding reception themselves. I think that's sorta cute! How home-y and personal!

The duo naturally went to the grocery store, picked out all the necessary ingredients (which apparently included a variety of cold cuts and other hors d'oeuvre-types of platters), and left. The only problem? They left without paying.

The lovers stole $1,049.26 worth of food intended for their reception (which they never made it to). Nothing says holy matrimony like a pair of handcuffs to match those new wedding bands!

Sure, it's not every day you hear about people stealing food to try to please their wedding guests. But let's look at the bigger picture here: Can you believe they were only going to spend $1,000 on food? What a bargain!

I'm not saying that every reception has to have a lavish menu like that of just-married Kim Kardashian. I'm all about keeping dinner simple to please the greatest number of people, as long as it's followed up by the most delicious wedding cake ever (red velvet, please!).

BUT -- when you're feeding 100 guests or more, things tend to add up. According to the Bridal Association of America, the average cost of wedding reception food is about $9,400. And that's only for the meal! We can't forget about things like the thousands-of-dollars bar tab at most soirees (which runs about $2,800). With my big Italian family, I'll be lucky if I leave my wedding without some big debt to match! I wonder, can you just register for cash? Or is that tacky?

Alas, I'm far, far away from wedded bliss. But I know when that day comes, I'll for sure be hiring a catering service ... and definitely not wearing handcuffs.

What was your wedding menu like? How much did it cost?


Image via Vicky Hugheston/Flickr