Love is in the Air

Into every life comes the year when it seem like all of one's friends and colleagues and acquaintances get married. This year is that year in my life.

And so, I find myself categorizing weddings.

Some weddings I will miss on account of my participation in the dig in TLWTMS. Others will be safely declined on account of my not being particularly close to either half of the happy couple. And the remaining weddings are those to which I don't anticipate being invited, on account of their being family-only affairs.

But one wedding defies categorization.

The bride-to-be is a close friend from school who will be marrying in the fall. From her comments, I had assumed that the wedding would be a family-only affair. But it turns out that it will be a family-and-close-friends affair.

And so, I find myself invited to her wedding.

But the wedding will be very formal (thus, requiring the purchase of a dress of the can-only-be-worn-once style). And it will be held out-of-town (thus, requiring a weekend trip and a night in a hotel right in the middle of the semester).

And so, I find myself wondering:

Can one decline to attend a wedding simply because one cannot afford it?