Netflix's newest reality series, Marriage or Mortgage, dropped on March 10 and it is a doozy. The core premise, whether a couple should spend $30k (or thereabouts) on a wedding or on a downpayment for a home, is pretty darn depressing as it highlights, in glaringly bright reality TV lights, that the average American couple cannot afford to do both. Long gone are the days of step one: big wedding, step two: buy a house, step three: have a baby, step four: save for retirement. Since so many couples are forced to choose between celebrating their love and putting a roof over their newly-wed-bliss these days, the show needed to make sure the hosts, realtor Nichole Holmes and wedding planner Sarah Miller, understood that reality.
At the helm of Team Wedding, is one of Nashville's top wedding and events planner, Sarah Miller, the founder of the interior design and wedding planning company, Southern Vine & Co. With over 20 years of experience under her stylish belts, Sarah knows her way around a party. To quote the website, "Large, opulent celebrations are our jam."
But how could anyone, given the financial climate these days, encourage a couple to spend their hard earned, deeply valued coins on an "opulent" celebration? It's a good question, but Sarah has a good answer. A hopeless romantic at heart, Sarah also faced the decision to throw a big wedding or buy a house back when she was engaged to her now husband, Chris Miller in 2010. She made the choice to have the wedding and has never once regretted it.
In Sarah's opinion, celebrating a marriage is an essential step in honoring a couple's union. And once she's made her pitch, viewers will be surprised to see just how many couples pick wedding over house. The power of love, coupled with Sarah's brilliant planning, is incredibly alluring.
The allure also stems from the fact that Sarah's version of opulence doesn't necessarily mean expensive. She really works to stretch her clients' budgets by putting her longstanding relationships with vendors (from food trucks, to wedding bands, to bridal dress shops) to work and get the best deal possible. It's understandable how couples looking to celebrate their everlasting love have a tough time turning down half priced bands, free veils, and seated dinners for the price of a buffet.
For Sarah, a dream wedding simply means that it's unique to the couple. Her gift is sussing out what their style is and then infusing the wedding with it. She clearly knows how to please her clients, even if they are having to make the difficult choice between Marriage or Mortgage.
Marriage or Mortgage is now streaming on Netflix.
Sources: Women's Health, The Tab