We got married in 1992 and spent $1500 total. That’s fifteen-hundred dollars, to make it clear I didn’t leave off any zeros. We paid for it ourselves, no financial help from either side. We didn’t have a lot of money at the time. We weren’t trying to make our wedding into something to impress everyone else.
The number of guests was around 60. We had a sit-down dinner in a private room at a local restaurant that we’d scoped out ahead of time. No alcohol to keep the costs down. The food was much better than at other catered weddings we later attended in fancy halls. We had only minimal flowers, bride, groom, matron of honor, best man, church altar. Standard size wedding cake. No music. We had pictures taken at a photography studio that was a couple of doors down from the restaurant. The rest of our wedding /reception pictures were taken by our guests who made copies for us. My BIL shot some video during and after the ceremony. I had a nice, brand-new wedding dress that cost $189. It looked as good as any that add a zero or two to the price.
The only thing I’d do differently today is leave some of the guests off the list. We were somewhat “pressured” by family on both sides to invite “so-and-so”. Weddings are supposed to be about the couple getting married, not the guests. It’s not the couple’s job to impress them, either.
Even $10K sounds extravagant to me today, for a wedding. I worked with a woman who had spent $10K just on her wedding dress. I couldn’t see the sense in it.
My neighbor’s daughter just got married last month. Last year my neighbor was sharing some of her stress with me over the potential costs. They were paying for the wedding, totally. I’m not sure why. Daughter has been living away from home for several years and is about 25/26. But I digress.
Guests were to include cousins that my neighbor hadn’t seen since childhood and, therefore, the bride-to-be had never met. I asked point blank, “Why invite them?” She felt obligated to, because “they’re family.” Quote for just the reception was about $10K, maybe for a couple of hundred guests.
Just my opinion, but I think too much money is spent on weddings to impress guests. Or to please them. Or to brag to others about how much was spent.
Or out of pressure from family to invite bride’s deceased mother’s cousin who hadn’t been seen by said mother since childhood, because bride’s maternal grandmother wants her sister there and thinks that her sister would appreciate having her daughter there also. Or grooms step-mother’s 2 brothers announcing loudly at a funeral that they were looking forward to our wedding, when they weren’t originally going to be on the guest list. With SO, wife, and 2 kids, that multiplied the guest list some. Yes, this happened to us. Though groom did put his foot down when step-mother tried to get him to invite her nephews. 
In hindsight, we could have eloped. 
Speaking of the emotional side of marriage, one’s wedding planning is an excellent place for each party to the marriage to start asserting themselves against this sort of thing.