What if, instead of setting money on fire for a single day of Instagrammable chaos, couples decided to funnel the money into something far more lasting and useful: a down payment on a house. Color me unromantic, but wouldn’t four walls and a roof make much more sense than a set of matching his and her aprons? Sure, nothing spices up a marriage quite like coordinated polyester; however, earning equity in a home is the kind of long-term gift that keeps on giving.

According to The Knot, an online platform that helps couples execute weddings, the average cost of a wedding in Utah, which is significantly lower than in other states, is $29,643. That could be a considerable down payment on a home. Subtract the $50 for the marriage license and you still have $29,593. Take another $200 from that and send out wedding announcements which you can use to let people know you’re skipping the whole production and putting your money where your future is — into a house. Add a brief note explaining that while there won’t be a big wedding (because sanity and savings won), you’re still celebrating in your own way. Then, drop in a Venmo handle or QR code for those who want to help you start your life together with something more useful than a gravy boat. Think of it as giving people the chance to be part of your first mortgage, instead of your first dance. Who could resist that?

A recent poll conducted by LendingTree found that a full 35% of newly married homeowners said that their wedding costs delayed their home-buying plans. Unfortunately, time is money in this industry. With housing prices continuing a soft incline year to year, each year that homebuying is delayed, the cost of the same home is rising.

Perhaps instead of completely nixing the celebration all together, a couple could have a smaller wedding in order to save more for a home. With my children, none of whom took my advice to take the money and run, I gave them a budget, and whatever was left over, they could put into a savings account for their future home. This worked for a couple of them in their favor; the other had to take from her own savings to pay for her elaborate, beautiful, memorable, expensive party complete with a dramatic dove release and someone whose sole job was to hand guests towels in the bathroom. Cha-ching.

Here’s the bottom line: Both buying a home and planning a wedding are stressful, but when asked which one sparked more arguments, 36% of respondents pointed to wedding planning as the bigger battleground. Take that part off the table. While we both owned our own homes at the time of our marriage, we still nixed the big wedding. No rented barn, no fluted glasses — just a handful of people who mattered. Based on the statistics (especially mine), it seems this was the right call.

Jen Fischer is an associate broker and Realtor. She can be reached at 801-645-2134 or jen@jen-fischer.com.