Does Marriage Have a Price Tag?

During the morning chat today, my boyfriend (BF) and I discussed a topic which we have been discussing a couple times before -- does marriage have a price tag?

The two of us have been thinking of each other as a potential life long partner, so we have been exchanging our views on how we want our wedding to be in the future and how we want to allocate our financial resources on that.

I have friends who have alread started saving with their lover for the start of their marriage. I have no objection towards such plan. In fact if they are 100% sure they will spend the rest of their lives together, I think it is good for them to plan a bit earlier and see if the dynamic of the relationship changes once the concept of money gets in.

On the other hand, BF raised a fair point as to whether we should put a price tag on a wedding and work hard toward it, or we should put a price tag on our wedding based on what we can afford?

In the Asian culture, there is an invisible norm that most women would only marry a man when he is able to provide a place for them to live together once they are husband and wife. It is like a condition of marriage in that particular community. However, the economic structure of the society has changed and getting a property at the age range when people normally get married seems quite impracticale. How would this affect people's plan on marriage then?

For me, when it comes to marriage, I don't need it to be perfect or just like "The Wedding of the Century". However, I do want it to be a nice one. Therefore, I think I am starting to come to a point that I would want my wedding to have a price tag around a few years beforehand with regard to how much financial resources my fiancee and I have at that moment, then we can start saving more till the time when the wedding comes, so that we can still pay the bills if there is any discrepancies with what we expect and the reality.

Oh well ... it sounds way too early to think of such thing ... or is it?