Getting married anytime soon? There is a trend going on in the wedding industry that may leave you wanting to tie the knot…around the couple’s throat. Couples are now billing guests for the cost of their wedding. One couple, featured recently in the Wall Street Journal, was planning to spend $51,000 on their wedding. So they decided to charge people $150 a head – or $300 a couple. They were quoted as saying that people don’t understand how much it costs and they need to help out. What nerve! There are even a half dozen Web sites that take contributions for attending weddings. In Clark’s opinion, that’s an attendance fee. What happened to treating your loved ones to a meaningful ceremony? Living in different areas of the country can affect the cost of a wedding. For example, the average wedding in the NY area costs $38,000 while the average wedding anywhere else is about $17,000. But you don’t have to spend that much if you do your homework.