Extravagance is not all Bad

I attended a really extravagant wedding last week. There was gazillion types of starters, soups, salads, foods stalls. Alcohol was flowing in multiple bars set up in the wedding area. There were many many servers serving all these to the guests. The area, guest, food, decorations, everything was to the point of obscenely extravagant.

While I shared this with some people, the general reaction was that it was all such a waste and that the money could have been better used. But I am not so sure. The wedding provided an employment opportunity to hundreds of people, directly and indirectly. It gave an opportunity for people to make an honest living. Wouldn’t we prefer that people work and earn a living rather than live off charity? When beggar comes knocking at our car window, isn’t our first reaction that why can’t they just find work? So if a lavish extravagant wedding provides such an opportunity to so many people, how can it be a waste? After all only we the people spend money, will others who are needy get an opportunity to earn a decent living. Isn’t this better than charity?