I am wondering whether the “sizable amount of money” was sizable by 1980s standards. A truly bare bones wedding these days runs at minimum $10K. (Our venue was very low cost, we had a potluck, and there was no alcohol, and we spent at least this much.) The average wedding costs $20K. Both of those are sizable amounts of money! But my experience is that older generations think that things still cost what they did when they got married. Possibly Annie is trying to not go in debt on this party and thus needs to look into cheaper options.