Is the inauguration too expensive?

Many have said the inauguration is costing too much money. Just to be clear… I don’t think this is limited to one party or candidate - I think we always overspend on these inaugurations.

They should have hired my wife to plan the inauguration... she can put on a 5-year old birthday party for 10 kids for about $20. I'm thinking she could pull off a very nice inauguration (including a fresh flower in the lapel of everyone on the dais) for no more than $50k.

I don't really get why it costs so much anyway. For the actual swearing-in ceremony they need to rent a podium and a microphone with a lot of speakers. How much could that cost?? They don’t even need to buy a Bible for the swearing-in because he's using a second-hand bible. I understand they're going to need some extra security for crowd & traffic control, but where’s the rest of the money going??

I guess for many people the inauguration of a president is cause for celebration, kind of like NY Eve -- you know, out with the old, in with the new, hope for a better tomorrow, and all that jazz. I think we should provide the microphone & speakers, and one president-elect taking the oath, then like NY Eve parties – everyone should be on their own to celebrate in whatever fashion they choose (and are willing to pay for).