How much is a bride worth?

 How much is a bride worth? Can a woman be bought to be a wife? I'm not a feminist, but I still flinch a little bit at that question.

   "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." -1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

When a man would want to get hitched back in Jesus' time, he would ask his parents to meet up with the parents of his desired bride (think, Samson). They would negotiate the "bride-price". Of course a woman of godly character and wisdom cannot be bought, but how dare a man of God take a woman of faith from her family without some form of recompense? To be fair, ladies, the "bride-price" was close to the cost of a home.
Once the "bride-price" was confirmed, the man and his parents would meet with the woman and her parents. They would sit down at a table, where there would be a cup of wine. The groom would say the words, "This is the cup of a new covenant, in my blood," and drink from the cup.
He was promising to love his wife with a self-sacrificing love (if necessary).
The woman would have two options then. She could
A) pass the cup back, signifying refusal, OR
B) drink from the cup, signifying agreement.

But I think they saw the significance of Jesus' words during the Passover meal. Because besides using the language of the proposal, Jesus hadn't paid his "bride-price" for his people yet. He would soon "pay the bride-price" short hours after saying those words.
Jesus took the cup after the meal. That means He took the third cup of the Jewish Passover celebration, the one signifying God's third promise of redemption ("I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with mighty acts of judgment" Deuteronomy 6:6b, third of four promises of the deliverance from Egypt).
So Jesus took the Cup of Redemption, promised self-sacrificing love to those who believe and love Him as a husband, proposed to the church as His bride, called His people to remember His promise of love, and then died to ransom His bride from sin. For "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22b)
Sure gives the Lord's Supper more meaning, huh? Jesus calls us to remember His sacrifice of redemptive love and to pledge ourselves to Him.
"After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." (1 Corinthians 11:24-25)

When that cup is before us, we have 2 choices.
How much is a bride worth?