Weddings that have their own social media concierge, dresses the cost of a new car, and receptions that rival Presidential dinners. What happened to nuptials?
TheKnot reported that the average cost of a wedding is now $28,427, jumping another thousand dollars in the last three years. How did we walk so far down the money aisle? There answer is most likely from the increased amount of exposure and posturing by the media, and maybe some help from social media.
The media serves as a means to show us what's normal, and what's aspirational, and one topic that the media loves is high profile weddings, like that of William and Kate and Kim Kardashian and...well, whoever. As young women seek to emulate the splendor of celebrity weddings plastered on People, their dreams of what a wedding
should be takes on a whole new life, with a new set of wedding must-haves and demands. Perhaps it's no coincidence that the year Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman got married (1990) was the year the moniker
bridezilla was created, as newlyweds became enchanted (read: possessed) by idea of having a big wedding, too. "Reality" wedding shows, with big budgets and unparalleled publicity, also create a reality that is false, and for the average person only obtainable with hefty debt. This exposure to not very realistic "real" weddings is continued on social media. There are endless places to compare weddings, bridal blogs, hash-tagged and live tweeted receptions, and impossibly wonderful boards on Pinterest. Suddenly that simple wedding you had in mind feels inferior. You've decided you need a different wedding dress for the reception and three chocolate fountains. The silver lining, however, is there is also a good share of blogs and
books dedicated to having a good wedding for a more realistic price, and plenty of DIY wedding sites.
When you add this level of exposure and grandeur around weddings to a normal couple, you get a disconnect to our values. We create the notion that the size shows the love, and in this era of high divorce rates, we need to prove to the world that this big financial commitment reflects a lifelong marriage commitment. Conversely, some experts hold that the abundance of over-the-top weddings make many young couples think that they can't afford to get married, eschewing it altogether; in 2008, 52% of American's were married, compared to the 72% of the 1960s (Pew Research Center). It seems that if we can't have that big wedding that Pinterest and the media say is the only way to quantify our love, we prolong or avoid it totally.
Great article that goes into the sociology of it much better than I can in a few paragraphs. Say "I do" to having a read.
Desert News National
