http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11617715
This article just made me a bit angry. The idea that the significance and sanctity of your wedding is based on cost is terrible!
The real irony: The dresses in those pictures are UGLY. Are those white-on-white horizontal stripes? Who ever -- in the history of ever -- looked good in horizontal stripes?
I had the most incredible wedding dress ever. I bought it off the rack for $99.
The wedding industrial complex is terrifying...
You know, I thought that ... but now my daughter and her friends are finishing college and entering "the wedding years" ... and I'm not seeing it in real life. Oh, it's alive and well on the internet, but the girls I know personally -- and some of them are from wealthy families -- are making sensible, moderate plans for their big days:
- One girl is wearing an older sister's dress. Another ordered from a $200 place in China and is happy with it. The only one who really told me about the purchasing process told me she found her dress in one shopping trip and about one hour. My own daughter is very small, and the dresses she's tried on seem to be "too much" for her -- we're going out this weekend to try for a white bridesmaid's dress or a white prom dress. Only one girl I know personally is seems to think an expensive dress is acceptable.
- Decorations, etc. all seem to be modest. I see my daughter and her friends comparison shopping and buying discount items /used items from the internet. My own daughter happened upon a large part of her decorations at Aldi's this week -- she's spending about $100 for
all the reception decorations
except flowers.
- A couple girls I know are making their own bouquets. One is carrying a small Bible that her mother and grandmother carried in their weddings; she'll have something similar to a coursage tied onto the Bible.
- Their wedding registeries seem reasonable. Most aren't opting for fine china; rather, they're asking for items like cake pans, KitchenAid mixers, and FiestaWare dishes.
- I haven't seen a BrideZilla yet.
- If I had to put a number to the weddings I'm seeing these days, I'd guess about 10K total. I personally think that's an acceptable meeting place between "it's only one day" and "this is one of the biggest events in your life and deserves celebration".
Where I do see them spending:
- Full meals seem to be "required" now. When I was married, a punch-and-cake reception was considered average.
- Alcohol seems to be "required" now. Again, when I was married, I'd only ever seen -- at most -- a single champagne toast, and that was rare.
- Photographers are outrageous these days; they seem to start at $1200.