Most people know me
as a former English major but I also majored in American Culture Studies. It’s
relatively young in the academic community but I think it’s great. American
Studies is about the society around us. My tracks were American Literature and
Sociology. My curiosity about what drives our popular culture might explain my
intense curiosity about weddings.
The bridal industry
is a billion dollar industry and it is omnipresent. I get engagement ring and
bridal show ads on Facebook. I got a card mailed to my home about a bridal show
in September. I know of 3 wedding websites and, as much as I adore Boy Toy, I
currently have no interest in marrying him. (Off Beat Bride, The Knot, and
Wedding Wire if you were wondering.)
I think I know the
reason for this massive outreach. A friend who works for Wedding Wire says they
have a name for women like us: pre-engaged. The industry sees us as inevitable
clients and is marketing to us that way. It’s working. Girls who are completely
single have Pinterest boards about their wedding.
A modest wedding will
run you $10,000. Most weddings are closer to $20,000-$30,000. A friend attended
a nice but simple wedding and described it as “unimpressive” and “not that
special.” When did a day of celebration turn into an occasion to impress your
friends and family for the cost of an SUV?
And oh, the reality
television. There’s Say Yes to the Dress, Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, Say
Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids, I Found the Gown, Bridezillas, Four Weddings, A
Wedding Story, Bridalplasty, My Fair Wedding, Whose Wedding Is It Anyway, My
Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding, My Big Redneck Wedding, Rich Bride Poor Bride,
and Amazing Wedding Cakes.
These are all shows based in the United States with
WE and TLC being the biggest perpetrators. A Wedding Story, the most
understated of the shows, debuted in the mid 1990s. Everything else debuted
after 2000. There was a show on TLC about planning a wedding in a week for
$1,000 but that died off while I was still in college.
Did you know there’s
an engagement ring finder app? I do because it was an ad on my Facebook. If you
go to the Lifestyles section of the app store, there’s a Plan Your Wedding
Collection of apps. It’s organized into subsections: Inspiration, Details &
Organization, Gowns & Tuxedos, Notes & Invitations, Rings & Things,
Gifts & Registries, Photos & Videos, and Destination & Travel. Each
category displays 10 apps before you can ‘see all.’ Many of these are free and
I understand the need to fill a niche market but that’s a minimum of 80 apps on
the first page. Imagine what apps aren’t featured but are still out there.
Articles have started
popping up about people who got married and realized something strange is going
on. Only a handful of books are available that look at not how to plan ‘the
most important day of your life’ but at the impact these extravagant events are
having on our culture. Why aren’t more people thinking about much this has
ballooned over the last 20 years?
I knew grad students
in American Studies whose PhD topics were Buffy the Vampire Slayer chat rooms
and near death experiences. One undergrad senior paper topic was about
authenticity in pop music with a focus on Hanson. A study on why and how
wedding culture has ballooned into such a massive entity would be pretty
interesting. It’s definitely a topic that deserves more exploration. It almost
makes me want to go to grad school. Almost.
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