White Wedding Dreams

Even in a tight economy, the wedding industry is making money hand over fist. Women and men planning for the big day are spending an average of $30,000 on their nuptials.

Author Katherine Jellison explores the phenomenon of the American wedding in her new book, It's Our Day: America's Love Affair With the White Wedding, 1945-2005.  A marriage (sorry, we couldn’t resist) of scholarly study and cultural review, Jellison explores the myriad reasons brides—and grooms, and families—continue to make the wedding industry such big business by planning lavish affairs.

According to the book, what was once a celebration of purity and youth is now a mark of status and social success for women. She points to the phenomenon of reality TV brides as proof that the media has taken over weddings and created a feminist movement of sorts.

We’re not sure if brides want to think this much about wedding planning or not, but it does make for interesting reading nonetheless. How do you view the current wedding culture? Do you need a big to-do to say I do? [WCPO]