Here comes the million dollar wedding

Hillary Smith

The average price for today’s wedding is $18,000 to $25,000. The average American’s starting salary is around $32,000 a year, before taxes. Think about how hard people work for all that money.

Is it worth half a year of their working life for one day?

The only things people take with them are their memories and a few thousand dollars in pictures.

“You are selling dreams, and you can charge anything,” said a wedding consultant at conference as quoted by Slate Magazine’s Megan O’Rourke.

This consultant is selling a 50 billion dollar entity, the wedding industry.

Bridal magazines, invitations, flowers, photography, dresses, tuxedos, decor, cakes, and catering is not even a quarter of what this industry can provide.

Every six months there is a Phoenix Bridal Show downtown supplying thousands of different exhibitors.

They claim they can plan someone’s wedding in one day.

While this may be true, surely the person who is having the wedding would get overwhelmed and fall directly into their trap.

It all starts with a proposal and two to three months worth of the groom’s salary.
Engagement rings and the diamond industry were made up by advertising.

“Being engaged is a state of mind,” psychologist, Susan Horton, from MCC says. They are spending that hard earned money to support an advertised induced image.
Why not? Everyone else is doing it.

“We are a consumer culture and we’re taught at a young age that things are disposable,” Horton explains.

“If it doesn’t work get a new one, if it’s not good enough buy a better one, if someone else has it we better get one.” Horton said.

Why are people always trying to be better than everyone else? Maybe it’s their competitive nature or the need to always be accepted.

Since they are not seen as a repeat consumer perhaps it is not important for any venue to try to win them over.

This is the wedding industry’s chance to try and sell everything they can. Wedding planners, while potentially very helpful, may also take advantage of people.

They make the person’s wedding out to be an advertisement to everyone who witnesses it, and make it their own walking billboard.

Wedding consultants are very manipulative with the wallet, so beware. How much is that dress worth?

The wedding dress can range from $100 up to $30,000 or more. The average price spent on a gown is around $3,000.

What is a bride thinking that allows them to spend so much money on one dress for one day?

“The dress is the most important thing!” Tiffany Hatfield, an MCC student exclaimed, “My goal is $600 or less, but if it calls to me there’s no arguing there.”

When it is all added up, such as, the stuff in the reception; the food, the DJ or band, the bar, the cake, the decor, and the place, the reception will definitely be where most of the money is spent, unless the bride bought the $30,000 dress.

The reception is the entertainment for the guest and a time to show off.

“I want a big reception so everyone can see how cute I am in my dress,” Hatfield excitedly stated.

This is another example of the need for acceptance and trying to meet others expectations.

This is how this industry makes people lose sight of what really matters.

A wedding day is not about anyone but the two of people getting married.

“Be a critical thinker and think about what you want,” Horton recommends.

Whether the engaged couple are paying or their parents are, the day is very important, but remember it is one day with an event that only last a few hours.

The marriage lasts a lifetime.

  • Mesa Legend Staff

    These are archived stories from Mesa Legend editions before Fall 2018. See article for corresponding author.

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