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Albany, NY – Weddings are time for celebration. We get the chance to declare our unending love for another person, and have a really big party with our favorite people. But there's a lot more to it than that. That's what Kamy Wicoff found as she entered the wedding process in her mid-twenties. Kamy fancied herself an independent woman. She had a good job, went back to Columbia University to get a master's degree, and dated a man long-distance. But when it came to getting married, Wicoff found herself slipping into traditional roles. She wanted her boyfriend to propose to her - at first. She accepted the diamond rock he bought her - at first. And when it came to planning the wedding, she took on most of the grunt-work.
Years after her marriage, Wicoff went back to explore why she made certain choices - and changed her mind on others in the marriage process. She compiled her thoughts with the ones she found in interviews with other brides in a book called I Do, But I Don't. I spoke with Wicoff about why she thinks weddings say so much about gender politics in today's society.
There are thousands of decisions that go into weddings. Big or small? Local or destination? Church or garden?
Well, they're all tough calls. But when Tai and Megan Suterman decided to tie the knot, they didn't have to think too hard about one decision. Niether drink alcohol, so it seemed natural to ditch the champagne toast and open bar. As New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein discovered, their decision sparked some controversy.
We all hear the scary statistics about weddings. According to CondeNast, the average U.S. wedding costs about 26-thousand dollars. Of course, CondeNast is the company that publishes Bride magazine, so they have a stake in couples expecting high budgets for their ceremonies. But still, there's a lot of money to be spent on the big day. There are a lot of techniques to rein in that budget. 51%'s Mary Darcy spoke with Mass Mutual's Susan Sweetser about just a few.
It's not just the people throwing the wedding that have to shell out the cash. Attending weddings can be expensive, too, especially for twenty-somethings, when their friends sometimes get married in droves. 51% Essayist Katherine Stephens calls this summer the Great Wedding Extravaganza of 2007.