"Why have Americans clung so hard to the dream of a fancy wedding? Hanna Rosin asked Xochitl Gonzalez, our staff writer who used to be a luxury-wedding planner, this question on the Radio Atlantic podcast in 2023. "We've let go of so many 'middle-class American aspirations,' but we haven't been able to let go of the wedding," Xochitl noted. "People have given up on college, and I don't think that they want to give up on weddings.""
"Social media has expanded the expectations of weddings and the thrill of being the center of attention for a day. And as couples strive to keep up with cultural perceptions and their friends' lives, they can end up putting financial and logistical strain on their guests and their bridal parties (in what my colleague Annie Joy Williams recently called bridesmaid inflation). Today's newsletter explores wedding sprawl and all the people it can affect."
Many Americans continue to prioritize elaborate, costly weddings as a central life aspiration even as other middle-class goals decline. Weddings have become amplified by social media, which raises expectations and fosters a desire for spotlight moments. Rising demands for extravagant ceremonies push financial and logistical burdens onto guests and bridal parties, creating bridesmaid inflation and strained relationships. Luxury-wedding planning reveals performative behaviors, such as feigning limited means to justify lavish nuptials. The phenomenon affects a wide network of people beyond the couple, including families and friends who must accommodate elevated rituals and expenses.
Read at The Atlantic
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