Weddings are so ridiculously expensive for everyone involved.  I love to celebrate friends and families weddings, but damn they cost so much!  If I ever get married I have a fool proof plan.  I will A) Elope, and then have a backyard bbq with people in town that day, or B) Elope, and throw a party a few months later…

All the stars for when a comment is more insightful than the article.

Your story about the undertaker marrying you made me laugh because I’ve consistently mixed up the words “funeral” and “wedding” since I was a kid.

Regardless of the outlet, a piece of argumentative writing like this should still be built on a stronger foundation than this one. 

In my incredibly long marital and life experience, I can confidently report -albeit anecdotally - that the more hard earned cash a couple throws at the actual event, the increased likelihood there will be a messy divorce. The realities of an extended married life can’t possibly stack up to the excitement of such an…

That actually sounds really, really lovely. A perfect day on your terms, focused on friends, family, your husband, and yes, money in the bank after.

My husband and I did the same - made an appointment to get married by a judge, went on a bike ride afterwards (because Colorado) and then got dolled up for a fancy dinner with just the two of us. I don’t begrudge anyone a big party, but for me personally spending our wedding day with each other and no one else was…

Honestly, I’m gobsmacked that both authors are academics. I’m an academic in the humanities like the authors are, so I’m all too aware of our penchant for neglecting the statistical in favor of close reading and the like. But even for the humanities this is a particularly shaky grounding and framework for an argument.…

True, to copy and paste what i wrote to someone else: it just came off to me as there is no unique place to have a wedding and it’s basic if you have it here which as per their list is anywhere so confusing, slightly funny but also a tired take haha 

100% agree with you, church isn’t the only place of worship where marriages happen. As to my comment though I meant more in the sense the author wrote just a long list of places that aren’t even generic but also ones that aren’t that common. The whole statement summed up all the broad options for a wedding: place of wo…

So I’ve heard! I’m not sure what your relationship is with your parents, but if there’s any way to get away with doing a small one (and it won’t end up causing huge rifts for the rest of your life) I highly recommend it. Even if I were filthy rich, I would still have a tiny wedding. Now, I’d have it at one of the most…

Same except doctoral program.

That grad course that I had to take on research methods and statistical analysis in journalism school continues to come in handy in completely meaningless ways.

That, too. That neither the authors nor editors of this piece apparently stopped to critically interrogate that number is a red flag. The lack of critical assessment of this number and a general lack of support for generalizations within the article also throws several of the articles’ claims into question. For…

So, I’m going to chime in as that smug jerk who opted out and went to city hall. I get that it’s not for everyone- you celebrate in whatever way feels best to you!- but I had an awesome wedding day that involved exactly no worrying about anyone else’s expectations, and instead just doing stuff that was fun for my…

In short, any average wedding cost number is basically bullshit,* and people should stop using it. The wedding industry loves the average number because it misleads consumers into thinking that’s what everyone else is spending on their wedding so they have to spend similarly to keep up with the Joneses.

Not to mention there is a 0% chance that the cost of the average wedding increased 63% in one year. That this “fact” was included with zero critical analysis is telling. It supports the narrative, therefore no need to think if it even makes sense.

According to a survey by Brides magazine, the average American wedding in 2018 cost $44,000, up from $27,000 just the year before.

I have a lot of opinions on this article!

I thought the same thing. I haven’t been to that many weddings recently because many are doing the elopement - adjacent thing and only inviting the closest family members.  Tons of people do this.  I just didn’t know that when I was 10.

There is no worse opening in in journalistic writing that “everyone/everything is/does X thing” because it immediately causes the reader to consider all of the many exceptions that they will inevitably be aware of in their own lives.