How the Modern American Wedding Was Supersized

Weddings have gone from celebrating the “Big Day” to the “Big Year,” says journalist Annie Atherton. There’s the proposal party, the engagement party, the bachelor and/or bachelorette parties and even, a will-you-be-my-bridesmaid party. It’s all turned into wedding sprawl observes Atherton. While multi-day weddings are common in many cultures, the numerosity of events stretched over a year or more, feels new. Social media and consumerism play some role in the supersizing of weddings. But how can you separate the idea of the wedding you think you’re supposed to have from the one you really want? We’ll talk about how couples, families and guests are handling the modern wedding, and what to do about saying “I do.”

Guests:

Annie Midori Atherton, freelance writer and author of the recent Atlantic Magazine piece "The Uncontrollable Rise of Wedding Sprawl"

Chanda Daniels, wedding planner, A Monique Affair and Chanda Daniels Planning and Design

Cele Otnes, professor emerita of business administration, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - Otnes studies rituals and consumer culture

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