How the Modern American Wedding Was Supersized

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:31.6	Going to the chapel and we're going to get married.
0:38.3	Going to the chapel and we're going to get married.
0:47.3	From KQED in San Francisco, this is Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
0:51.3	Weddings, they've gone from celebrating the big day to more like the big year, says journalist Andy Atherton. There's the proposal party now, the will you be my bridesmaid party, a mini moon before the ceremony, even more than one wedding. This hour we look at what accounts for the supersizing of weddings and how couples and guests are handling it all?
1:11.9	Are you a fan?
1:12.9	After all, it is a major life moment.
1:15.8	We're going to the chapel to see how you're getting buried these days.
1:19.3	Join us. I do, and you'll never be lonely anymore.
1:34.1	Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. The typical wedding, maybe 10 or so years ago, came with the
1:40.4	expectation of a ceremony, reception, rehearsal dinner, and perhaps a post-wedding brunch.
1:46.8	Before the big day, there was a bachelor or bachelorette party, a bridal shower.
1:52.0	And that, for some, already, felt like a lot.
1:54.5	But recently, even before the pandemic, wedding started turning into a lot more in the U.S., which has meant more dates to save,
	...

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