On wedding "traditions" created by the bridal industry

The Myth of the $18,000 Wedding

Excerpts:

Author Rebecca Mead exposed a similar data problem in her 2007 book "One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding," where she cites a $28,000 average figure from a survey conducted by Conde Nast Bridal Group magazines.

"If a bride has been told, repeatedly, that it costs nearly $28,000 to have a wedding, then she starts to think that spending $28,000 on a wedding is just one of those things a person has to do, like writing a rent check every month." Mead writes.

Research has found that Mead's instincts are correct -- our spending choices are greatly influenced by purported norms because the brain attaches itself to "anchors" when making decisions.

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Consumers' willingness to pay can be easily manipulated because we often don't have a good handle on our preferences or a rational baseline for the decisions. Economic theory suggests that forces of supply and demand are independent, and it's the enthusiasm to pay a particular premium that determines market prices. But consumers are often at a loss on how to assign value, so as Ariely demonstrates, it's just the opposite: Market prices themselves influence consumers' willingness to pay.

Combine anchoring with clever marketing and you've got an expensive right of passage in the making. Mead, for instance, investigates a number of wedding "traditions" created by the bridal industry, including the engagement ring, invented by diamond producer De Beers in the 1930s and 1940s.

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As Mead told me: "There's a lot of stuff people spend money on at weddings that isn't about the core of a wedding, which is getting family and friends together and celebrating."

Perhaps along the commitment to "honor and cherish" we should add a new vow: "Before spending five figures -- on a lavish party, luxury vehicle or anything else -- I promise to ponder whether the purchase aligns with our deepest values and enhances or compromises our financial well-being. And I promise to look critically at my anchors."

Comment: For my children!

I think that we should put more emphasis on the 25th anniversary!