My boyfriend and I are nearing the point where a wedding is probably somewhere on the horizon. Still very faint in the distance, but there. As a librarian, I have of course been reading about weddings and the wedding industry. I discovered a term that I absolutely love: The Wedding Industrial Complex.
Such a great descriptor. And all too true. I simply cannot fathom spending $10,000+ on a single day, but the wedding industrial complex makes it so hard to avoid it. So this is the start of a series of posts on the various ridiculous (as I see them, anyway) aspects of the wedding industry and ideas for avoiding them.
Post I: Everyone always says you should get a diamond engagement ring. "Diamonds are traditional." "Go for a big diamond, especially if your boyfriend has the money." Well, I have recently read in two different books that the idea of a diamond engagement ring became popular when one of DeBeers' marketers came up with the slogan "A Diamond is Forever" in the 1930s or 1940s. So really, a diamond is not all that traditional. I will probably be skipping that and going for a gemstone. :)
Friday, June 19, 2009
Wedding Nonsense, Part I
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4 comments:
1. About freaking time.
2. I too love "wedding industrial complex" and will try to work it into casual conversation tomorrow at work.
3. Which gemstone are you thinking about? Or, do we have to wait for the big reveal?
I hope you managed to work the "wedding industrial complex" into casual conversation.
I am having a very hard time picking a gemstone. I like green amethysts (which is actually several different stones I think - I don't quite understand the naming choice), blue topaz, peridot, and tanzanite. Blue diamonds are also pretty but I haven't seen too many of those.
De Beers also started the "two months' salary" rule for picking a ring, the greedy bastards.
Gemstone = peridot. :)
Reyn - De Beers is definitely greedy and apparently too good at marketing!
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