Oh No They Didn't

Did you know that the US wedding industry is a 72 BILLION dollar industry?!

SEVENTY TWO BILLION!?  Do you know how much money that is?  That's like each Canadian getting $2 billion to spend on something.  Like a wedding.

The average wedding cost is $22 000 but the average annual income of a couple is $62 000.  Ummmmm.  I don't even know what to say about that.

I have some friends who were wonderfully frugal and don't regret a dime spent on their wedding.  I have others who look back and think they overspent and could have done things differently.  

The word 'wedding' seems to give permission for businesses to charge you/rape you in the butt.  Example?  A purple bridesmaid dress costs $300 at one retailer.  If you want it in white, the EXACT same dress, will cost you $980!  That's $680 more!  You could buy two more dresses for that!

What is my point?  The point is: that this is acceptable in our society.  And why?  WHY?

Because they start on us when we are barely old enough to read.  That's right.  Those marketing assholes get to us before we can even say, 'I don't believe in marriage, it's sexist'.  There is a game on sale right now for girls between the ages of 5 and 20 (ummm, oddly wide range) called 'Brighter Minds Wedding Dash'.

That's right, there is a video game out there designed for girls to play 'wedding planner' before they can write their own name.  

Is this a problem?  Is it?  Have weddings become more about the dollar than about the love?  Are we teaching girls at a young age that they should have all their dreams come true AND cocktail weenies served on wedding dress toothpicks too?  

GAH!