Why Grooms Wear Wedding Bands but Not Engagement Rings
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Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- In the 1930s, Fortune magazinecalled weddings a “depression-proof” business; these days, theterm is “recession resistant.” That isn’t exactly true, butthere’s no denying that the U.S. wedding industry is bigbusiness today: Even in a sluggish economy, the average cost ofa wedding in 2011 was $26,501, according to a Brides magazinesurvey.
Much of the debt incurred by marriage-bound couples andtheir families stems directly from a desire to follow tradition-- to purchase the goods and services necessary for a “proper”wedding. But many of these traditions are actually relativelynew: They were invented by businesses using shrewd advertisingcampaigns, promotions and consumer “education” programs.