When Katherine Jellison was a Ph.D student, she considered writing her dissertation about the history of weddings because she was planning her own. Though she decided against it, she kept it in her back pocket and later wrote a book.
The way weddings are organized has progressed over the past century due to new technology, and the now-commercialized practice is a symbol for a new chapter in someone’s life.
The major change Jellison said she noticed is the increase in how much of a person’s annual income goes into the wedding. Costs that factor into such a milestone have expanded to not only include the wedding and reception, but also the bachelor and bachelorette parties as well as the engagement.
“It seems like any aspect of the act of getting married that can be commercialized, has been,” Jellison, a professor of history at OU, said.
People nowadays are getting married later in life and often live together before they do so, Jellison said. Because some people wait to get married, they typically use their own income for the wedding, and the bride’s parents are not expected to pay for expenses, she added.
“It’s hard to put the boundaries on what is and isn’t a marriage anymore,” Jellison said. “People do things in all different orders now, so to demonstrate to the world that you’re going to be in a committed relationship that is somehow different from whatever your relationship was before, you have to make a really obvious statement about it.”
Samantha Nelson started dating her fiancé, Joseph Taylor, the summer before her freshman year at Ohio University when they both worked at a Dairy Queen in Marietta. Taylor proposed to Nelson in February of 2015 in La Jolla, California, and the couple is now in the midst of planning their wedding, which will take place June 3 in Marietta.
“He proposed to me on the Pacific Ocean in a tide pool,” Nelson, a senior studying journalism, said. “It was really cute.”
Because Nelson is in college, she and her fiancé’s wedding will not be “super extravagant” due to budget restrictions. Instead, she has utilized the content-sharing website Pinterest for do-it-yourself wedding ideas. For her wedding, she will be using organic plant material, branches and other greenery to decorate the venue.
“Budget-wise, we can’t be too elegant, so a lot of it will be DIY,” Nelson said. “You’d be surprised with what you can do with little money.”
The couple is also making use of a website and app called The Knot. The Knot helps couples plan their weddings by showing local vendors, creating checklists and helping with gift registries. Nelson said the app has helped them stay on track with their planning.
The internet has become an accessible tool for brides to use for planning, Jellison said. She has noticed some people create their own websites so vendors and guests can get a sense of what the wedding will feature. A website can also help coordinate different elements of the wedding, such as making sure each vendor has the correct color scheme.
“(The internet) has enabled what used to be sort of a local event to go international,” Jellison said. “I think the internet has really changed the way people organize and participate in weddings.”
Nelson said she will be straying from tradition when it comes to her wedding dress, which will be a champagne color. She said the dress is an A-line style and that it makes her “feel like a princess.”
Mijeong Noh, an associate professor in the department of human and consumer sciences, said colors and styles of wedding dresses have diversified since the first white wedding dress was worn by Queen Victoria. One reason there are many styles and colors is so a bride can differentiate themselves from other brides and display their personalities, she added. The most popular gowns in today’s age are form-fitted and mermaid dresses.
Men’s fashion has also evolved to include different designs and colors of tuxedos, Noh said. The original color for the tuxedo was the classic black color but has expanded to include blues and grays.
With her wedding only a few months away, Nelson said she is looking forward to living with Taylor.
Because Nelson attends school at OU, she sees her fiancé, who lives in Williamstown, West Virginia, mostly on weekends. She said she hates being apart from him.
“I really am excited to have a day that is completely for me and Joey,” she said. “As corny as it sounds, I truly do think he’s my soulmate.”
