Cinderella Dreams: The Allure of the Lavish Wedding

Scholarly but never dull, this fascinating chronicle of the changes in the American wedding over the past century reveals the extent to which so many of our wedding "traditions" are actually fairly recent inventions -- lifted straight from the movies, or foisted upon us by the many industries that profit from the lavish wedding. Though the authors approach their task as researchers and seem to have no particular ax to grind, readers who feel that the opulence of the American wedding has spiraled out of control will likely find plenty of support here for making a change.