Wedding Biz a Pricey Sham

The wedding industry is a bloated, $10 billion sham that presses each bride to "express her essential self," Janice Turner writes in the London Times. Butterflies in boxes? Check. A “lifesized butterscotch-flavored effigy” of the bride? Check. But as odd offerings increase and wedding bills average $40,000, marriages have hit a 144-year low.

"The wedding industry is the control-freak bitch sister of fashion," Turner writes. "The wedding industry plays to women's picky, list-making, over-thinking, matchy-matchy side, creating imaginary worries that require expensive solutions. Decorate the soles of your shoes, trills Brides magazine, so they won't look too plain when you kneel at the altar."