quality:corruption, information:extraction, structural:reformatting, stylistic:tone
Wedding industry

The global wedding industry was worth $300 billion as of 2016. The United States wedding industry alone was estimated to be worth $60 billion as of the same year. In the United States, the wedding industry employs over one million people throughout 600,000 businesses and grows 2% each year. The industry has undergone a transition due to the increased use of technology. Bridal websites, blogs, and social media accounts have driven spending up and created new trends and traditions.

As of 2013, the average cost of a wedding in the US was $29,858 ($ 18,300 in current dollars). Extravagant spending on weddings is associated with debt stress and short-lived marriages that end in divorce. Couples who spent less than US$10,000 on all wedding-related expenses, who went on a honeymoon trip, and who had a relatively large number of guests in attendance, were the least likely to divorce. (The cost of the honeymoon itself had no effect.) Couples who start their marriage in debt are more likely to have fights early on their marriage which can lead to divorce. The best way to avoid disagreement is to have open communication with families and plan based on means. Even if the wedding goes well and the couple is happy to be married, the stress of putting on the event can lead to post-wedding anxiety or depression.

A wedding tax is the concept of goods or services being purchased for a wedding being more expensive when compared to other events such as a family reunion or anniversary. It is also known as a wedding markup. In 2016, an article published by Consumer Reports identified that 28% of secret shoppers who queried vendors would be charged a wedding markup. Vendors may charge more because they perceive wedding clients as more demanding or willing to spend more. Weddings can also be more time- and labour-intensive events for the vendor (e.g., lengthy planning discussions or ongoing touch-ups for makeup), require additional liability insurance or different materials (e.g., products that can keep the bride's hair in place during many hours of activity). Wedding clients may also receive a markup simply because they are more likely to pay compared to other consumers. Clients are also less likely to understand what a baseline price for these products are given that they are not commonplace purchases.