“The quest for fame may explain the recent fascination with over-the-top weddings and why, in general, Americans still have weddings when living together is so popular.  Having a dress fit specifically for you, having somone else apply your makeup, having everyone admire your beauty – as author Carol Wallace points out, these are experiences usually shared by only two groups of women:  celebrities and brides.  Wedding vendors often emphasize that this is your one chance to be a ‘princess for a day,’ and we believe it.  One bride said, ‘Finally, I got center stage in something.’  Finally.  As Wallace writes, ‘Having center stage, being the focus of all eyes is so highly prized in today’s culture that many of us, relegated to the background, feel diminished until we get our turn in the spotlight.’  Gwyneth Paltrow said that for many women ‘the whole wedding fantasy [is] their day at the Oscars.’”

~ Jean M. Twenge, Ph.D. in Generation Me:  Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled – and More Miserable Than Ever Before

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