For Richer For Poorer: Sources

The wedding industry: Conde Nast Bridal Infobank American Wedding Study, 2002; Roper, 2000; “Wedding & Honeymoon Statistics,”
Top
Wedding Links

Cost of average wedding gift: American Wedding Study, 2002; Gerard J.
Monaghan, President, Association of Bridal Consultants

Expenditure of average wedding guest: Bigda, Carolyn, “Wedding Guests
Can Avoid Shedding Tears over Costs,” October 31, 2004 Chicago
Tribune

GAO marriage benefits: U.S.
Newswire, “Institute for Marriage and Public Policy: Are
There Over 1000 Federal Marriage Benefits?” May 26, 2004; Gerard J.
Monaghan, President, Association of Bridal Consultants

Bush’s Healthy Marriage Initiative: Kirkpatrick, David; Pear, Robert,
“Bush Plans $1.5 Billion Drive for Promotion of Marriage,”NY
Times, January 14, 2004; Brezosky, Lynn, “Attorney General Hosts Summits On Helping
Low-Income Families,” Associated Press, October 21, 2004.

Increase in wages and odds of marriage: Carlson, Marcia; England,
Paula; McLanahan, Sara, “Union Formation and Dissolution in Fragile
Families,” November 2002.

Percentage of couples spending more than planned on wedding: Block,
Sandra, “‘Til Debt Do Us Part,”USA
Today, November 9, 2004.

Cost of average wedding since 1980: Kerr, Robert, “Older Brides,
Bridegrooms See The New Trends Trailing Along,” The Commercial
Appeal (Memphis), February 9, 1992; “Calendar,” U.S. News &
World Report, June 6, 1994; BRIDE’s Reader Profile Study, October
1980; Conde Nast Bridal Infobank, 2002; BRIDE’s
Millenium Report: Wedding Love & Money, 2000.

Percentage of marriages ending within 15 years: “43 Percent of First
Marriages Break Up Within 15 Years,”National
Center for Health Statistics, May 24, 2001.
; Conde Nast Bridal Infobank American Wedding Study, 2002; Roper, 2000

Divorce in red states vs. blue states: National
Vital Statistics Report, 2003.
; Census 2000,
U.S. Census Bureau

Most and least wanted gifts in U.K.: Ward, Simon P., “Unwanted
Wedding Gifts,” MSN,
July 19, 2003.

Percentage of couple omitting “obey” from vows and percentage of
brides taking husband’s name: “Weddings Across America: New Regional
Research From BRIDE’s Magazine,” Business Wire, February 27,
2002.

Number of states with laws against adultery: Turley, Jonathan, “Of
Lust and the Law,” The
Washington Post, September 5, 2004.

Supreme Court invalidation of laws against interracial marriage: “Can
Marriage Be Saved?”The Nation, July 5, 2004; “Go Deeper: Race
Timeline,” PBS,
November 5, 2004.

Gay wedding market: “The Gay-Marriage Windfall: 16.8 Billion,”
Forbes.com, April 5, 2004.

Marriage in Disneyworld: Kingston, Anne, The Meaning of Wife, New
York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.

Pre-nups and Catherine Zeta-Jones wedding: Grossberg, Josh,
“Catherine & Michael’s Mini-Judgement,” E!
Online,November 7, 2003.
; “Prenups for Ordinary People,” The Week, July 16, 2004, p. 36; “Zeta-Jones Wins Hello! Damages,” November 7, 2003,
CNN.com; “Love and Marriage, Celebrity-Style,” USA
Today, December 29, 2000
; McVeigh, Karen, “Couple ‘Touted’ Rights to Wedding,” The
Scotsman, February 15, 2003; Valhouli, Christina, “Big Stars,
Big Weddings Bring Bigger Bucks,” Forbes.com,
October 19, 2004
; Reiter, Amy, “Zeta-Jones Rolls the Dice,” Salon, December 6, 2000.

Pre-nups, 2nd weddings, and Liza Minelli: Burwell, Marite, “Celebrity
Wedding Trends,” Weddings,
November 5, 2004; “Liza Minnelli, Husband Separate After 16 Months,”
AFP,
July 29, 2003.

Cost of wedding and investment in college education:
Allstate
Investment Basics

Reality wedding TV shows:
;
www.realitytvlinks.com

Percentage of Americans “happily married”: Vogt, Ryan, “Laura Kipnis:
The Chronicle Interview,” Northwestern
Chronicle, October 24, 2003.

De Beers: Werthheimer, Linda and Siegal, Robert, “Critics Believe De Beers
Manipulates The Market to Keep Diamond Prices High,” NPR, All Things
Considered, November 27, 2001; Epstein, Edward Jay, “Have You Ever
Tried to Sell a Diamond?” Atlantic
Online, February 1982; Dwyer, Dustin, “Diamond in the Rough:
Why the U.S. Should Let in De Beers,” Orlando Sentinel, March
15, 2004; Kaplan, Barry, “Forever
Diamonds”; Payne, Melanie, ” ‘Right-hand’ Diamonds Marketed as
Power Sign,” Sacramento
Bee, December 2, 2003; Pressler, Margaret Webb, “DeBeers
Pleads to Price-Fixing; Firm Pays $10 Million, Can Fully Reenter
U.S.,” The Washington Post, July 14, 2004.

Percentage of divorced people re-marrying: Hodder, Harbour Fraser,
“The Future of Marriage,” Harvard Magazine, November/December
2004, p.42

J-Lo:
Chalmers, Katie, “On Top of Her Game; Jenny’s Come a Long Way, Baby,”
Winnipeg Sun, June 29, 2003; “Selena Proposal,” Independent,
October 7, 2001; phone call to Ojani Noa; “Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs
Acquitted of Gun Possession and Bribery Charges,” Jet, April
2, 2001, p. 57; Patel, Shyama, “Rock Stars: Celebrity Rings,” New
York Metro; “Lopez Announces Split from Affleck,” January 23,
2004, Associated
Press
; J.Lo
knockoff rings ; “Jennifer’s Big Surprise,” June 21, 2004,
People, p.68; “Around the Watercooler J-Lo Ties the Knot,”
June 7, 2004, Good Morning America (ABC news)transcript;
Miller, Marshall and Solot, Dorian, “Let Them Eat Wedding Rings: The
Role of Marriage Promotion in Welfare Reform,” 2002, Alternatives to
Marriage Project.