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The Film Bridesmaids Portrays American Wedding Hype

   The scene where Lillian tells Annie she is engaged and wants Annie to be her Maid of Honor perfectly embodies how that particular scenario often plays out in real life. You see Lillian's excitement as she begins to tell Annie Doug's proposal, and Annie begins to have an onslaught of anxiety. Her life has begun to fall apart, she's broke, and now her best friend is getting married. I had a similar reaction when I was asked to be a Maid of Honor, I am not a fan of weddings, and I felt pressure to play this particular role because I love my friend. 
     When women are asked to be in weddings, they usually say yes, then become frustrated with the responsibilities that come with their commitment. According to easyweddings.com, "Some brides will have many events and activities leading up to their wedding day and, often, the bridesmaids will put in money here or there for particular things. For example, the bride may have an engagement party, a bridal shower and or a kitchen tea, a Hen’s party and a pre-wedding getaway and other activities. These things will require money and, traditionally, the bridesmaids are expected to cover the cost of the bride for occasions such as the Hen’s night. If the bride chooses to go interstate or overseas for any of these events, or maybe she’s planning a destination wedding too, you need to consider whether you can afford to be in the bridal party. If cost is an issue for you, you want to speak up before accepting the role.” Weddings have become so over-fantasized that the extreme financial and emotional stress placed on members of the wedding party, as well as the bride, has become normalized within American culture.     For the creators of TheKnot.com, the creation of their website stemmed from their own stressful wedding experiences, “TheKnot.com launched on America Online in September 1996. Founded by “four good friends, two of whom had barely survived their own wedding due to the lack of updated information and real-world resources available”, The Knot now serves as “wedding central” online, with links to various wedding item retailers, and claims to be the largest online retailer of wedding favors and supplies” (Engstrom, 2008). The pressure to have a visually appealing wedding is so high that women felt compelled to create an online resource to help other women minimize their stress levels related to the “big day”. Though the initial idea behind the creation of TheKnot.com came from the lack of desired resources for brides to be, it has become highly commercialized to market more extravagant and idealistic fairytale images of weddings to women. This image that their website supports adds to the stress of wedding planning, as opposed to easing it because women feel that everything must be perfect the day they get married.

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