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Why have Americans clung so hard to the dream of a fancy wedding? Hanna Rosin asked Xochitl Gonzalez, our staff writer who used to be a luxury-wedding planner, this question on the Radio Atlantic podcast in 2023. “We’ve let go of so many ‘middle-class American aspirations,’ but we haven’t been able to let go of the wedding,” Xochitl noted. “People have given up on college, and I don’t think that they want to give up on weddings.”

Social media has expanded the expectations of weddings and the thrill of being the center of attention for a day. And as couples strive to keep up with cultural per

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