4. The Importance of Wedding Planners Understanding the Consumption Process

Key Points:

• There is a growing demand for professionals in the wedding industry with an increasing number of individuals starting careers as wedding planners (Daniels and Loveless, 2014).
• The UK wedding industry is now worth £10 billion a year as engaged couples purchase goods for the wedding day, honeymoon and guest expenses (Hitched W.I.F.E., 2011).
• The wedding industry includes: wedding fairs and shows, bridal gown stores, media productions such as television adverts and magazines, reality TV shows, wedding books and films, and wedding consultants and other professionals (Ingraham, 2008).
• Bridal roles are generated as a result of various pressures including parents, other family members, friends and society. The “superbride” is a consumer identity that portrays two sides to the bride’s personality: “the rational project manager existing alongside the emotional childish fantasizer” (Boden, 2003, 46).
• Consumer ambivalence is usually experienced by the bride as she experiences mixed emotions including happiness, sadness, anxiety and stress during the wedding planning process (Otnes et al, 1997).
• Sociological ambivalence is the internal conflict between an individual and society’s norms/expectations (Ruth, 1995).
• Psychological ambivalence is also experienced by most brides as they battle with their own feelings whilst trying to please themselves and those around them during the wedding planning process (Ruth, 1995; Otnes et al, 1997).
• The wedding planner has become a commodity due to the increase in demand for luxury services in the wedding planning industry as intimate life becomes commercialised (Blakely, 2008).
• Hiring a wedding planner relieves the engaged couple of stress and consumer ambivalence as responsibility of the wedding planning process is passed over to a professional, therefore making the engaged couple feel relieved about their wedding day (The Journal, 2014a).

References:

Blakely, K. (2008) Busy Brides and the Business of Family Life: The Wedding-Planning Industry and the Commodity Frontier. Journal of Family Issues, 29 (5) 639-662.

Boden, S. (2003) Consumerism, Romance and the Wedding Experience. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Daniels, M. and Loveless, C. (2014) Wedding Planning and Management: Consultancy for Diverse Clients. 2^nd edition. Oxon: Routledge.

Hitched W.I.F.E. (2011) Hitched W.I.F.E.: Wedding Industry Facts and Economies. Each Year UK Weddings are worth £10 Billion. [online]. Available from http://hitched-wife.org/wedding-facts-economics/summary-stats/each-year-uk-weddings-are-worth-10-billion-pounds/ [Accessed 02 November 2014].

Ingraham, C. (2008) White Weddings: Romancing Heterosexuality in Popular Culture. 2^nd edition. New York: Routledge.

The Journal (2014a) Be Prepared and Your Big Day Won’t be Ruined by Stress. The Journal, 13 (October/November) 28-31.

Otnes, C., Lowrey, T. M. and Shrum, L. J. (1997) Toward an Understanding of Consumer Ambivalence. Journal of Consumer Research, 24 (1) 80-93.

Ruth, J. A. (1995) Sad, Glad, and Mad: The Revealing Role of Emotion in Consumer Ritual. Advances in Consumer Research, 22 (1) 692-692.