Want a Happy Marriage? Have a Big Wedding and a Cheaper Ring!

Jul 04, 2022

 

If you're serving burgers and salad at your backyard wedding, and your wife is wearing a simple 0.1ct diamond ring, don't you be worried. You and your spouse may be a lifetime love couple. 

 

A new research by Professors Francis and Mialon found that recently married couples who spent just $1000 or less on their wedding were 54% less likely to get divorced compared to those who spent around $5000 and $10000.

 

According to the study, the wedding industry has grown substantially throughout the twentieth century in part due to the rise of consumerism and industry efforts to commodify love and romance. One example of this was the emergence of bridal magazines, and another one was the campaigns for diamond engagement rings.

 

The Brides.com recommended 12 months of wedding preparation and published a checklist with 44 tasks to complete, which made a wedding far more complicated than in 1959 when you just needed 2 months for preparation. As for diamond rings, the most well-known campaigns were by De Beers, a diamond company. After their famous "A diamond is forever", they introduced another campaign with slogans like "Isn't two months' salary a small price to pay for something that lasts forever?", which obviously a method to increase the standard for engagement ring spending.

 

However, the study found that couples who shop a cheaper diamond ring or spend less on their wedding tend to have long-lasting marriages than those who splurge.

 

In the study, couples spending between $2000 and $4000 on an engagement ring was associated with 1.3 times higher risk of divorce compared to an affordable diamond ring between $500 and $2000.

 

The research was based on a detailed survey completed by over 3000 adults in the United States who are, or have been, married. In their multivariate analysis, relatively low spending on the wedding (including engagement rings and wedding ceremonies) is positively associated with duration among male and female respondents. That is to say: if you want a happy and lasting marriage, you’d better have a rational budget planning for your wedding expenses.

 

"The wedding industry advertising has fueled norms that create the impression that spending large amounts on the wedding is a signal of commitment or is necessary for a marriage to be successful, but our findings provided little evidence to support the validity of the wedding industry's general message, "Professor Francis, the co-author of the study said".

 

Apparently, the industry won't be cheered for the study because they encourage couples to spend freely, rather than spend rightly. Maybe Darry Ring was excepted because they are promoting the "only one" rules of purchasing for a commitment to marriage.

 

In the Emory study, researchers also found that the greater amount of people attending your wedding, the less likely you are to get a divorce. It could be evidence of a community effect, that having more support from family and friends may help the couple to get through the challenges of marriage, per the study's authors.

 

That explains the saying, "blessed and recognized by people is the best gift for true love".

 

Even though the industry continues to espouse the necessity of a lavish wedding for a fairy tale marriage, the reality says the opposite. An inexpensive wedding relieves young couples of financial burdens that may strain their marriage. Additionally, spending a significant chunk of money on the wedding can signal that one or both of the partners don't have their priorities straight.

 

Besides, there are better ways to achieve romance rather than a big extravagant party. Lab-grown diamonds are more popular among young couples despite the big carat diamonds. The eternal rings for couples which can you can only customize for your only love are also a morality-friendly and eco-friendly choice for romance.

 

So, if you want to give the best wedding to your lifetime lover, ask more friends for attendance and make a cost-effective budget, including choosing an engagement ring.