"In this well-researched and often entertaining examination of the symbolic meaning of the wedding ceremony in the post-WWII US, historian Dunak (Muskingum Univ.) argues that the evolution of marriage ceremony mirrors national cultural changes over the past several decades."
K.B. Nutter
Choice
"It's easy to poke fun at the frou-frou, the Bridezillas, and the chocolate fountains. Karen Dunak prefers a more sophisticated undertaking, reading the desire for a lavish wedding as a personal and political statement of the American Dream. She traces the rise of coupledom and the decline in maternal authority and approval of neighbors and relatives to postwar affluence. . . . Dunak's innovative research ranges from plumbing the personal recollections of the happy couples to the emergence of the public belief that even when a president's daughter married, it was all about them."
Elizabeth Pleck,Professor Emerita, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign "Persuasively argues that widespread acceptance of the idea that each white wedding canand perhaps shouldhave at least one element of unique self-expression has insured the continuing popularity of formal weddings. Without the option of some measure of variation, the 'cookie-cutter' white wedding would have become a stale and outmoded ritual. Instead, it remains a popular rite whose familiar general contours make it a comfortable and welcoming ceremony for Americans of diverse backgrounds but whose individualized details allow it to express the unique characteristics, interests, and perhaps politics of the couple at its center."
Katherine Jellison,Ohio University "Dunaks diverse, interconnected narratives show how the American wedding offers a universal promise of love and happiness while also providing participants with an opportunity to publically perform their values and aspirations. [] Dunaks book is historically illuminating and highly readable. Through the authors account, we see how the weddings malleability has allowed it to endure as a meaningful rite of passage and beloved site of expression and individuality, one that is deeply tied to an ever-changing American culture."
Journal of American Culture