Weddings in US

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(1) Cathy Lynn Grossman, Only Just Begun to Owe?  Average couple spends $26,989 on wedding; Many go over budget. USA Today, Aug 10, 2012 (page 1B).
http://www.usatoday.com/money/pe ... ng-costs/56921020/1

Quote:

"The average couple has a $26,989 wedding, according to Brides magazine. Even though that's down from a peak of $28,082 in pre-recession 2008, nearly one-third of all brides still bust their budgets, Brides says.

"The Knot's 2011 research finds couples averaging more than $12,000 for the reception and $5,000 for the engagement ring, the biggest-ticket items in their breakdown of an average $27,000 wedding (not including the honeymoon) in 2011.

sidebar: "62% of couples say they're contributing or paying entirely for the reception costs, including 36% of couples who expect to pick up the entire tab themselves.

Note:
(a) In quotation 2, the Knot refers to TheKnot.com.
(b) Wedding Bell Blues
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_Bell_Blues
(a song written and recorded by Laura Nyro in 1966)
(c) Paragraph 2 of the report says "many couples are beguiled beyond their budgets."

beguile
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beguile
(c) The report quotes Ms Kari Nesbitt as saying, "I started out thinking I would have a big blowout wedding. Crystals everywhere. Flowers everywhere. Lots of drapery and fancy lighting, ice sculptures and all that jazz."
(i)
(A) blowout (n): "a festive social affair"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blowout
(B) blow out (n). Online Etymology Dictionary, undated.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=blow+out
("also blowout, 1825, Amer.Eng. colloquial, 'outburst, brouhaha' (what, in modern use, would be called a blow up), from blow (v.1) + out. Meaning 'abundant feast' is recorded from 1824; that of 'flat tire' is from 1908")
(ii) jazz (n; origin unknown; First Known Use 1913): "similar but unspecified things : stuff <that wind, and the waves, and all that jazz — John Updike>"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jazz


(2) Rachel L Swarns, Male Couples Face Pressure to Fill Cradles; Answering questions once aimed only at straight couples. New York Times, Aug 10, 2012 (front page).
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/1 ... -have-children.html

Note: Ian Urbina, Gay Marriage Is Legal in US Capital. New York Times, Mar 4, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/us/04marriage.html