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Wedding Bells Are Ringing, But Brides Are Too Stressed To Be Singing
Why are traditional gender norms of wedding planning so entrenched?
Wedding season is fast approaching, and with it, a whole lot of stress, planning, and time spent.
A study published by the bridal website Minted, quantified this incredible extra load,
The average wedding takes 528 hours to plan, or a full 22 days.
While norms are slowly starting to shift, in a heterosexual marriage, most of this work is done by the bride and the bridal party.
That means that when a woman gets engaged to a man, on average, she can expect to gain almost a full month of extra work.
As someone who has been a bridesmaid or maid of honor in at least a dozen of my friends’ weddings, I have seen the very real impact of this extra work.
I have seen it in the tears, the stressful phone calls, the mental breakdowns, and the incredible lists that have to be compiled months and months before the actual date.
I have seen it in my friends, the brides, who by and large have been marrying men. Men who are equal partners in life, who do their share of the housework, the cooking, the cleaning, and the child care.
