In today's generation, the culture supported during weddings has changed drastically compared to many years ago. From the cake, to the dress, to the location and more, a wedding can cost more than twenty-six thousand dollars for the average person, and many aren't ashamed to spend more. Today people treat marriage and weddings as if they were toys, something to play with for a while and then throw away, but that wasn't once the case. Weddings have changed so much that there is now a negative effect on the general population of would-be brides, who get married just for the fun of it. In the beginning of time women were pawns in a man's daily life and were not deemed important unless they did. it had to do with the will of a power-hungry, sex-derived man. The weddings weren't even weddings; they were just women traded or sold to men for housework or personal gain; emotion was not a winning factor. When weddings became weddings around 1800, they were not the large, extravagant weddings seen today, but small and elegant. It is usually found at the home of the bride or groom. By the 1820s and 1830s, upper-class weddings had begun to evolve a little more toward the recognizably modern wedding (complete with a sumptuous cake, a dinner reception, and a toast to the bride and groom), but ceremonies remained small and private” (Here Comes the Bride: A History of American Marriage). The white dress tradition was not exclusively popular until Queen Victoria married Albert of Saxe-Coburg. She wore white to incorporate her favorite lace which she appreciated. In reaction, young women in England and America, enamored of the newlywed queen's style, immediately began clamoring for their white wedding dresses... middle of paper... be happy. Being single and living alone can bring as much joy as being married. The concept of marriage has changed a lot over the years and has had a negative effect on the general population. However, when discussing how different marriages have become over the years, it was made clear that there was a negative effect. While some traditions remain true to form, our obsession with weddings has gone far beyond that, and there's still more to do. Works Cited Black, Pam. “Marriage, then and now.” Pam Black Weddings. 2012: n. page. Network. February 14, 2014. .Fileta, Debra. "Behind our culture." Relevant. RelevantMagazine.com, 20 January 2014: n. page. Network. February 13, 2014. "Here Comes the Bride: A History of American Marriage." Random story. Random History.com, 08 May 2007. Web. 13 February 2014.