Twitter, drones land in modern weddings
WASHINGTON — #Weddingstressmuch? Social media is creeping into U.S. nuptials, but many people don’t necessarily see that as a good thing.
A new Associated PressWEtv poll says 57 per cent of those surveyed see social media as having increased the stress involved in planning a wedding, while just 12 per cent think the opposite. The poll was conducted by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
There is no doubt that weddings and social media are a solid union. Getting perfect pictures was already a stress point for wedding couples, with 55 per cent of those who have been married saying they were at least moderately concerned about getting perfect pictures.
But social media is creeping into the process in other ways, too. Twenty-two per cent of those surveyed said they have been to a wedding with its own hashtag. And more than a quarter — 27 per cent — who have attended a wedding have been invited at least once with an online invitation rather than a more traditional package of information.
There’s an age split, too: Four out of 10 under age 39 have been invited to a wedding with an online invitation. Only 17 per cent of those age 60 and over have been invited that way. And where weddings with their own hashtag are concerned, a third of the youngest adults have been to one. But just 10 per cent of their older counterparts have.
As the average expense of weddings continues to rise, it’s no surprise, perhaps, that the betrothed are opting for budgettrimming, real-time options in planning and celebration. Printed invitations, for example, can cost hundreds of dollars when stamps and calligraphy are factored in, not to mention paper.
“You help the Earth when you choose digital invitations and cards,” says one vendor of online correspondence, Punchbowl.com.
There are weddings with drones taking footage. And weddings in which hosts find it necessary to formally ask guests to refrain from posting the festivities to social media to keep the party “just between us.”
But for all of the innovation, 38 per cent still call weddings “stressful.” And three-quarters think Americans in general spend too much money on weddings.
Not only that, but four in 10 Americans are very concerned and another three in 10 are at least somewhat concerned about couples putting too much focus on planning the wedding day over the marriage itself.