Sign of the Times: Wedding Insurance

According to Conde Nast Bridal Group, the average cost of a wedding in 2006 was a staggering $27,852. This price reflects a 100% increase from 1990. If you're feeling sorry for the parents of the bride and groom, take heart-about a third of engaged couples are planning to pay for the wedding on their own.

Based on these figures, it is not surprising to see a new trend on the rise: wedding insurance. According to an article in the USA Today, this insurance "will cover your losses if bad weather, airport delays, a military call-up or a sudden illness prevents you or your intended from getting to the church on time. If your caterer is shut down by the local health department, most insurance policies will cover the extra cost of finding a last-minute vendor to feed your guests," among other unfortunate circumstances. The most common claim is for lost or damaged bridal formalwear (mostly bridal gowns), the costs of which rose from $1,049 in 1999 to $1,580 in 2006, an over 50% change in only 7 years.

Given the steep price tag of a wedding, it seems only logical that one can purchase insurance to cover various aspects of it. Indeed, the premiums appear reasonable enough, ranging from $95 to about $1,000-comparable to the cost of the flowers. But, in the rush to create more and more lavish weddings, has anyone stopped to question whether or not it is reasonable to spend the equivalent of a luxury sedan or down payment on a house for one day, no matter how "big" it is?

In a book titled Cinderella Dreams, authors Cele C. Otnes and Elizabeth H. Pleck argue that "The rite of the lavish wedding is increasingly popular because it glorifies both romantic love and love of "romantic" consumer goods, promises transformation to its participants, provides a repository of memories of this magic and romance, and offers the promise of perfect (e.g. boundless and guilt-free) consumption (19)." Reality television shows such as The Bachelor seem to both reflect and reinforce this attitude. The wedding day is not necessarily about love between two people, but rather participation in a needlessly lavish ceremony that is supposed to represent love.

With the divorce rate in the United States at somewhere around 50%, it seems that spending exorbitant amounts of money on the wedding is an attempt to make up for a lot of doubt about the future. After all, if a costly separation is very likely, why not enjoy at least the one fairy tale moment, when everything seems to be one big happy party, where we feel a little like the celebutants that we have become so obsessed with?

In a sad bit of irony, Fireman's fund insurance is considering another event under insurance-- "change of heart" coverage. That's right, if you drop tens of thousands of dollars on your wedding, rest assured that you may recoup your losses if someone gets cold feet. There appears to be little hope for future generations when wedding insurance reflects a grim but necessary reality.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/block/2007-04-30-wedding-insurance-usat_N.htm?csp=34

http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/10/pf/weddings_costs/