In today's generation, the culture upheld throughout weddings has changed dramatically from what it was many years ago. From the cake to the dress to the venue and so much more, a wedding can cost over 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, to be played with for a little while and then thrown away, but it wasn't like that in the old days. Marriage has changed so much that there is now a negative effect on the general population of brides, who marry just for fun. In the beginning of time, women were pawns in a man's daily life and were not considered important unless they were. was dealing with the will of a power-hungry, sex-derived man. The weddings weren't even weddings; these were simply women traded or sold to men for household chores or personal gain; emotion was not a winning factor. When weddings became weddings around the 1800s, they weren't the big, extravagant weddings we see today, but small, elegant ones. It is usually found at the home of the bride or groom. By the 1820s and 1830s, upper-class weddings had begun to evolve somewhat more toward decidedly modern weddings (with a sumptuous cake, reception dinner, and toast to the bride and groom), but the ceremonies remained small and private. 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 that she enjoyed. In response, young women in England and America, enamored of the newly married queen's style, immediately began clamoring for white wedding dresses from their... 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, in explaining how different marriages have become over the years, it is clear that there has been a negative effect. While some traditions remain true to form, our obsession with weddings has gone way beyond that, and there's more to come. Works Cited Black, Pam. “Marriage, yesterday and today.” Pam's Black Weddings. 2012: no. page. Internet. February 14, 2014.<http://pamblackweddings.com/weddings-then-and-now/>.Fileta, Debra. “Behind our culture.” Relevant. RelevantMagazine.com, January 20, 2014: n. page. Internet. February 13, 2014. “Here Comes the Bride: A History of the American Wedding.” » Random story. Random History.com, May 8, 2007. Web. February 13 2014.