A Never Ending Story? The Aftermath of Wedding Consumption

Abstract

In this chapter I focus on the aftermath of wedding consumption. By and large, the later ramifications of any consumer behaviour remain an oversight in the literature, as few sociologists trek beyond the actual moment of consumption and few marketeers care about the consumer once she or he has consumed. And yet the effects and affects of consuming for a wedding exert a strong, continuing influence over the bride and groom long after the curtain has drawn on their own big day. This chapter therefore explores how the wedding and its associated consumption are evaluated in hindsight. In doing so, I argue that the wedding aftermath is a period of highly reflexive mentalistic exercise in which a Romantic ethic still appears to have some relevance. Yet, as we shall see, in no sense are such post-consumption experiences dislocated from commercial pressure, social structure and the dynamics of interpersonal relationships.