Wedding Industrial Complex

05/16/2006 at 12:00 p.m.

Weddings are about declaring love and commitment. They’re also big business. The average wedding, including reception, costs almost 27 thousand dollars. And that doesn’t include the honeymoon. Is it worth it to launch your married life by spending large? Or is that too much? Maybe you’re planning a wedding. Are you opening up the check book and maxing out the credit card? Are you pinching pennies? What about weddings past? Was the blow-out worth it? Do you regret not having a bigger wedding? Or do you wish you had not been so extravagant?

Also today, according to the C.D.C., 250 people a day die from infections they get at the hospital. Yet most hospitals don't keep track of the infections they cause. We'll talk to Lisa McGiffert with Consumers Union. She's working to change that.

Guests:
Stephanie Coontz professor of History and Family Studies at Evergreen State College in Olympia. She's the author of Marriage: A History.
Anne Kingston author of The Meaning of Wife. She lives in Toronto, and is a columnist for the National Post.
Ariel Meadow Stallings author of Offbeat Bride: Taffeta-Free Alternatives for Nontraditional Brides
Lisa McGiffert project director of Stop Hospital Infections, which is a project of Consumers Union. Consumers Union publishes Consumer Reports.