The all-about-you brand approach can be found from the high-end jeweler Cartier, whose current slogan is "Your love is unique, so too should be your engagement ring," to the affordable Michaels craft stores, which this year expanded their do-it-yourself wedding projects, urging people to "Personalize your special day your way".
So to keep myself honest and prepare for this challenge, I'm turning my yearlong, DIY wedding cake project into a column.
If you are interested in supporting the making of the documentary "THE WEDDING GOWN PROJECT, One Day, One Dream, One Dress," please visit the Kickstarter page here.
As we view Elizabeth's wedding pictures projected on a blank wall, both complete in its whole perspective, as well as cropped in close-ups to convey the essence of a moment in the young couple's history, as well as American History.
In her search for a couple willing to engage directly in a wedding as art project, she placed an ad in Artforum magazine that urged, "Don't Get Married, Get Hubbied," and a flood of readers responded.
Many independent retailers have decided that their only hope for survival is to emphasize their specialized knowledge, and to persuade each bride-to-be that dressing herself for her wedding is a project that she is about as well equipped to undertake as she is to remove her own appendix.
The Duchess of Cambridge dressed in Alexander McQueen on her wedding day is projected onto the wall, amid swaying union flags, at the V&A's spring exhibition, which opens next week.
After seeing a comprehensive group of engaged couples' wish lists on WeddingChannel, I found myself musing over why Whitney and Josh (projected wedding date: 2/10/01) needed 11 mixing bowls and was heartened to learn that Mindy and Cole (wedding date: 11/4/00) wanted a three-quart fondue pot.
The couple saw their wedding as an art project (even titling it Project 4.1.2000) and imbued it with their own particular minimalist/honky-tonk sensibility.
In fact, they played at my wedding with their side project, The Pine Mountain Logs.
