In essence, brides, Big Brother is brainwashing you to spend more money, to consider this the biggest day of your life and to go all “Bridezilla” as you’re convinced you need to spend $28,000 – the cost of the average American wedding – to have the day of your dreams.

I will say up front that I have no intention of frittering away what could someday be a down payment on a house on my wedding. Hopefully family and friends, not frippery, will make my wedding day special.

That said, I'm ashamed to say had my first “Bridezilla” moment last week.

It’s hard not to feel like a Big Stupid Girl when you’re planning a wedding. There are the stereotypes, the jokes, the movies all aimed at women who are planning a wedding. It also didn’t help when Ed told me, “I’m a guy; this isn’t my thing.”

Translation: This is a stupid girl thing.

As we have looked at reception sites, I keep searching for signs that Ed might show a glimmer of enthusiasm, a flicker of interest, a sign that he’s coming out of the coma. So far, we’ve checked out two venues.

We looked at an amazing Victorian Inn on Cape Cod, right across the street from the beach. You can get married on the beach and then walk across the street for a full sit-down dinner, dancing and general carousing.

The atmosphere at the inn offered up a casual beach wedding, and I fell in love with it on the spot. They had Christmas light on the porch in July! I was sold. But we still have places to look at in Maine, Boston and central Massachusetts, so I agreed to keep an open mind.

Our next stop was in York Beach, Maine, where we found a place that will do an informal clambake, complete with chowder, steamers and lobster. Ed loved it. Even more, he loved engaging in a conversation with the restaurant owner – male – about how weddings are really the bride’s domain.

“Just nod and say, ‘Yup that sounds good, honey,’” the owner said to my fiancé. “Don’t ever say ‘I don’t care. That’s the one that will get you in trouble.’” Then they shared a hearty laugh while I sat there feeling like, you guessed it, a Big Stupid Girl. I half thought someone was going to accuse me of having cooties.

So here comes my Bridezilla moment.

Within two day, I had a meltdown on Ed, accusing him of not caring about our wedding day. The day we would begin our life as husband and wife. I’m sure you can sense the drama.

Needless to say, he responded in kind and we spend a good couple of days giving each other the cold shoulder.

All this brought on by a joke made by a guy who’s just part of that wedding industrial complex. Just trying to sell me on the wedding while making sure Ed didn’t feel like a Big Stupid Fiancé.

And that article I read? They were trying to sell brides a book on how to avoid getting caught up in that wedding industrial complex.

Sometimes, you just have to keep everything in perspective.