Every woman's wedding day is special. When you're the future Queen of England you can definitely expect it to be a spectacle.
It was a fairytale wedding that many girls have since dreamed about. Televised to more than 200 million viewers across the globe, the princess barely out of her teens was only five years away from being crowned Queen.
Dressed to the nines and followed by eight bridesmaids, including her younger sister, Margaret, 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth walked down the aisle of Westminister Abbey to exchange vows with 26-year-old Philip Mountbatten.
When Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip got married 70 years ago, it was a different time. World War II had just ended and even royalty couldn't escape the rationing that was still imposed on British citizens.
To pay for her dress, Elizabeth had to get creative.
The much-anticipated nuptials were a breath of fresh air for a nation that was still burdened from the war.
On July 9, 1947, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of the King's eldest daughter to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, and the country was overcome with joy.
The wedding took place only four months later and gave England the spirit boost that it needed after all of the hardships they faced over the previous years.
Conserving her rationing coupons and receiving a gift of 200 coupons from the British government she was able to purchase the materials she needed to make the dress of her dreams.
Queen Elizabeth's wedding dress turned out to be a spectacular sight. Made with ivory silk, it had a 13-foot-long train with a pattern that was inspired by a Botticelli painting. It was also covered in crystals and 10,000 seed pearls that were imported from the United States.
All of these materials were in fact paid for by the coupons.
These days, Queen Elizabeth's dress would be hard-pressed to be paid for by coupons alone. When the Netflix series "The Crown" recreated the dress, they spent roughly $37,000 to do it.
When Kate Middleton married Prince William in 2011, her dress cost a staggering $434,000.
While that dress costs more than the average American home, it's no secret that women are spending exorbitant amounts of money on their wedding dress.
A wedding dress costs a bride in the U.S. an average of $1,564, plus an additional $301 for accessories like her jewelry and hair piece. By comparison, in 2016 the average American household spent $1,803 on their total apparel purchases for the year.
By today's standards, you don't need to be royalty to have a wedding budget of a princess.
American couples spend on average $35,329 on their wedding according to a 2016 poll. The wedding industry reported an overall $77 million in revenue in 2016, which is up from the $65 million from four years previous.
These skyrocketing costs are encouraging couples to start eloping or drastically cutting traditional elements of their wedding to save money.
I'm sure if rationing coupons were an option, brides today would do the same.
Source: New York Post / Everything Zoomer