A multi-million-dollar industry has been pushing brides to spend more and more money in the search for a "perfect day." But now the average amount spent on weddings is beginning to go down. How are brides-to-be pinching pennies on their way down the aisle? Joining The Takeaway with some advice is Beth Kobliner, personal finance expert and author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties.

When South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford gave his emotional confession last week – saying he was in love with a woman in Argentina – his wife, Jenny, was noticeably absent from his side. Yesterday, though, she said that her husband’s actions were “inexcusable,” but that she is willing to forgive him. To discuss whether the Sanfords' relationship can be salvaged, The Takeaway talks to Mira Kirshenbaum, couples' therapist and author of When Good People Have Affairs: Inside the Hearts & Minds of People in Two Relationships, which is coming out this month. She's also the Clinical Director of the Chestnut Hill Institute of Boston.

It was the Case of the Missing Governor. After a seven-day disappearance, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford resurfaced with news that he had been in Argentina (not hiking the Appalachian Trail as his staff reported). At first he claimed he needed to “recharge” somewhere “exotic,” but at a press conference yesterday, he admitted to having an affair with a woman in Argentina. For more of the story The Takeaway turns to Yvonne Wenger, a reporter for the South Carolina Post & Courier who has been following this story.

To see Governor Sanford's comments on the affair, watch the video below.

President Obama said yesterday that he will extend some benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees. But with the Defense of Marriage Act still in place, how big a step forward is really possible? The Takeaway talks to Kenji Yoshino, the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at the NYU School of Law.

To see a map of the state of gay rights across the globe, click here.

In times of trouble you want to keep your family close. That may explain why the divorce rate drops during an economic downturn. But the end result may not be so good. Andrew Cherlin is a professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University and the author of the new book, The Marriage-Go-Round: The State of Marriage and the Family in America Today. He has been studying marriage and divorce trends since the Great Depression. He joins The Takeaway to explain why love may not conquer all. For more, read Cherlin's op-ed Married With Bankruptcy in today's New York Times.

The California Supreme Court stopped same sex couples from calling themselves married, even though they can have the same rights. But what if society decided that "marriage" is just a word? Conservative law professor Douglas Kmiec is proposing that government get out of the business of marriage altogether and allow gay and straights to have civil unions.

For more, read Douglas Kmiec's article, Equality in substance and in name, in the SF Gate.

A ruling is expected today from the California Supreme Court that will either uphold Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban, or overturn it as unconstitutional. Whatever the California court decides, gay marriage is now legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa, and it will be legal in Vermont and Maine in September. And, inevitably, with marriage comes divorce. As couples and attorneys are learning, same sex divorce is at least as complex and controversial as same sex marriage. Frederick Hertz, an attorney in Oakland California and author of Making it Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnership & Civil Unions joins Farai and John with a look at the issue.

Gay marriage has been a longtime wedge issue in the United States, but the pace of change has quickened in the last few months. Last month, Iowa and Vermont legalized same-sex marriage and last week, Maine became the fifth state to allow gay couples to wed; similar legislation is advancing in New Hampshire. Washington D.C. also got into the mix, voting last week to recognize same-sex marriages that have been performed in other parts of the United States. Joining us to talk about this latest round of legislation and to look ahead at whether this momentum could carry across the country is Suzanne Goldberg. She is a professor at Columbia Law School and the director of the Gender and Sexuality Law Program.

Iowans spent the weekend reacting to the Varnum v. Brien court decision that made same-sex marriage legal in their state. On Friday, Iowa's Supreme Court unanimously ruled in a case brought by gay rights group Lambda Legal and threw out a law that said marriage could only be between a man and a woman. The Hawkeye State now joins Massachusetts and Connecticut as the only places in the nation where same-sex marriages are legal. While some Iowans plan their weddings, others plan to launch a campaign to amend the state's constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Iowa Public Radio Statehouse Reporter Joyce Russell joins us with the details.

Read the full opinion of the Iowa Supreme Court.
Read a summary of the decision here.

Today, Vermont’s House of Representatives votes on a controversial bill that would legalize gay marriage in the state. The bill has come under fire from Vermont Governor Jim Douglas who has vowed to veto the legislation if it passes. Douglas's statements have drawn both praise and condemnation. The Takeaway talks to Ross Sneyd, news editor with Vermont Public Radio.

Portia de Rossi did a public service announcement on the gay marriage issue on Jimmy Kimmel Live!:

Today, California’s Supreme Court takes up the issue of whether Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that effectively banned gay marriage in that state, is legal or not. The hotly-contested proposition passed last year and heads to the court today over questions of constitutionality. The courthouse should be a spectacle as protesters on both sides of the issue rally and even Ken Starr is expected to make an appearance. To tell us more about the gay marriage debate in California and across the country, Kenji Yoshino of New York University Law School joins us.

For a comedic take on the gay marriage battle in California, here's "Prop. 8 The Musical":