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This story did not surprise me at all. The evolution of weddings have pushed them far away from the simple celebrations of a life-long commitment between a man and a woman to elaborate days-long, outrageously-expensive affairs.
Weddings today include:
- Announcement parties (with gifts)
- Bachelor or bachelorette weekends (with gifts and bride/groom’s expenses covered by the wedding party, even airfare)
- Rehearsal dinners for everyone with entertainment and food
- Wedding reception (with open bars, sit-down meals, live bands, food trucks and carriage rides)
- Gift opening celebrations with more gifts
Is it any wonder why so many marriages end in divorce. It’s all about the party, and not the commitment.
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
When Janet Belland and Mitch Zukowski decided to get married, they scoped out venues ranging from the Surly Brewing Company to hotel ballrooms to the Minnesota Boat Club. One place they never bothered to check: a church.
Belland, raised Catholic, said she felt no connection to any church, to any clergy. Zukowski, a regular churchgoer as a teenager, said he’s now found a different spiritual path.
The couple’s decision reflects a seismic shift in modern marriages. For centuries, nearly all marriages took place in houses of worship, in ceremonies honoring both the bride and groom and their creator. That tradition has eroded dramatically in just a few decades.
Religious institutions hosted only 22% of weddings in 2017, according to a survey by the Knot, a leading wedding news website. That’s a swift decline from the 41% in 2009.
The full story can be found at www.startribune.com.
