One of the most beautiful events in the life of a human being is a wedding. It has traditionally been viewed as a sacred union, a love festival between two individuals who choose to devote their lives to each other. However, in the modern times, all one can wonder is that do weddings still show real love or have they been turned into a financial display?
Mostly, weddings are very emotional occasions to many couples. They are family, unity and making lifelong vows. Easy rituals, be it at church or at the registry or wedding reception still possess the spirit of love. Those couples who choose to concentrate on intimacy rather than lavishness usually discover that their wedding happiness is not in the sum of money that was spent but the time spent with loved ones. Under these circumstances, the marriage is a reflection of their relationship and not a show to the audience.
Conversely, weddings are now a billion dollar business in contemporary society. The pressure to be unique is present in terms of luxury venues, imported flowers, designer gowns, and high-end photography as well as posts to social media to impress someone. A wedding is not simply a union in certain cultures but a competition, who can hold the most spectacular event, the one everyone is talking about (talk of the town). Sometimes the guests take away the love story behind the couple, the decor and the menu. This brings about the point that most weddings are losing their purpose.
The other aspect of this show-off culture is the guest list. To some couples, holding hundreds or even thousands of people is a status and a flex and a sign of their power. However, it can be said that a wedding in its most essential nature is romance and intimacy and as such it does not require a crowd to authenticate it. A smaller and more intimate ceremony can be more true to life and leave room to be sincerely emotional without any formality. Then the question arises, whether the wedding should be celebrated by the entire community or by the two lovers only and close ones.
There is also the aspect of financial pressure. Other families incur debts in a bid to live to the expectations of society. Such a mentality as what people will say in case we do a simple wedding pushes couples to focus on the looks rather than the reality. Ironically, most of them experience financial hardships after the wedding, a situation that tries the love they were in the process of celebrating. It brings about the question: when love is meant to be the base, why then is its celebration to be measured on money?
Nevertheless, it can be said that modern weddings cannot be entirely excluded in this category of shallowness. To others, the expense on a big day is not an opportunity to flaunt but to make memories that they can carry on their lifetime. As long as the couple can afford it without stretching to their limits then maybe a grand wedding is just how they show that they feel good. The issue only crops in when weddings are taken to a greater extent of impressing the outside world rather than the joy of the couple.
Thus, are weddings about love or financial performances? The solution lies in the eye of the beholder. To others, they still are sacred forms of love and unity. To others, unfortunately, it is a group of performances that are motivated by social pressures and materialism. In the center of it, it is not the size of the wedding but the power of the relationship within that it should be judged. Weddings are a day, marriage is life after all.
Perhaps, the question that married couples need to ask themselves is: are we doing this because we are commemorating our love or we are trying to make a statement to other people? The solution would help them know whether their wedding will be an actual celebration of love- or another expensive performance.
Brenna AKARABO
RADIOTV10
