wedding traditions...?

Question

Hiya

I'm doing some sociology coursework on the 'white wedding' and would like to know from those of you who are married or are planning on marrying whether:

a) you include these traditions (such as the white dress) for religious reasons?

b) you had/are having a white wedding because this is the style you prefer?

c) if the traditions have personal meaning to you rather than religious reasons?

d) if money is an issue when planning a wedding and whether this determines the type of wedding you have?

e) why you have chosen to get married - for religion, the party or other reasons?

Thank you for helping

Jess xx

Answer 1

a) my dress will be ivory because i want it to be, and somewhat for tradition's sake. i'm not religious, that's not a factor for me.

b) the style of my wedding isn't the traditional cookie-cutter wedding, it's more laid back and easy going, as representation of our personalities.

c) some traditions i'm following, some i'm not. for example, i will be doing the old/new/borrowed/blue, but i will be walking myself down the aisle (that's a personal preference, i feel that i am no one's "posession", therefore there's no need to be "given away")

d) we are on a tight budget, but i think that even if money wasn't an issue for us, we'd still be having the same laid back style of wedding, except maybe having better food and drink options. a stuffy formal ceremony and reception isn't like us at all.

e) like i said before, religion isn't a factor. my fiance and i have an amazing life together, and we both feel that it is worth celebrating with our family and friends.

Answer 2

My wedding is in December 2007. here are my thoughts. good luck on your project.

a) you include these traditions (such as the white dress) for religious reasons?: Although i am no virgin, i am wearing a white dress. In the victorian era white symbolized purity of heart and the innocence of childhood before the concept of virginity came about. I mostly chose it because i am having a Black & white themed wedding though.

b) you had/are having a white wedding because this is the style you prefer? I do think that as far as style yes i chose this because i prefer the occasion to be much more formal than anything i should ever attend in my life. A white wedding was reference to Queen Victoria, a Royal wedding. And there is no reason why a girl shouldnt feel like royalty for at least one day in her life.

c) if the traditions have personal meaning to you rather than religious reasons? I am incorporating a few different things into my wedding to tie in Modern ideas with both my families religous tranditions...my family is half jewish have roman catholic and my fiances is presbytarian. So we really went for a mixture of a lot of different things to tie our wedding together.

d) if money is an issue when planning a wedding and whether this determines the type of wedding you have? Money is an issue, a formal wedding is very expensive. But it doesnt make it any more special than a quiet bbq wedding...just personal preference. The couple should always begin the plans by setting a firm budget...we can spend X amount and try really hard to stick to it. Things tend to add up really quickly. The average american wedding costing between $15-30K. I have been to some that cost $5000 and some nearly $100K and all of them were beautiful.

e) why you have chosen to get married - for religion, the party or other reasons? Although the statistics are against most of us, we have chose (my fiance and I) to get married we chose to get married because of both religous reasons & tradition. We would also like to start a family and we think people should be married before doing so.

Answer 3

Keep in mind my budget was 10K and we stuck tto that pretty well...in fact I think we were under.

A) I am wearing a white wedding dress simply because I think it looks better than ivory or whatever other color...I dont go to chruch, so it's not religious, but maybe it is a little bit because of tradition...but mostly I LOVE white on me.

B) I am having a "white wedding" because I feel you only get married once and why not do it the way you always dreamed of doing it.

C) My wedding is more unique than traditional... I am walking down the isle to "Music of the Night" and my best friend is marrying us, she is certified as a solemnizer for a day from the State of Mass. We wrote the entire ceremony ourselves and got insperation for things to say online. We are including a rose ceremony in leiu of a Unity Candle because I like the idea better.

D) Money was an issue somewhat and it did determine how big my wedding could be, but not how nice. For 10k I am have a beatiful outdoor ceremony and an indoor reception with finnger foods.

E) We wanted to get married because we love each other and want to start a family together. We feel marriage will bring us closer together as a couple.

Answer 4

a) no, my wedding is not going to be religious. this is a choice my fiance and I have made together.

b) i am having a white wedding because I have always pictures myself in a white dress at my wedding. My dress will have a sash that is red around the waist thought to give it a modern feel.

c) personal

d) yes, money has been an issue. Do to this, we are having a small, private wedding ceremony and having a large reception/celebration right after. That way, we can focus our budget on one affair rather than two.

e) I have chosen to get married because I love the man I am with. He is my best friend, and the one I hope to be with for the rest of my life. As for having an actual wedding ceremony and reception, we have chosen this because we feel that weddings are a time of celebration and a way to bring our families together, even if for one night only.

Answer 5

a) The traditions my fiancee and I plan to include are because we like them (something old, something new, something borrowed, something new, etc.) not for religious reasons. We are not getting married by the church.

b) I plan to wear a white dress (cotton & light, not a gown) for good luck more than anything else. Our wedding is going to be very laid-back and simple, on the beach.

c) The ones we are following are because they have personal meaning. We are breaking a lot of traditions, too-no bridesmaids, my mom will be walking me down the "aisle" (again, it's going to be outdoors), no gowns or tuxes, we have actually told people they can come in jeans and barefoot if they want! :)

d) Yes, money is definetely an issue. We are currently considering changing our wedding location to save on money. We probably would have had a much bigger reception than what we are planning if money had not been an issue (my guy has a HUGE family and lots of friends), but the wedding itself would probably have been just as laid back.

e) Not for religion or the party- we want to get married to "make it official", and we want to celebrate our decision to live the rest of our lives together.

Hope this helps! :)

Answer 6

I am getting married in 5 weeks, have decided to marry my fiance not only b/c society is just kind of like that but b/c I love him dearly. Not that marraige would change that feeling but its the way we are raised, you go through school, graduate, wed, have kids, retire. Cycle of life!!
I choose the white wedding dress b/c that is standard. White, Ivory are usually the only bridal gowns you'll find, and besides what other day in your life can you get away with and all white ballgown, lol.
Money is defiantley an issue and sort of determines the stlye of wedding you'll have. I am on a budget so I have really done my homeowrk to still have the wedding of my dreams. Of course I had to compromise on some things, but the stuff that really matters will be done the way I always dreamed of it.
Religion really played no part in any of my decisions, but I wasn't raised in a very religious home either.

Answer 7

a- most of our decisions are for personal reasons or traditions and don't have much to do with religion.

b- my dress is white, just because it was what I liked and my groom asked me to wear white because he wanted to wear white tie and vest with his tux.

c- the traditions we are following again, are for mostly personal reasons. The religious aspect is that we are having a minister conduct our service and there will be mentions of god and worship in our service because i believe very strongly on a spiritual level even when it doesn't dictate my religions specifics.

d- money is playing a role in the type of wedding we are having. Regardless we still are planning a small immediate friends and family only ceremony. Location would be the biggest change. We are getting married in our hometown, if money weren't an object, we would be going to a beach somewhere. Other than that I can't see much of a difference. We are celebrating our marriage, but we are planning and want to put our money toward our new life and marriage, instead of one day. That's what renewal ceremonies are for.

e- I've always wanted to get married. I have always felt that one of the greatest honors is to be someone's partner. I am marrying my future spouse, because he asked and because we love each other. The deciding to get married wasn't for religious reasons.

Hope this input helps!!!!

Answer 8

nothing about my wedding was done or planned for religious purposes. neither my husband or are religious. I wore a white dress because I feel it represents a new beginning and marriage is a new beginning. money wasnt necessairly an issue as it was something we just didnt want to spend alot of. I think its crazy to spend thousands on a wedding. people had a great time at our wedding for under $4000...probably a better time then they would have if we had a fancy $20000 where peoeple are afraid to touch anything. and the reason we got married was to join ourselves for life. we felt if we were serious about spending our lives together then there was no reason not to have a wedding to celebrate that with our friends and family. and jus or the record...it was a pretty great party!

Answer 9

a) I'm not including any tradition for religious reasons. I'm including some traditions because I simply like them, and others because my fiance does. I like cake, so I'm having a wedding cake. I think flowers are pretty, so I'm having bouquets. I detest the symbolism of the veil; thus, I'm not wearing one.

b) I'm having a wedding that is ivory, champagne, and dark blue...no white. I'm very pale and don't look good in white. Plus, I think it's boring and overdone. I look good in ivory.

c) Yes, some traditions have personal meaning to me. My father is walking me down the aisle not because he's "giving me" to my husband, but because he's my daddy, I love him, and I want him as part of the wedding.

d) Very much yes! We are on a tight budget, so my dream of having a Sylvia Weinstock wedding cake will not happen. Money is definitely a factor in every decision we are making about the wedding.

e) My fiance and I are getting married because we love each other and want to be a family. We want the world to know of our committment to each other and it's just something we want. Plus, it'll make it easier for our kids that we want to have in the future.

Answer 10

a), b) and c) all have the same answer...I included these traditions simply because they were part of the "perfect wedding" picture that I had in my head. It had nothing to do with religion or really even tradition...more the hallmark/barbie world we live in.

d) Money is always an issue. Most definitely, it effected my wedding, and will effect my daughter's wedding. We have limitations, and must adjust accordingly.

e) I chose to get married because I knew that my husband was the only man for me for the rest of my life, and he felt the same about me. It had nothing to do with faith.