Thoughts on Weddings and Marriage

Some people like weddings. Some people do not. I happen to be one of those people that does not like weddings. To me, a wedding is a big fancy event that you have to get dressed up for, probably travel some distance out of your normal range, and watch 2 people basically have a party for themselves. Now of course you are not forced to attend weddings, but if someone you know or someone close to you is getting married, you pretty much have to go because it is expected.

I have been lucky so far and I have not had to attend too many weddings, but unfortunately I am getting to be around the age where other people my age such as cousins and relatives are starting to get married. This got me thinking about the whole process and what it means to everyone involved.

Personally I have no intention of getting married or having a wedding. To me, it is an outdated custom. The thought of having a a ceremony and a party where I am the center of attention just seems like a nightmare. To me, it actually seems selfish to have a wedding and invite a bunch of people to it. I say this because when someone invites you to a wedding, they expect you to attend. By doing this, they are pretty much saying, ok on this day, drop everything you would normally do and come attend this event for me. Also you are expected to bring a gift or monetary donation. I know weddings are expensive, but no one said you had to spend all this money to get married.

If I was to ever get married, it would only be because of technical benefits such as tax breaks or cheaper car insurance. Even that whole issue is unfair, but that is another story. Also if I was to get married, I would keep the process and small and inexpensive as possible. No ceremony or party, just sign whatever documents need to be signed to make it official.

These days people can be together and live together without having to create a legally binding contract. All that does is make things messy later on should there be a split or divorce. Of course the institution of marriage has been around a long time and a deeply engrained custom like that is hard to break. For now, those of us who don't like going to weddings just have to suck it up and go to them even when we don't want to.