WHAT IT IS

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WEDDING

The ceremony in which a marriage is enacted and announced to the community is called a wedding. A wedding in which a couple marry in the ‘eyes of the law’ is called a civil marriage. Religions also facilitate weddings, in the ‘eyes of God’. In many European and some Latin American countries, where someone chooses a religious ceremony, they must also hold that ceremony separate from the civil ceremony. In some countries, notably the United States, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Spain both ceremonies can be held together; the officiant at the religious and community ceremony also serves as an agent of the state to enact the civil marriage. That does not mean that the state is recognising religious marriages; the ‘civil’ ceremony just takes place at the same time as the religious ceremony. Often this involves simply signing a register during the religious ceremony. If for whatever reason, that civil element of the full ceremony is left out, in the eyes of the law no marriage took place, irrespective of the holding of the religious ceremony.

— From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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WEDDING STATISTICS

  • Weddings are a $25.3 billion industry.
  • For the past 20 years, 2.25 million to 2.40 million weddings take place each year in the United States, a third of them remarriages.
  • Most brides (30 percent) plan their weddings for 7 to 12 months.
  • An average of 189 guests attends a wedding.
  • The average cost of a wedding is $20,000 to $25,000.
  • 48 percent of Hallmark wedding cards are sold during summer months (May through August).
  • Most (85 percent) weddings are held in a church or synagogue.
  • More than half of all weddings take place in the afternoon.
  • Hawaii is the favorite honeymoon destination.
  • Most wedding cards are from friends. (Brides 18 to 39 receive 85 percent of all wedding cards.)
  • About two-thirds of wedding cards are hand delivered.
  • Most (about 75 percent) first-time brides will receive a diamond engagement ring (67 percent of repeat brides).
  • A third of men’s wedding rings have diamonds.
  • August is the top month for weddings (10.2 percent) and June is second (9.9 percent).
  • While June typically has been regarded as the month for weddings, more weddings have been in August in the past decade than in June, including the past three years.
  • The average engagement is 16 months (up from 11 months in 1990) and the average ring costs $2,000.
  • The average first-time bride was 22 in 1980, 25 in 1990, and 25.1 today.
  • The average age of remarrying brides was 32 in 1980, 35 in 1990, and 34 in 2000.
  • The average age of the first-time groom is 26.8 and 37+ for the remarrying groom.
  • Four out of five brides are employed.
  • Money is the most-desired wedding gift.

— Excerpted from Wedding Facts & Trends, researched and compiled by Rachel Bolton, Hallmark Press Room.

Don't Panic!

WEDDING HUMOR

Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother, “Why is the bride dressed in white?”

“Because white is the color of happiness and today is the happiest day of her life,” her mother tried to explain, keeping it simple.

The child thought about this for a moment, then said, “So, why’s the groom wearing black?”