Rituals: The Socialization Of American Weddings

Imagine you are sitting on a stool at a wedding ceremony waiting for the bride to make her appearance. As she begins to walk down the aisle alone, and to a pop song, you notice she is wearing a bright blue wedding gown. Would you really feel as though it was a wedding you were attending? Something like this is hard to imagine, because it goes against the traditional rituals universal to American weddings. For example, you would expect to be seated on a comfortable folding chair, awaiting the bride to be walked down the aisle to the traditional wedding song, while wearing a floor length white wedding gown. However, have you ever wondered why this scenario would be your expectation? I believe that the weddings of today have been turned into performances that suppress the real meaning behind marriage. The symbolic rituals have become so routine that the bride and

We have started to expect that a good wedding is also an expensive wedding, and those who do not spend the excess money obviously cannot love their partners as much as those who spend the average thirty-two thousands dollars. Because of the financial pressure that society puts on love, the meaning behind wedding rituals have been replaced by a competitive performance where those who do not have the means to compete are marginalized.
Typically at a wedding, the bride and groom are engaging in what is referred to as front stage behavior. This deals with the couple's presentation of self. Ideally, the bride and groom are supposed to have a smooth wedding without flaws or interruptions, that caters to both them and their guests. In this situation everyone attending is playing role, where the bride and groom are the main characters, their wedding