Till Death Do We Part

Love is in the air, wedding bells are ringing, and flour babies are being born. The sociology class at Long Reach High School just completed its Wedding Ceremony event. Students pretended to get married to experience the marriage process and learn the importance of it, as well as experienced the major responsibilities which come with having kids.

“It is fun to get ‘married’ to my friend and get a fake ring,” said Long Reach Junior Sarah Isacoff. “I [also] learned that marriages are very formal and that the ceremony is not nearly as short as it seems in the movies.”

Isacoff’s recommendation to anyone getting married is, “If they don’t want to plan anything or spend a lot of money, they should have a simple wedding.” This might be good advice considering the average cost of a wedding in the United States is $31,231.

While one of the happiest events in life, the wedding process can be considered one of the most stressful as well. The bride and groom to-be need to budget the wedding appropriately, family members can make special requests added challenges in the planning process, or even cold feet can occur and people can have second thoughts.

“I felt really stressed,” said Junior Brenna Morrison. “I didn’t want any accidents because [it was my grade at stake].”

The project itself is more than just the wedding ceremony, however. “Students do extensive research- reading articles, analyzing the most recent data available on marriage and divorce, as well as working with a partner for an extended period and having to decide how the work would be divided between them,” said Ms. Murphy, detailing how every step of the project accurately displays the importance of the marriage process to students.

“The flour baby in particular tests their ability to communicate effectively, and work through conflicts,” she added.

After the wedding ceremonies, the sociology class held a panel to explain the reason behind taking that binding oath. “The purpose of the panel was to identify some things that are commonly experienced in a marriage,” said sociology teacher Ms. Murphy.

Junior Rhiannon Reilly commented, “[Having] the privilege to hear about multiple people’s marriages is the big takeaway. Hearing about their troubles and challenges made [us] realize it’s important for them to stick together.” She also said, “The biggest contributing factor to a successful marriage has to be trust. [It] gives you a chance to bond, and being able to bond helps provide a stable relationship where you can [easily] communicate and expand your relationship to the next level.”

Morrison said, “The wedding panel gave us all perspective about how different every couple is, but the two most commons themes that everyone [shared] were love and trust.”

Weddings can mean a lot of things to many people. To some, weddings symbolize a bond between two people, while the status celebration of the day is what appeals to others. Learning to love and sharing that emotion for an eternity is what marriage can be all about for many. Despite the motivation to marry, the truth is that marriage is a journey. Marriage is a societal bond written on page and tied with rings for the partners, but it is the friendship between those people that will mean the most in the end.