groom pay for his bride's rings and
wedding gift, the marriage license,
gifts for his best man and ushers, the
bridal bouquet, going-away corsage,
mothers' corsages and boutonnieres
for the men in the wedding party.
As for the groom's family, they've
gotten off pretty easy. They've paid
for their wedding outfits, travel
expenses, hotel bills, and a wedding
gift. They have often hosted rehearsal
dinners — an option, not a requisite.
The flip side of this coin is that
things are slowly changing. No longer
is the bride's family thought to be
marrying her off." The bride enters
marriage with a good educational
background and a career often the
equivalent of her husband's. She is
usually self-supporting, mature and
prepared to be an equal partner in life.
Though there are still many
traditional weddings, there is no longer
a prescribed blueprint for them. Sta-
tistics tell us June brides are on the
wane, and 54 percent of all brides are
married during the second half of the
year now. Some couples write their
own vows and ceremonies. Some
brides, into chic, select black for their
bridesmaids' dresses.
One woman learned a lesson
from her own lavish wedding, and gave
her daughters a choice.
"When our first daughter became
engaged, we sat down with all four of
our daughters and said, 'We're willing
to spend X amount of dollars on each
child, one marriage per child. You can
do whatever you want with the money.
You can have a big wedding, buy a
house or take the cash. "
Years ago, these parents had
opted for a big wedding. Today, this
mother looks at things from a different
vantage point and says, "When we got
married, my husband was in medical
school. That $18,000 spent on our
wedding would have made starting out
a lot easier?'
According to Cele Lalli, Modern
Bride's editor-in-chief, "In 1989,
flexibility is in and rigidity is out. It's
very expensive to have a reception of
any size today. In order to
accommodate all those people gra-
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THE JEWISH NEWS 23