Romantic Weddings

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Continued from Page 16

which involves advertising and retail-
ing, and tracks the trends.
Here are the latest statistics from

Bride's

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FURNISHINGS

:

• Five million people were mar-
ried in 1987, the sixth highest figure
in United States history and up six
percent in the past 10 years.
• Ninety percent of all marriages
survive.
• Median age of first-marriage
brides is 23.6 years, 25.8 years for
grooms.
• June is the most popular month
for weddings, followed by (in order)
August, July and September. The least
popular months are March and
November (a tie), February and
January (last place).
Elegant clothes, elaborate food,
a majestic setting, and an average of
200 guests are the norm today,
according to Loss.
"People are going back to their
traditional values and customs, and
bringing back their ethnic heritage" in-
to the ceremony and reception, Loss
says. For example, bedeken, the
ceremony of veiling the bride by the
groom in conjunction with the sign-
ing of the ketubah, the marriage docu-
ment, is being practiced increasingly
at Conservative weddings.
But modern wedding couples
want to combine tradition with an up-
dated flair. Loss sees couples incor-
porating the traditional aspects of the
ceremony that appeal to them with
their own creative touch, adding
things like personalized vows and
special music. The highly personal-
ized weddings of the 1960s, held in
such unusual places as mountaintops
and meadows, are, in Loss' words,
" passe in the 1980s."
Taking the long view, the most
dramatic change in weddings over the
past ten years has been the role of the
groom. Once his only duty was to
show up on time and say "I do." Now,
he may take an active part in planning
the wedding or at least, his wishes will
be consulted.
More often, the bridal couple
plans the ceremony and reception
together, as well as picking out their

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THE JEWISH NEWS 93