Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Wedding Traditions

Less starry eyed, and more pragmatic after one year of marriage…

It struck me now just how ludicrously extravagant everything to do with a wedding is. Why do we working folks save up for years to finance one incredibly expensive day, only to start our real married life feeling distinctly poor?

V lost his wedding band, and for months, we put off buying a new one, hoping that the ring would eventually turn up. It didn’t, and we finally went back to the same goldsmith for another pair of wedding rings. That was when I realized that the slender band of metal cost so much! I mean, a pair with the simplest of designs, without diamonds, would set us back by almost one thousand bucks! And worse, most of the rings insist on coming with diamonds, which means we are left with few choices. I conclude that they do everything they can to make wedding rings expensive, because love-struck couples wouldn’t know any better, and probably wouldn’t notice the price anyway.

In the first place, who says love has to be represented by wedding rings? It seems to me to be one of those traditions that have somehow managed to become very commercially lucrative. One feels vaguely compelled to observe them, but what intrinsic value is there in wearing a metal ring around your finger? At least, if I love wearing accessories, it is good excuse to get a nice one. But being no lover of trinkets, the ring simply seems a pointless expenditure to me, especially if one is going to lose it after a year.
We walked out of the shop empty handed. One day, the man has to get another one, I suppose. But not today.

1 comment:

snake said...

Yes.... that's why Rabbit and I had an agreement. Our first pair costs only $50. Whoever loses his or her ring will pay for the next pair at double the price. He broke the $25 ring, and we couldn't find a $50 one so he had to buy a $500 one. :P After that, we stopped wearing our rings altogether.