VOICE ONE:
More than two-million marriages are performed each year in theUnited States. June is one of the most popular months for thesewedding ceremonies. I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Shirley Griffith. We tell about weddings on our reporttoday on the VOA Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
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VOICE ONE:
More than four-million Americans get married each year. Some ofthese people will have a traditional wedding ceremony in a religiouscenter, a hotel or a social club. These couples may invite hundredsof people to their celebrations.
Other couples will have a simple ceremony performed by a judge ina public building. They will invite only close family members andfriends. They may not have the money to spend on a big wedding. Orthey may want to save money for a wedding trip to a faraway place orto help them buy a house.
Americans get married in different ways. But the meaning of allthese weddings is the same. The bride and groom promise to spend therest of their lives together.
VOICE TWO:
Big weddings have created a huge business in the United States. Abig wedding requires special clothing, flowers, food preparation,photographs and music. Experts say the average American weddingcosts about twenty-thousand dollars. Some estimates say Americansspend as much as seventy-thousand-million dollars a year foreverything connected with weddings.
Traditionally, the bride’s parents plan and pay for the wedding.Sometimes the groom’s parents share this responsibility. Today manyAmericans are older when they get married. So they often organizeand pay for their own weddings.
VOICE ONE:
For example, a businessman and a nurse in Boston, Massachusettswill marry later this month. They will have a traditional Americanchurch wedding. The bride will wear a long white dress and a whitehead covering called a veil. She also will wear four othertraditional things: Something old. Something new. Somethingborrowed. And something blue. These four things are supposed tobring her good luck.
During the ceremony she and her groom will accept each other ashusband and wife. They will promise to love and honor each otheralways. The groom will place a gold wedding ring on the third fingerof the bride’s left hand. The bride will place a gold wedding ringon the third finger of the groom’s left hand. The clergy memberperforming the ceremony will declare that they are husband and wife.Then the bride and groom will kiss.
VOICE TWO:
In the past few months the couple agreed about all the plans fortheir wedding except the music. The groom wanted a friend to play astring instrument called a banjo during the ceremony. The bridewanted a friend to play a string instrument called a harp. Now theyhave compromised. They agreed that another friend will sing one ofthe most popular songs heard at American weddings. Celine Dion singsthis song, “My Heart Will Go On.”
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VOICE ONE:
Couples planning their weddings can get wedding advice frommarried friends. They can study magazines published especially forpeople getting married. They can pay a professional wedding plannerto help organize the ceremony and party. And they can also use theInternet computer system to plan their wedding.
“Modern Bride” magazine says more than one-million couples buywedding products and services on the Internet. The bride and groomcan communicate with family members and friends who will take partin the celebration.
They can look at pictures of clothes they may wear during theceremony. They can choose flowers. They can decide where to hold thewedding party, and what food and drink will be served. They canstudy where to take a wedding trip. They can buy tickets fortransportation and hotels.
VOICE TWO:Some couples also establish their own Web sites. Thisway, they can provide needed information to people invited to thewedding from distant places. For example, two-hundred people wereinvited to a recent wedding in Chicago, Illinois. The couple had theceremony in a church near the bride’s home. But more than half ofthose who attended lived far from Chicago.
The wedding couple’s Web site advised these guests about placesto stay and things to do in the city. It provided maps showing howto reach the church and the club where the wedding dinner would beserved. The bride said she saved time and money by not having tomail this information to the guests.
VOICE ONE:
Wedding guests traditionally give a gift to the bride and groom.Computer technology also is making it easier for guests to find theperfect gift. Sometimes guests can do this without leaving home.
For example, a couple can go to a store and choose gifts theywould like to receive. These include things for their home likedishes and cooking equipment. The store can print a list of allthese things. This list also can be found on the Internet. Guestscan buy a gift at the store or on the Internet.
VOICE TWO:
Sometimes the bride and groom give gifts to their guests. Thesegifts may be baskets filled with candy and small bottles of wine. Orthe baskets may contain objects that will help guests remember thewedding celebration. For example, a bride from South Carolina lovesto play tennis. Her gift baskets included tennis balls printed withthe couple’s names and the date of their wedding.
Another bride and groom were married in a hotel garden. Theceremony took place on a hot spring day. Guests received gifts ofhats to protect them from the sun.
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VOICE ONE:
Experts say about half of American weddings this year will not becostly or require months of planning. Melinda Reed is a clergywomanat a Protestant church in Bethesda, Maryland. Reverend Reed saysmany couples today choose simple, nontraditional weddings. This isespecially true of older people who have been married before.
She recently performed a nontraditional wedding for an oldercouple. Their wedding ceremony was held in the garden of a privatehome. The couple had a total of ten children from their earliermarriages. Their many grandchildren all took part in their ceremony.
Reverend Reed also performed a nontraditional wedding ceremonyfor a bride and groom who were more than eighty years old. They weremarried quietly in an office in the church. But later, the coupledanced at a big party for family and friends.
VOICE TWO:
Couples can have simple wedding ceremonies almost anywhere. Somepeople have their weddings on a beautiful beach or in a wooded area.Others marry in the home of a friend. Friends and family membershelp prepare the wedding meal. A couple in Washington, D-C wasmarried almost thirty years ago in a public park. Now theirtwenty-seven-year-old son is planning to marry this year. He says heand his bride will be married in the same park.
VOICE ONE:
Earlier this month, Reverend Reed performed a wedding at a famousmonument in Washington. The couple had received permission to marryat the Jefferson Memorial. This circular white memorial contains astatue of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the UnitedStates.
Visitors to the memorial gathered nearby to watch and listen. Thestatue of President Jefferson watched over the wedding couple asthey promised to live together for the rest of their lives.
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced byGeorge Grow. Our studio engineer was Keith Holmes. I’m ShirleyGriffith.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another reportabout life in the United States on the VOA Special English program,THIS IS AMERICA.