Open Mind 2 – Unit

10
Writing

Are wedding traditions a thing of the past?

A survey of 2,000 UK adults found 88% of Brits would not stick to wedding traditions if they were
to get married or get married again.
More than a third (36%) believed couples should create their own traditions according to their
personal tastes. While almost 25% believed wedding traditions are 'part of the fun' of getting
married, 27% claimed they were old fashioned and couples shouldn't have to stick to them.

Just 17% of respondents had attended a wedding where the bride walked down the aisle to the
traditional wedding march, and only 18% said the bride followed the 'something old, something
new, something borrowed, something blue' convention.

Mancunians and Scots were the most defiant against tradition, with 99% of Glasgow locals saying
they wouldn’t following wedding traditions if they were to get married or get married again, and
 90% of those in Manchester and Edinburgh sharing the same opinion.

Aoife Davey, group marketing manager at One4all Gift Cards, commented: “What’s really
interesting from the data is how many people believe wedding traditions are a thing of the past, and
in fact, it is now the personal tastes of the bride and groom that make the day special."
“21st-century couples are more concerned about ensuring finer details of their nuptials reflect
themselves and their tastes and interests as opposed to following archaic traditions that don’t
necessarily mean anything to them.”

After you read the research results above, and watch the videos about
wedding traditions, write an opinion essay:

Do you agree that wedding traditions are a thing of the past?

Remember, an essay has at least 4 paragraphs, introduction,
development (2 paragraphs) and conclusion.
As the years go by, societies transform and change their internal thinking. Thus, traditions
that were obligatory for all members of society and seen as something necessary and
sacred, today, we cannot say the same about them. Concepts, practices, and ideas that used
to belong to these societies are falling off the boat and into the pit of oblivion. First, it is
necessary to analyze the reasons for these transitions and the impacts they will have in the
future and we need to look at the origins of traditional marriage and what remains of it.

Traditional marriage, as a ceremony of such importance, that is, a "union" of two souls who
are willing to live together "forever", has its origin in Biblical foundations. When talking about
facts that have happened in history and the agents that act upon it, in which they have
promoted innumerable transformations, it is important to emphasize that the changes that
have occurred during the past centuries have weakened these biblical ideas, constituting our
current time.

According to philosopher Zygmunt Bauman, “Liquid Modernity” marks social relations in

postmodernism, which refers to the present time. This means that social relations are
flexible, unstable, and volatile like water. Based on this logic, various institutions within our
society are weakening and becoming more fragile. One example of such institutions is
marriage. In our time, the notion that "nothing is forever" predominates and we are
completely sure of this. Therefore, spending a lot of money on a wedding ceremony is not
worth it. People prefer simpler celebrations than in the past, and this is not the only reason.

As we reflect on the institution of marriage, we realize that traditional marriage is increasingly

becoming outdated. This is not just a simple personal choice, since society influences our
choices and decisions constantly. Money moves our lives. We are quantified and evaluated
into paper notes, but they ultimately decides the fate of our future. As a result, people may
end up preferring to have ceremonies where it is not necessary to spend a lot of money.
There are those who value the ideal of an idealized love before a material love, a love based
on what you carry in your heart, instead of thinking of the love that you carry in your hands.