“It’s 2022”, is a phrase that all of us have said or heard at one time or another. Many things and people are evolving and new normals are made what seems like everyday. Weddings are changing and traditional weddings have become a thing of the past. 

These days, any building and any view are used as wedding venues. White wedding dresses are a thing of the past, and weddings are no longer only the unity of a man to a woman.

While I do think that it is a great thing to have different options for brides because they are not all the same, but weddings now no longer symbolize what they are supposed to. 

I want to go all the way back to the reason we even get married. According to the Bible, marriage is a symbol of an agreement between a husband and a wife as well as a commitment between the couple and God. Genesis 2:24: Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 

I believe that a marriage is a symbol of God’s love and is more than just a license. That it is not only an emotional connection, but a spiritual one. I also believe that if the couple is not equally yoked, they should not be married. 

Being equally yoked means that the couple are both saved. If you marry a person that is not on the same spiritual level as you, then that can corrupt your marriage later on down the line. 2 Corinthians 6:14: Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Different aspects of a wedding have different meanings and symbolize different things. According to an article by Vows Bridal, a white wedding dress represents purity, goodness, and virginity. I am going to take a dramatic stance and say that if a bride has lost her innocence, then she shouldn’t wear a white wedding dress. 

I was raised in a strict Southern Baptist church and was raised with these traditional values and still believe them for myself as I have become an independent adult. Along with wearing a white wedding dress a bride should also wear a veil. According to a Richmond Times Article, a veil symbolizes modesty and obedience.

Growing up, my mom explained the symbolism of a veil to me as when you are given away by your father and become a wife, the lifting of a veil symbolizes the lifting of the life you had before to your new life one now as a wife. 

Like I mentioned earlier, any building and pretty view can be used as a wedding venue. I believe however, that a wedding is meant to be held in a church. When you get married in a church you are able to proclaim and honor your faith because the unity of two is to be before God. 

Another thing that typically happens after a wedding is that wives change their last names to their husbands. This is something that has become less and less popular and having a hyphenated last name is very popular. 

I think that as a bride when you take your husband’s name it shows how committed you are to him and as a wife you are to let your husband be the head of the household and are to submit to him. Ephesians 5:22: Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 

I just think that society has a `if it works, it works” mindset towards marriage and marriage should be a one time thing. It is important to hold to these traditions and not replace the true meaning of a marriage.