Wedding mania
I think it’s so cool. No matter where I turn, there seems to be someone planning a wedding. In this course I know of three people getting married soon. That’s like 19 percent of the class! As you can tell, I’m not use to the getting-married-early-thing.
I met a 24 year old girl who was in the middle of her wedding plans. I told her that it is kind of surprising to me that people are marrying this early in there lives. But of course, she didn’t think that this is early – in fact she thinks that it is late!
So, here’s the deal: I’m turning 23 this year, and I have no plan of getting married in the following years. In fact, I don’t even know anyone back home that are marrying this early. At the weddings that I’ve been to, the people getting married has been close to 30 years old.
But – and there is a big but here – after doing some research about the area, I’m confused. According to statistics, the most common age to get married in Sweden is 25-29 years old. In Oklahoma, the average age for a female to marry is 25 while the average age for a male is 27. Do you see my dilemma? How come I perceive such a difference between Sweden and Oklahoma, when people actually are almost the same age?
By the way, did you know that a basic wedding in Oklahoma cost about $5,714.00?
February 6th, 2006 at 4:18 pm
Oklahomans are a bizarre people. You’ve hit one of the problems with Okies right on the head. But I think you were only talking about people who marry right after college. Just think, Okies that don’t go to college are even more likely to get married young! I don’t even really want to get married at all, let alone like right out of high school. But there is one good sociological benefit to marrying young. Women who marry younger tend to have healthier babies and tend to finish their child bearing at younger ages. This allows them to enjoy their lives after their children leave home. This also allows them to start their careers w/o interuption, which does major damage to women’s careers and families when they have to take time off for babies.
February 6th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
Your perception is probably skewed because you’re in a college town. It’s a trend to get married right out of college here. But I don’t think it’s a good thing. I think we marry too young. Take a look at the divorce rates for our great state and you’ll see what I mean. Of course, I really can’t complain since I’m planning to marry in July. But I do think it’s a problem.
And yes, weddings are crazy expensive. They can get out of control really quickly, if you ask me. My fiancee and I are planning a pretty simple wedding, so hopefully we can stay under that $5K mark.