If you don't want to read the article, let me save you some time:

People are becoming more secular, and it's ruining marriage. The end. OH yeah, and please won't somebody think of the children?

I'm pretty sure my marriage was ruined by marrying the wrong woman...

Cythraul: If you don't want to read the article, let me save you some time:

People are becoming more secular, and it's ruining marriage. The end. OH yeah, and please won't somebody think of the children?

Ugh. My cousin recently got married. The pastor was terrible. I swear they picked him up on the street on the way. He read from a three ring binder.

I was once in court because of a traffic ticket and was the witness to a nice Filipino couple getting married by the presiding judge. It was nice. Bride and groom and family comes in, the judge says a few words about the ceremony, and then does the ceremony, and when the ceremony is over, everybody cheers, and the happy couple is off.

I think that's a good way to go about it. Maybe it's not glamorous, but the couple saves the $30,000-$50,000 dollars that some other acquaintances of mine have spent in pursuit of their "perfect" day. (Which is doubly retarded, since those acquaintances were already a couple hundred grand in the hole for law school.)

Diogenes: Cythraul: If you don't want to read the article, let me save you some time:

People are becoming more secular, and it's ruining marriage. The end. OH yeah, and please won't somebody think of the children?

Ugh. My cousin recently got married. The pastor was terrible. I swear they picked him up on the street on the way. He read from a three ring binder.

Hah! Could have been worse, I guess. The binder could have had the World of Warcraft logo on it, and the pastor could have given the ceremony in Klingon.

My brother got married in one of those $20.00 per marriage, don't have to wait more than an hour to get hitched kind of places. It was a 30 by 20 foot room with a few pews with enough seating to have maybe 20 to 30 people in there. They had some cheesy 80's love ballad playing over a tape player.

I come from a white-wedding, $50,000 price tag ceremony kind of family, so seeing him get married that way was a bit uncomfortable. But if that's what made him happy, that's good enough for me.

I think marriage these days with Bridezillas and such is getting a bit out of hand, so I can understand the desire for a 'low key' kind of marriage, but come on, ya gotta have at least a little bit of splurgy tradition involved.

Me being a homosexual, if my state/country ever recognizes gay marriage, I'll have a non-flashy marriage myself. The majority of those I would invite wouldn't take it seriously anyway, so it'll be my immediate family (mostly) and a not-so-pricey ceremony. But the importance of the commitment will still be taken as serious as any wedding should.

Cythraul: Hah! Could have been worse, I guess. The binder could have had the World of Warcraft logo on it, and the pastor could have given the ceremony in Klingon.

C'mon, a Klingon ceremony would've been awesome. And, who could forget four days on the path to Kal'Hyah?

RexTalionis: Cythraul: Hah! Could have been worse, I guess. The binder could have had the World of Warcraft logo on it, and the pastor could have given the ceremony in Klingon.

C'mon, a Klingon ceremony would've been awesome. And, who could forget four days on the path to Kal'Hyah?

I guess if you're nerdy enough, a nerd themed wedding would be awesome. I've read several news stories about themed weddings styled to fit the characters of the newly weds. At first I thought they were ridiculous. But now, those kinds of wedding seem more appropriate than the cookie cutter white weddings.

Magazines and websites love to trot out the latest wedding trends, such as "vintage touches," "eco-friendliness" and "good night stations." But these are all about style, not substance.

As a pastor, the trends that interest me most...

Oh, I immediately don't care what your opinion is.

the rise in non-clergy-officiated weddings.

Heaven farking forbid.

Cythraul: I guess if you're nerdy enough, a nerd themed wedding would be awesome.

If you're nerdy enough for a nerd wedding, you'd never condone the Horde symbol juxtaposed with anything Star Trek.



!=

kingoomieiii: Cythraul: I guess if you're nerdy enough, a nerd themed wedding would be awesome.

If you're nerdy enough for a nerd wedding, you'd never condone the Horde symbol juxtaposed with anything Star Trek.

[www.gamerdna.com image 131x131]

!=

[www.startreklives.de image 131x153]

Hey, it could have been a re-purposed binder. He was a lazy nerd-pastor who didn't remove the old WoW cover on his now Klingon marriage ceremonial binder.

In addition, a measure of accountability comes from making these promises in a public ceremony.

So people should get married because it's more difficult to break off, causing couples who don't like each other to stay together.

The more I see of modern Bridezillas the more I'm convinced that my ideal wedding will consist of eloping and spending the money that would've been on the wedding for a honeymoon to Antarctica.

If nothing else, I figure it's a good filter to find a guy I'm compatible with. Well that and I'd get a trip to Antarctica and not have to plan a wedding.

Cythraul: RexTalionis: Cythraul: Hah! Could have been worse, I guess. The binder could have had the World of Warcraft logo on it, and the pastor could have given the ceremony in Klingon.

C'mon, a Klingon ceremony would've been awesome. And, who could forget four days on the path to Kal'Hyah?

I guess if you're nerdy enough, a nerd themed wedding would be awesome. I've read several news stories about themed weddings styled to fit the characters of the newly weds. At first I thought they were ridiculous. But now, those kinds of wedding seem more appropriate than the cookie cutter white weddings.

A pair of my friends didn't have the whole wedding nerdy like that (and they spent WAY too much, like way WAY to much), but they did have some kind of WoW cocktail that was terrible tasting, but they liked it. Just fruity and sweet. Drank rum and coke the rest of the night.

Andromeda: The more I see of modern Bridezillas the more I'm convinced that my ideal wedding will consist of eloping and spending the money that would've been on the wedding for a honeymoon to Antarctica.

If nothing else, I figure it's a good filter to find a guy I'm compatible with. Well that and I'd get a trip to Antarctica and not have to plan a wedding.

Sounds nice. Cold is infinitely preferable to hot tropical places.

FTFA: This shift ultimately will harm kids because children in married family households are far less likely to live in poverty than those in single-parent households.

You know, I would tend to believe you, but:



Some stats would be nice, too.

kingoomieiii: Magazines and websites love to trot out the latest wedding trends, such as "vintage touches," "eco-friendliness" and "good night stations." But these are all about style, not substance.

As a pastor, the trends that interest me most...

Oh, I immediately don't care what your opinion is.

Yeah, I read that and immediately saw the bias coming from a galaxy away.

kingoomieiii: pastor

I always wondered, is a Pastafarian clergyman referred to as a pastar?

xanadian: FTFA: This shift ultimately will harm kids because children in married family households are far less likely to live in poverty than those in single-parent households.

How about children who grow up with two unmarried parents who live together and love each other? "Common law" marriages aren't pastor-officiated, and no ceremony is involved.

We had a Dudeist Priest. The rug really tied our love together.

RexTalionis: I think that's a good way to go about it. Maybe it's not glamorous, but the couple saves the $30,000-$50,000 dollars that some other acquaintances of mine have spent in pursuit of their "perfect" day. (Which is doubly retarded, since those acquaintances were already a couple hundred grand in the hole for law school.)

Watch out, the bridal-industrial complex will be gunning for you now.

just as with a building, little is more important than its foundation. So a marriage's starting point - the wedding day - should be more than just cake and cocktails.

The wedding day is a marriage's foundation? Really?

No. No, it isn't.

I know I'd never have another one. The fifth circle of hell is wedding planning. Just continuous wedding planning.

although neither one of us is religious, we had a pastor marry us in the church that my husband's grandfather built. The pastor is awesome, tends to lean more on the blessings and love side of things than the dogma side. He's one of those people who just exudes warmth. He's doing the blessing for our son in a month or so.