Marriage is Beautiful

The importance of wedding ceremonies

Doug and I got married on January 9th, 2023. It was an Indian ceremony on my house terrace in Kolkata, India. A small, fun wedding attended by closest family and friends, it was just the way we like it.

Many people ask: How do you feel after marriage? Does anything feel different?

Most respond saying: “It’s the same.”

But that’s not how I feel. I feel different. I feel great. I feel over the top. It was the happiest day of my life. I knew for a long time that I’d marry Doug, but somehow I feel closer to him after the wedding. Our bond feels stronger. And having a wedding ceremony with loved ones certainly made a big difference.

Some people question whether they should do a wedding ceremony: “Why not simply do a court marriage? The ceremony is merely a formality.” It’s not. The ceremony holds so much significance that it’s hard to describe the feeling in words. I don’t think I would have felt the strength of the commitment we’ve entered into if I just signed some papers.

The wedding ceremony marks an important life event. It’s auspicious. It makes all the trivialities of life fall to the dust. It’s the beginning of a new chapter in your life. I doubt Doug and my day-to-day will change much, and yet I feel all the difference, in a beautiful heavenly way.

The ceremony is a celebration of two families coming together. The bride and the groom have two sets of families post marriage. Isn’t that wonderful?

And isn’t it wonderful that your family and friends come together to share the event with you? There is so much laughter, joy, happiness, and love. You can’t help but feel grateful for having your loved ones around you. It meant the world to me. It cemented the importance of family and friends for me. All of this would be missed in a court marriage.

The wedding celebration made me so full of joy that it makes me wish for happiness upon all.

Wedding planning can be painful (specially 3-day Indian weddings), but I wouldn’t ever trade the functions and the ceremony for a court wedding. If you’re deciding whether you should do a wedding ceremony, do it. It will be one of the most beautiful days of your life.

There is so much meaning attached to marriage and the wedding ceremony is a celebration of this inexpressible meaning.