Article written by Pam Black of Celebration House, Cape Town’s unique wedding information centre. First published on 10 March 2010 on www.iafrica.com.
For most couples, their wedding day is one day they plan to share only with friends and family, and the venue for this special occasion is also chosen with much care.
I have been quite surprised, therefore, to receive a surprising number of emails recently about numerous couples around the globe who were willing to share their special day with many others. In a large number of cases, the lure of a free wedding enticed them to go this route.
In desert sands
In Dubai, 158 couples (all government employees), were married in a simultaneous mass ceremony.
The 1500 invited guests were treated to a colourful ceremony which included dance, a laser light show and fireworks. The mass wedding was initiated by Dubai
Deputy Ruler Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, who bears all the costs of these mass weddings (which take place annually), because of his interest in providing a decent life for young people in this country by reducing the costs of their weddings.
On the 86th floor
Probably due to movies like ‘An Affair to Remember’ and ‘Sleepless in Seattle’, the top of the Empire State Building at night has always attracted the romantics among us. This year, thanks to an online contest organised by TheKnot.com, fourteen couples were given the opportunity to marry there. One lucky couple got the chance to get married at the 86th floor Observatory, while the other ceremonies were held on the 61st floor of the building. Valentine's Day Weekend weddings at the Empire State Building have been a tradition since 1994 and it is only at this time of year that they open their doors for weddings. Over the years, more than 200 couples have married there.
3500 weddings
Since the early 1960s the name of Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the 90-year-old founder of the controversial Unification Church, has been synonymous with mass weddings. He didn't disappoint this February, when he officiated, in a city north of Seoul, at a mass wedding dedicated to, 'the creation of a peaceful world beyond borders and races'. Among the 7000 tying the knot were couples from 20 countries, including South Korea, Japan, the United States, Europe, Africa and Oceania. This was the second mass wedding held in South Korea in the last four months. In October last year another 7500 couples were united.
Sneakers and blue jeans
Unlike the 'Moonie' wedding, where the brides wore white dresses and the men dark suits, at the mass wedding of 387 couples on the steps of the historic Bexar County Courthouse in San Antonio, couples appeared in everything from tuxedos and full-length white wedding
gowns, to sneakers and blue jeans, with one couple proudly showing off their $20 T-shirts appropriately embroidered with the words 'Bride' and 'Groom'.
In prison
Back home in Cape Town, and on a much smaller scale, every Valentine’s Day for the past ten years, couples have been given the opportunity to marry in the chapel on our own iconic Robben Island. This has become a popular annual event and since its inception, over 150 couples have been fortunate to be married on the island. Unlike a mass wedding, each couple receives individual attention and says their vows one by one.
Good to meet you
It appears some couples are prepared to share their day with complete strangers. In New York, one couple chose the busy Apple Store for their wedding. Although the ceremony was unauthorised, the Daily Telegraph reported that the staff did not interfere while they exchanged vows in front of their 30 guests, with their
Marriage Officer dressed in similar fashion to Apple CEO Steve Jobs (jeans and black turtleneck).The reason for choosing this unusual venue for their nuptials was that they had initially met there while shopping for an iPhone. The groom, who stated that he is not religious, also joked that the Apple Store is his church, because he loves everything Apple.
Their wedding vows even included a quote from an address Steve Jobs gave at Stanford University: "You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down."
Would you be happy to share your wedding day with hundreds of strangers? Let us know your thoughts on our Facebook page.
