What are the components of the "perfect wedding"?
I personally believe it varies from couple to couple, and that the real joy stems from being united with your spouse.
In 7th grade, I took a home economics class. Anyone who knows me understands how funny this seems. It was NOT by choice. Our biggest project was to make a "Dream Wedding Scrapbook." We had to write out the wedding proposal, create the invitations, select a cake, etc. To me, the entire process was tortuous. I'm not anti-wedding, but I was in middle school. My wedding was (and still is) an event of the distant future.
Well, wouldn't you know that my freshman year at Judson College I learned about Pageant. The entire tradition can be traced back to a wedding.
In 1898, Miss Ann Kirtley suggested that Judson women host a wedding to symbolically unite the Junior and Freshmen classes together. Both classes selected a wedding party, a class representative to speak the vows of sisterhood, and a group of students to be the virtues that every woman should aspire to have.
Over the years, the wedding grew to include a play of sorts to show how a woman comes to incorporate the virtues into her life. Looking through The Conversationalist, some of the storylines used were Carnival, Aladdin, The Wizard of Oz, and Old Man River. Every year, the section talking about Pageant said something like:
"This year, the Junior class challenged the freshmen to take on the virtues of wisdom, honesty, courage, and love."
Honestly, the first time that I heard about Pageant, I was a little creeped out. However, when I began to research the tradition myself and talk to alumnae and upperclassmen it made more sense.
Weddings were a big deal back in the 1800s and 1900s. From girlhood, most women dreamed of getting married. The seriousness of marriage and the bonds of sisterhood are a lot alike.
They both share a common theme that is very beautiful and Christ-like in nature:
Love Conquers All
