In the event you have wondered why the month of June is considered the “wedding month” you are not alone. The tradition of holding weddings in June dates back to ancient times. The month of June is named after Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage and childbirth. Couples believed that getting married in June would bring them good luck and blessings from the goddess herself. This association with fertility and prosperity made June a favorable month for weddings. That is the historical reason, but there are more practical reasons for the popularity of June weddings, such as mild temperatures and desirable weather conditions, school holidays and vacation time, and blooming flowers.
Like everything, the traditional wedding has changed considerably. Weddings in the past were intimate, family-oriented affairs. Weddings were modest church ceremonies or held in the home, followed strict religious customs, with receptions held either at the church or in the home. Extravagant celebrations were reserved mostly for the wealthy and famous people. Wedding dresses were mostly homemade with long, dramatic veils and cloche style hats. While white had become popular to symbolize purity, brides in rural areas often simply wore their “Sunday Best” in darker colors. Most of us are fortunate as have photographs, even newspaper accounts of our parents and grandparents weddings and they depict the typical weddings of the generations before us. Both my mother and mother-in-law were married in their “Sunday Best” and were married in the local court house with only close family members attending. Both were married during the Great Depression, thus accounting for the lack of much pomp and circumstance. I have a clipping from the Sears catalog showing the dress my mother wore, a dress purchased by my dad at the hefty price of $2.00. I’m sure that dress was worn many times after that cold day in January, 1938, when they married at the court house in Rushville, Nebraska. Incidentally, all of those marriages lasted “until death do us part” regardless of the lack of any celebration.
Witnessing the weddings of today, I find myself wondering when such drastic changes occurred. After graduation from high school in 1963, many of my friends were getting married; I played the organ at many weddings back then and was an attendant at numerous ones, but there were only one or two attendants and the receptions were held at the church hall consisting of wedding cake, mints and punch. The big “whoop-la” occurred, usually towards the end of the reception, when the newlywed couple was often escorted outside to see their car, with all kinds of “Just Married” messages painted on it with shoe polish or shaving cream, and tin cans tied together dangling from the rear bumper. This couple was escorted up and down Main Street by attendees in their own vehicles, honking horns. Occasionally, a bride might be placed in a wheelbarrow while her poor husband had to push her ahead of the honking cars. Again, during that time period, many marriages were held at the court house or pastor’s residence, in a private home or in an intimate church setting.
By the time our children married in the 1990s, weddings were getting more extravagant, but today, thirty-some years later, they are almost to the point of being ridiculous. Not only do guests today receive suggestions as to gifting, but are instructed what color of clothing to wear if attending. When a cousin recently told me that her daughter’s wedding cost $60,000.00, I was flabbergasted. When inquiring as to how that could be, she replied, “Well, it’s our only daughter and she wanted to get married in Cancun.”
Whether or not the month of June is bringing wedding invitations to your mailbox, the cost of a wedding in 2026, to me anyway, is way out of hand…the average U.S.wedding costing between $34,000 and $36,000. It’s no wonder more and more young couples are increasingly opting out of or heavily delaying marriage. In the United States, marriages have hit an all-time low. Is there any wonder?
