Weddings, Weddings, and More!

Did you realize that Americans spend $27 billion on weddings in this country?  Did you know that Las Vegas, Nevada performs more weddings in this country than any other destination - 100,000 weddings per year - number two on the chart is Hawaii with over 25,000 weddings performed each year.

Average American wedding engagement is 16 months;  June is the most popular month for weddings, followed by August, then September, October, and May; 175 guests is the average number invited to the reception; $22,000 is average amount of money spent on traditional American wedding.  There is a total of $72 billion spent on weddings annually in the United States.

Having seen all of these wedding statistics as gathered by the National Association of Wedding Ministers, 43% chance of a marriage ending in divorce.  Emotional abuse forms a major reason for divorce. But the answer does not lie in simply walking away but to understand and help your partner deal with it. One has to understand that emotional abuse is a disease of the mind stemming from childhood insecurity and fear. Social psychologists and counsellors classify emotional abuse at two levels:

1. Minor emotional abuse such as not allowing the other person to watch television or listen to the radio – switching off the electric light not allowing the person to read in the evening – crying and complaining. Thus, minor emotional abuse can be described as childish and stubborn behaviour which can be treated.


2. Major emotional abuse which is more serious and often progresses when minor emotional abuse is not treated in time. Behaviours such as sexual abuse – always trying to control the activities and movements of the other i.e., restricting partner’s access to friends, relatives and social outings.

Social psychologists argue that when a person in a marital relationship starts to emotionally abuse the other, the first measure to take is to visit a psychologist immediately. In short, legal separation – blame game and consequent divorce are not a solutions to the problem facing couples in America today.

I am by no means a "professional" on weddings and divorce, but I have been in a relationship with another person for 25 years and it continues even stronger today than it did back in 1983 when we first met.  Communication or "lack of" communication ranks as the number one reason couples drift apart and thus end up separating from each other. 

The next time you are thinking about "separating" or even divorcing your partner/spouse, take a look back at day one of your existence with him/her and remember how taken you were by him/her?  Remember the special things that the two of you shared together and see if you can bring any of those special things into your life at this stage to "repair" your dream.  It is possible and it is necessary to keep the "fire" going in your life and to make your partner your "best friend" out of all of your friends.

Wedding Certificates By Steve offers the largest collection of beautiful and personalized hand-lettered Italic calligraphy wedding certificates available for purchase on the Internet!  We have over a dozen different styles and colors to choose.  You can view all of them at our website - Wedding Certificates By Steve.  If you have any questions, you can reach us at 314.772.2811 - CST. 

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Steve Crouch, Calligrapher & Owner of Award Certificates By Steve, based in St. Louis, MO operates the largest collection of hand-lettered Italic calligraphy award certificates available for purchase on the Internet.  His URL is Award Certificates By Steve and features over 300 award certificates in 32 separate categories.  You can reach him by e-mail at Steve's e-mail address.