Yuletide Marriages

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 542, 20 December 1928, Page 12

Yuletide Marriages

Less Tulle —Fewer Morning Coats

THE Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages at Auckland, Mr. Frank Evans, is one of the Dominion's busiest men to-day. Yuletide marriages are passing rapidly through his practised hands, and every day during the week preceding Christmas at least half a dozen couples leave his office bearing in their eyes the light of new-found happiness. Everywhere there is growing evidence that the weddings oi to-day are becoming more casual, more nonchalant and—many people say—more sensible.

merits of the claim that quiet and brief weddings are sensible is still disputed by those whose viewpoint has been carefully moulded along the lines of tradition and romance; but whatever the outcome, the bride and bridegroom of 192 S display a marked inclination to avoid the fuss and expense of a pretentious ceremony. Less tulle and fewer morning coats are to be seen. An extra hour at lunch time, a taxi and a marriage licence are suggested as the complete equipment. The young wife may then return to work before her employer misses her. Marriage has not been modernised

thusiastic; others are ageing and deliberative upon this serious step—perhaps not the first of its kind in their lives.

A middle-aged woman who entered the married state yesterday emerged from the registry office with a wedding ring on each hand. Even in her ardour for the new love, she did not intend to discard the treasured memory of the old. MOTHERS-IN-LAW BANNED

The unpopularity of mothers-in-law is traditional. A young man. with his bride on his arm. walked jauntily into the office not so long ago and confided to the registrar that he was about to marry an orphan —lo obviate the necessity of possessing a mother-in-law!

“I figured it out this way,” said one old man in the autumn of life, as his brand new wife signed the book. “I have had her for years as my housekeeper, but I find that marrying her will be cheaper than paying her wages.” Pity and gratitude prompted another old man to lead his bride to the registrar’s desk. He was 84 and the woman only a few years younger. They had lived next door, and the woman had cooked dinner every day for many years for her aged friend. The romance might have ended there, but the landlord threatened the woman with ejection from her house —so the wedding was arranged, and the one roof served them both.

Race day is frequently used as a time for quick marriages. A man comes from the country and meets his bride in the city, and so long as either party has been in the district for three days, the ceremony will go ahead. After the wedding—a honeymoon at the racecourse! It is not universally appreciated that a man does not commit bigamy if he marries a second time—-provided he has not heard of his first wife for seven years, and if it is proved that he does not know that she still lives. CANDID BRIDEGROOMS

Misinterpretation of the questions on the marriage papers frequently leads to some alarming confessions. On the spot marked “condition of bride,” one excited man, instead of writing “spinster,” penned “first class.” A similar assurance he attached to himself. Another enthusiastic and truthful swain handed in his paper with “fat” as the condition of the bride; another said her condition was “good.” Informality characterises many pres-ent-day marriages. The old belief that the parties must not meet on the wedding day until they are led to the altar, has passed. It is recorded in Auckland that a r.ewspaper man who wished for particulars for a wedding which was to be celebrated that day, rang the bride’s flat to learn the hour. The bridegroom answered the telephone, and said: “Yes, we are getting ready to go down right now.” If modern marriages are too casual, the problem is for the moralists to solve. If it merely inclines to become more sensible it must be regarded as yet another illustration of how youth to-day thinks—and acts—for itself.

to that extreme degree in Auckland, although in the 500 ceremonies which Mr. Evans is called upon to perform annually there are many who wish to go through with it so that *:he husband may get on with his work and the bride may prepare the next meal. At Christmas there is always a rush for the matrimonial state, and the registrar is kept busy handling half a dozen, and even up to ten, a day until this mating season is over. There are many reasons for this. Holidays frequently occur in mid-summer, cheap fares are available on the railways, and the beaches and other honeymoon resorts are looking their best at this time. Besides, a newly-married couple will not appear so conspicuous in a holiday crowd! The ceremony of the registrar is snappy and precise. The prescribed formula is read, the book is signed, and the official extends a friendly hand-clasp, and murmurs his encouragements as the couple disappears through the door.' And so they go on. Some are young and -wildly en-