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VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Barbara Klein. This week -- weddings in America.
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VOICE ONE:
Australian model Narelle Payne in wedding dress by fashion designer
Caroline Herrera
Each year, more than two million weddings take place in the
United States. The Association for Wedding Professionals International says more
than eighty thousand million dollars is spent on those weddings. And that does
not include honeymoon travel for the newlyweds
.
Some people have big weddings and invite everyone they
know. Some have small, simple weddings and invite only their closest friends and
family members. And some elope
. They get married first and tell people later.
Still another choice is a "destination wedding." These are popular now. The
bride and groom invite a small group of guests to travel to someplace special
for the ceremony. Think of it as a wedding and honeymoon all in one.
VOICE TWO:
June is the beginning of summer. It is also considered the traditional start
of the wedding season.
Hollywood has had a lot of fun with weddings. In the summer of
2005 there was the movie "Wedding Crashers." Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn play
two friends who trick their way into weddings. Why? Simple: to meet women.
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VOICE ONE:
Many couples
organize their weddings themselves. But some hire a wedding planner to organize
everything for them. The planner helps the bride find a wedding dress as well as
dresses for her bridesmaids
.
The planner helps find a place for the reception after the ceremony. And the
planner organizes all the details for the celebration, from the flowers to the
food to the entertainment.
In the movie "The Wedding Planner," Jennifer Lopez stars as a highly
organized planner with a suddenly disorganized personal life. She falls in love
with a doctor, played by Matthew McConaughey. Only he turns out to be the man
who is supposed to marry her most important client.
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VOICE TWO:
Hollywood has also had fun with
wedding planners. In the Steve Martin and Diane Keaton movie "Father of the
Bride," Martin Short plays their daughter's "wedding coordinator."
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VOICE ONE:
Traditionally the bride's parents pay for the wedding. But Americans now get married
at an older age than they once did. So working couples might pay for some
or all of the wedding themselves. "What a wonderful idea" once joked a
real-life father of the bride.
VOICE TWO:
Couples can have a religious ceremony. Or they can have a civil wedding
before a judge or other public official. Or they can have both. The couple might
also read special vows they have written for each other.
Many ceremonies share common customs. For example, the
bride may wear a long white dress and have a white veil
over her face. The veil is pulled back when
the newlyweds kiss at the end of the ceremony.
The groom traditionally wears a tuxedo. If the suit is black and the shirt is
white, picture in your mind a penguin. A nervous penguin.
An old tradition says brides should wear something old, something new,
something borrowed and something blue. These four things are supposed to bring
good luck.
Different cultures have their own traditions. At African-American weddings,
for example, there is "jumping the broom." This is an old tradition where
couples jump over a broomstick laid on the ground.
VOICE ONE:
America is known as a nation of immigrants. Each group brings its own wedding
customs and traditions to the mix. But one tradition at most weddings is music.
Many people hire D.J.s, disc jockeys, to play recorded dance music. A wedding
might also have live music.
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VOICE TWO:
Many couples hire small chamber groups to play classical music before and at
the end of their wedding ceremony. One musical tradition is "Trumpet Voluntary."
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VOICE ONE:
Another classical favorite at weddings is "Sheep May Safely Graze by Johann
Sebastian Bach".
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VOICE TWO:
Some couples want to get married in a famous place like Disneyland or Las
Vegas. The eightieth floor of the Empire State Building in New York City is a
popular place for weddings. Couples can enter a competition for a chance to get
married there on Valentine’s Day.
Couples sometimes hold their wedding in a romantic place where they met. Or
they choose a place that will not be too far for all the guests to travel. Or
they hear about a beautiful place where many other people have gotten married.
Many couples get married on the beach in Hawaii and the mainland, or travel
to Mexico or an island in the Caribbean.
With a destination wedding, the celebration often lasts three days. All the
guests are invited to a dinner on the night before the wedding. Then there is
the ceremony and the meal that follows. And often there is an early morning
breakfast the following day.
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VOICE ONE:
Thanks to the Internet, couples can make a lot of their wedding preparations
online. Technology has also made it easier for other people to decide what to
give them for a wedding gift.
The future newlyweds can go to stores and choose the gifts they would like to
receive. The information is entered into a list on a wedding registry at each
store. Then their friends and relatives can choose what to buy.
This means the bride and groom get things they want. It also means they avoid
many of the things they do not want like three toasters for their morning
bread.
Some couples planning a wedding create their own Web sites so they can
provide information to the people they invite.
VOICE TWO:
With all the planning that goes into some weddings, it is easy to forget what
the event is all about. A Protestant minister in Maryland advises couples to
remember one thing. Their wedding is over quickly, but their feelings for each
other have to last a lifetime.
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VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm
Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Barbara Klein. Read and listen to our programs at
voaspecialenglish.com. And we invite you to listen against next week for THIS IS
AMERICA in VOA Special English.
newlyweds :
新婚夫婦
elope : to run away with a
lover（私奔）
bridesmaid : a woman who attends
the bride at a wedding（女儐相；伴娘）
veil: 面紗
