It’s easy to dismiss centuries of cultural evolution across thousands of extant and extinct societies. Taking a look at the absurdities of spending a small fortune on a wedding ceremony, the magical incantation of the vows out loud in front of people who love you and want the best for you can seem pretty unnecessary, this can all look ridiculous from the limited vantage point of a single life’s partial experience.
But sometimes once you put down the metaphorical tweezers and take off the lab coat, you find out that there are reasons that this stuff exists. You might be surprised.
Sure. There was religion, small community pressure, political family joinings, gross dowry incentives, a large manipulative industry, a desire to show off wealth. Lots of dumb reasons from outdated cultural norms. Everything you wrote seems to be about weddings though. And while I think weddings are much stupider than marriage, they're not the same.
But sometimes once you put down the metaphorical tweezers and take off the lab coat, you find out that there are reasons that this stuff exists. You might be surprised.