At Central Methodist University, we do this crazy thing called Greek marriages. Basically, the fraternity guys pick a sorority girl and asks her to be his Greek wife in front of all his brothers and her sisters. Often times, they get pretty creative about it, using a ring pop, beer cap, mini-donut or Lifesaver gummy as a ring. My Greek husband proposed with Bruno Mars’ “Marry You” playing in the background. It’s cheesy and a little ridiculous, but it’s fun! And more than that, it created some of the best friendships I have in college. I didn’t realize until later that Greek marriages aren’t a thing at most universities and colleges. But it should be, and here are six reasons why.
1. It feels good to be picked.
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Yes, we realize it is not “real.” It doesn’t mean love or anything (actually, it's kind of an unspoken rule you don't Greek marry someone you're into or dating), but it still gives you a giddy feeling to know that
someone chose you out of every person on your campus to be Greek married to.
That you’re someone they can stick with, no matter what.
2. It creates connections between fraternities and sororities.
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On a small campus, most of us know
each other anyway, but when everyone brings in new people, you have a
connection to get to know even more people or get to know other people better. I’m
close to a lot of the guys in my Greek husband’s fraternity because they’re my
family too.
3. You have someone who's always there.
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4. Their Greek family is your family.
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When you get Greek married, you
create a little family. When my Greek husband took a son last fall, I got a son too.
And he became another person I could count on for anything. Then there are
brothers and sisters. Your family gets to be so massive, you can barely keep
track of it all. You end up with family in multiple sororities and
fraternities. It just makes the whole Greek system that much more connected and
close.
5. Back-up date for Greek events.
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If you’re without a date to formal
or a dinner, your Greek husband or wife is usually a great choice. They’re a
close friend who you can have tons of fun with, minus any weirdness. And because
the Greek marriage thing is so common on our campus, boyfriends and girlfriend
rarely ever get mad about the two of you being close. It might seem odd, but most of the time it
works.
6. Marriages are lasting.
Like I said, we know the marriage is not real, the
relationship is not real, but the friendship absolutely is. I’ve seen Greek
marriages here survive through friends breaking up, people graduating or
transferring, organizations arguing. That person will always be your Greek
husband or wife. It might not mean love in the conventional sense, but I promise it's something special.
What is a frat wedding?
Essentially, a fraternity guy picks a sorority girl and asks her to be his Greek wife in front of all his brothers and her sisters. Often there's some creativity mixed in, like using a ring pop, beer cap, or mini-donut as a ring. It might also be over-the-top with music involved.
What are benefits of a Greek marriage on a college campus?
There are plenty to benefits to a Greek marriage. It's fun. It unites fraternities and sororities. The family grows over time. It gives you a perfect backup option for dates. And while the relationship is not real, the friendship definitely is, and it tends to grow over time as a tremendous bond.
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