Ah, weddings. Such a happy event, filled with happiness and love. I absolutely love going to weddings. This particular type of gathering is something that the world needs more of. It may seem to many people it is an empty ritual, or a ritual that is changing for the worse. To me, it is a great occasion to get dressed up and witness an ritual that is filled with so much meaning and also with a wonderful story behind the love. Which ritual would you rather be part of? A celebration of a couple’s love or your daily ritual of waking up, taking a shower, putting on your clothes, eating breakfast and heading to class or work? Weddings in general make my heart happy. Every wedding I get invited to, I always feel honored to be a part of the couple's special day. This summer, I was invited to a lot of weddings, and from those weddings, I compiled a list of reasons why weddings are my absolute favorite.

1. The wedding speeches.

This may seem like an odd reason, but for some reason, I love hearing at the reception how close relatives and friends feel about the bride and groom. The speeches may include hilarious stories and words of advice. The speeches allow the bride and group to add a little personal touch and makes their friends and family feel apart of the special day. I have personally heard pretty hilarious and great speeches, so I think they make the wedding even more special.

2. The dancing.

I love to dance, even though I am terrible at it. The best thing to do at a wedding reception is to dance, even if it is terrible. Hearing the music blast through the speakers and the people around you most likely dancing terribly, make it so much fun. Even the commonly played songs make the dancing that much more fun.

3. Seeing family you haven't seen in forever and even meeting new family.

If you are like me and come from a huge family, you don't always see your second cousin or your great aunt. Sometimes weddings, especially family weddings, are the best and only place where you see them. Even sometimes discover new family members. One family wedding, I sat next to an great aunt I never met; she ended up making me laugh until my stomach hurt and the wedding one of my favorites. (Side note: I am definitely taking a picture like the one above at my wedding.)

4. The church.

This may seem like an odd reason, but there's something about a church when a wedding is going on. Just the whole atmosphere of the place makes me overjoyed. I personally love church weddings, the couple being united under God makes my heart very happy. There's also something spine-chilling when the priest announces at the end of the ceremony, "I now pronounce you husband and wife." Makes the whole wedding just seem even more perfect.

5. Seeing the bride walk down the aisle.

There's just something about seeing the bride walk down the aisle to marry the love of her life. Also, just seeing the dress that the bride spent hours picking out is great. The wedding dress is one of the most important dresses you can ever wear. Why not make it a favorite part of the wedding?

6. The way the groom looks at the bride.

This is probably my all time favorite thing about a wedding—simply seeing the way the groom looks at the bride. Seeing the pure happiness that they are married can spend the rest of their lives together. Simply seeing the groom look at the bride like, "She is the love of my life and she is mine" literally makes me go "Aww." Love is amazing, and seeing it in two people is stunning.

There you have it—a list of why weddings are amazing and why I love them. I can't wait to someday have my own happily ever after.