Young girls start dreaming about their wedding day as soon as they are able to understand the concept of marriage. When girls are too young, though, the concept could be completely misunderstood.

It's no wonder why weddings are some of the most exciting events of an individual's life. Picking out a dress, getting hair and makeup done, deciding which flowers to line the isle with, and the most exciting part: cake tasting. Plus, it’s not so bad that the spouse of your dreams is standing there before you, ready to say “I do.”

There’s no doubt that it is one of the most anticipated days that nearly every man and woman will eventually experience. I mean, why wouldn’t it be? It’s so glamorous and romantic and magical, to say the least. But once you look past all of the aesthetic parts of a wedding, and really dig deep into the true importance of it all, you find one of the most significant things of life: love. It is so incredible that out of the billions of people here on Earth, human beings are capable of finding one other person who they desire to spend the rest of their life with.

In Plato’s The Symposium, Aristophanes states that every human was originally born with four legs, four arms, and one head with two faces. One day, these humans gained such a strong sense of pride that they tried conquering all of the Greek Gods. Obviously the Gods weren’t too happy about trying to be overpowered, so out came Zeus to save the day. Zeus decided to use his lightening bolt to zap the humans in half- leaving them like we do today with two legs, two arms, and one head with one face. Now that these humans were smaller and weaker, they had one main priority: to find their other half. Their soulmate. And once they succeeded in finding this special someone, there would be an inherent understanding, love, and desire between each person in the relationship. (Thanks Aristophanes! That just might be my favorite explanation for the concept of love). 

Anyways, I’m not gonna try to beat around the bush here. There is an issue with marriage today, and it has to do with the media. Social media, television, websites, apps for handheld devices… All of it. And the main subjects who have the issue are young girls (young as in just-graduated-from-high-school, young). See, with all of the virtual availability of weddings, marriage seems so glamorous and the true importance of it is not emphasized. Television shows like Say Yes to the Dress, websites such as Pinterest, and social media sharing platforms like Instagram and Facebook all contribute to the fact that marriage is becoming a trend rather than a lifetime commitment of faith and matrimony. 

I’m not denying the fact that I, too, am a lover of love and that I have a Pinterest board dedicated to my wedding. I’m not saying that I don’t obsess over online wedding videos (It’s actually a dangerous addiction of mine). I completely understand the fascination of it all. But because of the fact that I can now count on two hands the amount of girls from my graduating class that are 1) pregnant, 2) engaged, or 3) married, I feel like the true point of marriage has been forgotten amongst us. It seems as if everyone does it for the sake of Instagram, which makes it like a competition of who can get married first and who can spend the most money on it. It’s not all about finding your soulmate and being positive that they are the right one anymore.

So, ladies, don’t be in such a hurry to get married! Odds are that the guy you dated all throughout high school won’t end up being your husband for the rest of your life. Live out your youth, figure yourself out, and let him figure himself out. If you are meant to be together, then it will eventually happen. There is no point in rushing something that you have the rest of your life to do.     

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