Most Americans value innocent wedding traditions like the throwing of the bouquet, but traditions like the bride promising to 'obey' her husband are not widely supported
Over two million people get married each year in the United States, and as the country grows more and more diverse many weddings don't conform to all of the traditional practices. Not only are weddings according to different religious and cultural traditions more prevalent, but many Christian families are beginning to shed some aspects of the traditional, Western wedding.
YouGov's latest research shows that Americans widely approve of many of the core aspects of a traditional western wedding, but traditions which are a reminder of traditional gender roles are more controversial. 80% of the public think that the tradition of a best man should be preserved, while 77% like the tradition of the bride throwing her bouquet. At the other end of the scale only 22% say that the bride's family should be responsible for paying for the wedding and only 33% say that brides should still promise to obey their husbands.
Overall, the more important religion is in someone's live, the more likely they are to support the rituals of a traditional wedding.
A majority of every group except people who say that religion is 'very important' to them think that the tradition of brides vowing to obey their husbands should be dropped. Among the very religious, however, 49% say that the tradition should be preserved and only 37% think that it should be dropped. In total, 49% of Americans think that the vow of obedience should be dropped while 33% think it should be preserved.
