Bear with me as I build up to the discussion around racketeering.

Much of the world hates marriage. It is under constant attack. This matters because a healthy and vibrant marriage is the closest life experience that we humans have to understanding how God loves us through Christ. There are several descriptions and guidelines for marriage in the Bible, but behold this one in particular from Ephesians:

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church [emphasis added]. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. - Ephesians 5:25-33

Allow me to briefly take a generalized account of marriage throughout the world. Marriage is the intended context for sex by God (”the two shall become one flesh” is Bible lingo for sex), yet large portions of the whole world, and particularly the USA, are super-charged sexually in most aspects of daily life, including conversation, media, advertising, entertainment, and so on, all of which lack discretion and any portrayal of marriage as the context for sex. The porn industry is colossal. In France and parts of Europe, it’s much more socially acceptable to have a mistress. In the Muslim world, women have no rights. Muslim women are not loved sacrificially or loved by men as if they were loving their own bodies as described above in Ephesians. Just this week a Saudi judge ruled that it was legal for a 45+ year old man to marry an 8 year old girl, in order to settle the girl’s father’s debt, as long as the husband waited to have sexual relations with her until puberty is onset. A major WTF is in order. Women’s rights are also lacking in India and hindu culture. There’s some good to be said for marriage arrangements, but I disagree with the lack of choice in the matter, particularly from the to-be wife. Japan has some pretty twisted and disturbing perspectives around sex. Exposure to some kinds of manga and anime will reveal some nasty shit.

All of these topics probably deserve in-depth discussion as they are all tragic and important. Many of us are overcomers. We have been down some of these tragic paths, but seek to achieve a lasting healthy marriage. Some of us may be embarking on marriage soon and want to do it well from the start. Some of us have great hopes to meet someone and have a healthy vibrant marriage in the future. We desire to overcome all of the world’s obstacles of marriage perversions and through marriage we might get a glimpse of the profound nature of God’s remarkable and overwhelming love for His people. Bless all of you! Let the wedding plans begin!

That will be $20,000 please.

WTF? $4,000 to rent our event center for a night…a NIGHT. Oh, you want to have the ceremony here too? That will be an additional $1500, but that includes setup and cleanup. By the way, we only allow you to use 1 of the 4 following caterers. The cheapest of the 4 charges $35.50 per person, but a minimum charge of $5000. There’s that automatic 20% mystery fee. Two bartenders are required, each are $25.00 / hour. Attire, decorations, flowers, DJ/msuic, cake? Gotta have cake! (That’s what the tape was sayin’).

I call shenanigans on the whole wedding industry! We finally make it this far, overcoming the rest of the world’s garbage, just to be exploited…nickeled and dimed into debt? Damn, it’s almost easier to just wait and save money, risking burning with passion or living together……which is what many of us end up doing. No big deal right?

NO! This world is so fallen. If the world loved marriage, you’d get the wedding discount. Everything would be at cost and marriage would be encouraged. “You guys are ready? Great! The sooner the better! How can we help?” Unfortunately this isn’t the case. It’s better to have 10 people at your wedding, or order pizza and have it at your friend’s house, or a backyard, than to spend gob-loads of cash you don’t have to make “the perfect day”. How about seeking after a “rich life of marriage” vs. “the perfect day”?

The wedding racket is a much more subtle and sinister attack on marriage. It isn’t blatant, it’s just a distraction to have you put-off or compromise your integrity in order to achieve “the perfect day”. If any of you have ideas to circumvent the wedding racket, please share!