The multi-layered, highly decorated cakes that are common today are a recent addition to the wedding ceremony, first becoming popular around the late nineteenth century. They replaced the loaves of bread that were historically broken during the wedding ceremony. The tradition of bridegrooms in the wedding party is said to have its roots in the era of very early history when a man would rely on his friends to abduct a woman from her family for his bride. – cohabitate and express intent to be husband and wife There are a few ways you can represent yourself as a married couple. The first is to tell the community you are married. The second is to use the same last name. The third is to file joint income tax returns and the fourth is to share in financial obligations (mortgage, lease, car loan, utilities, etc. Social norms have changed. Love and marriage don’t have to go together – and with the more open society we live in accepting that we are free to love who we choose and not be restricted by gender, then in some cases it isn’t even legally possible for them to do so. With homosexual marriage being a political and legal hot potato around the world, love and marriage is even possible for gay couples in some areas, whilst in others it’s still illegal and so love and marriage in the traditional sense is denied. Then think about some of the material things, are they put away or gone? The material things seemingly just disappear while moments of happiness linger with us forever. How to find happiness in a marriage is by your attitude. True happiness is an attitude of noticing the good constantly coming our way. They think it a matter of family shame if one of their own marries out into a different race – this can have dangerous consequences for the people involved as the culture tries to defend what it believes to be a matter of honor. Despite this being a characteristic of the cultures involved, it’s a situation that needs looked at when these cultures are living in countries where basic freedoms to choose are common for all people who live there, even those born into a culture that doesn’t, for the most part, believe this is right. Apparently, Cicero’s wife and daughter made the choice of spouse for the daughter, all the while assuming that Cicero would be in agreement. He was. Ancient Roman Marriage in the Lower Classes Lower class women were generally married a little later in their lives. By later in their lives, this means that they were married in their late teens or early twenties.