what ever happened to courtship and marriage,??

[Alfred]

In the past  when  two people met, and for many , many couples eventually got engaged, and later married. 

today for many not all its still the same procedure, that is a church wedding, having the banns read and the vicar giving  instructions to the would be married couple once they were in church,

who stands where and who says what etc,  and yet other couples live together and dont even  get engaged or even marries and again when children come along even the children are not baptised.,

so has society lost its way completely as it seems fewer couples cant afford getting married or do not accept wedding vows etc, as even the registry office wedding seems also to have fallen to one side as at one time they too were very popular,

Q;  so do you have points of view regarding couples getting engaged and married as many of  our parents did in the past, as many children in the future might have a job tracing their ancestors without the paper work which for many of us is handy when going on ancestry,.

[Raven]

I did the courting, engaged then married bit, then 22 years later I did the divorce bit. I would never marry again, I live most of the time with my partner of 12 years, but I kept my own wee bungalow in Perth and I return to it several times during the year.

[Traveller]

I went through most of that...  We met, 'courted' for two years,  got  engaged, bought a house and got married in church.  Being (nominally)Presbyterian, none of this Banns business, and we only got married in church for social reasons.  Children aren't baptised because we no longer believe in that sort of thing.  Still we're together after 45 years.

If I was doing it now, it would be a small civil wedding in a nice location and a pub lunch afterwards.  Only my younger daughter is in a relationship and has been living with her 'partner' for about 12 years.   No kids, and they seem very happy.