Only in India: Cell Phone Brides

KOLKATA, India - An Indian Muslim couple exchanged wedding vows by telephone after the groom, who lives abroad, said he did not have money to return home to get married, a cleric said on Friday.

Muslim clerics married Irin Biswas, 18, to Safikul Islam, who is employed as a labour supervisor in Kuwait.

The entire village in Murshidabad, West Bengal, watched as the clerics put a mobile phone on speaker mode, enabling them to hear the wedding vows. "

They said qubul (I do) thrice and the marriage was complete," Maulana Alamgir, a cleric who solemnised the marriage said by telephone. He said modern ceremony was not against Islamic laws.

Read the rest of the story here

Weddings Too Costly in UK- Marriage is in Decline

THE DECLINING interest in marriage, revealed in official figures last week, has been blamed on economic pressure by leading Christian marriage experts.

From Religious Intelligence

By: Matt Cresswell.

Financial worries are a particular concern, with fewer and fewer young couples even able to afford a wedding after battling rising house prices and student loans.

Their comments come after the figures released by the Office of National Statistics revealed marriage rates in England and Wales for 2006 are the lowest since records began in 1862.

Speaking to The Church of England Newspaper Carol Davies of the Anglican marriage support group Family Life and Marriage Education Network (FLAME) said she was very concerned about the financial pressures. “People have said that couples don’t get married because they can’t afford the increasing wedding costs but now they also have the situation of rising house prices,” she said. “Getting your foot on the housing market is now nigh on impossible.”

Read the rest of the story here…

Sex, Hugs, and Housework Roles – A Guide to the Perfect Marriage

London, March 9 : The days when the vicar's role in a marriage ended at the church gate are passé, for the contemporary clergy believe in offering marriage advice on everything from financial planning to even sex.

Concerned by the high numbers of divorces, the Church of England has come out with its guide to the perfect marriage, entitled Growing Together, to help couples get ready for the rigors of modern marriage.

The 120-page guide counsels couples to priorities their goals in life, including sex, children and sport, even suggesting that they consider who does the cooking and who cleans the lavatory.

The guide advises prospective husbands to learn to improve their capacity to listen.

For wives, the guide says that they need to be truthful about how they plan to spend their money.

Read the rest of the story here…