When walking down the aisle ahead of Election Day, couples are hoping their politically divided guests can reach across it to put their differences aside.
As fall weddings become more popularbrides and grooms across the nation are concerned that their dream day will be destroyed by families fueding over America’s vote on Nov. 5.
To mitigate any potential arguments, some lovebirds are tweaking their wedding celebrations by banning booze and plastering “no politics” signs at the reception.
Illinois residents Katie Newell and Elijah Gallinger, both 24, are tying the knot on Election Day — and are planning accordingly.
They twosome told The New York Times that the date was one of the limited days that their loved ones could all attend and that the venue could accommodate.
Though they were worried family members would be anxiously checking the news during the nuptials, or that their wedding would bar people from voting, their biggest concern was potential head-butting.
“I think there will be people on both sides, but I don’t think anybody will cause any crazy trouble,” Newell optimistically told The Times.
Their solution was to not serve alcohol.
“We thought maybe not having liquid truth running through people’s veins on Election Day is a good idea,” she said.
Meanwhile, Boston couple Dena Skeadas, 31, and George Panagopoulos, 37, are saying “I do” two weeks after Election Day, but are still concerned that some of their guests won’t be in the mood to celebrate.
“We have a pretty politically diverse guest list, so my biggest concern is no matter how the election turns out, there are going to be some folks at our wedding who aren’t celebrating,” Skeadas said, voicing fears about political violence in the aftermath of the election results.
However, she’s hopeful that their joyous reunion will take people’s minds off politics, at least for a few hours.
But some wedding experts warn that attempts to ban political conversation could be for naught.
“If Election Day is within a week, it might be impossible,” explained Atlanta wedding therapist Landis Bejar.
“Sometimes, especially in a large group, asking people not to do a thing means you’re reminding people of the thing.”
California-based wedding etiquette expert Jules Martinez Hirst recommended alternative language, such as, “A lot is going on in the world right now, but we’d love for our wedding to be about what really matters — love and togetherness.”
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